Forest History Center Welcomes Four New Draft Horses

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. (July 19, 2023) – There are some new faces for visitors to meet at the Forest History Center this summer! The site welcomed four new draft horses to its stables last month.

The Percheron Horses, Chad and Chuck , are brothers, four and three years old respectively. Both weigh about 1,600 pounds and are still growing. Percherons are the most common breed of horses in the United States and are noted for their strength, intelligence, and calm demeanors.

Hank and Barney are Belgian draft horses. They are half brothers, with Hank being eight years old and Barney being seven. Each weighs about 1,800 pounds. Belgian horses have been used as work horses since medieval times and are renowned for being even tempered and aware of their surroundings.

Both teams of horses were born on Amish Farms in central Wisconsin.

Photos of the new draft horses are available upon request. Please email Nick Jungheim for more information.

The public can meet Chad, Chuck, Hank, and Barney every day, including this Saturday during Be a Naturalist Family Day at the Forest History Center. Guided horse-drawn trolley tours of the site are also offered at 9:30 am each day. The Forest History Center is open Wednesdays through Saturdays.

Learn more at mnhs.org/foresthistory.

About the Minnesota Historical Society

The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and cultural institution established in 1849. MNHS collects, preserves, and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs, and book publishing. Using the power of history to transform lives, MNHS preserves our past, shares our state’s stories, and connects people with history.