Frying Pan Farm Park staff and the Friends of Frying Pan Farm Park are in the search for a new team of draft horses. Draft Horses have been on site for most of our 60 plus years of being a park and we are looking forward to bringing in a new team.

The search in the past has led us far away as New York and as close to the park as Manassas. The perfect team is like finding a unicorn in the forest. Will they be good for the public? Will it be easy for staff to handle and move them around the farm? Will they fear cows or goats? Can they pull a wagon load of families around the farm and work in the crop fields? There are many more qualifications that we will be looking for in a new set of horses.

We will be doing research and sending out requests to the horse community and reaching out to our previous connections. We hope to borrow a team to see how they work at the site. Staff will work with the vet to assess their health, and the farrier will examine their feet. They will look at their teeth and even do a blood test to check for abnormalities and x-rays if needed to check for hoof problems.

The thoughts around buying a team of horses is often compared to buying a used car and we want to do our homework to bring a great team to the site. Staff have either been trained or are currently attending draft horse school to gain the skills needed to drive the team.

Fundraising has started with the Friends of Frying Pan Farm Park and will continue to help purchase the team and to help with the future care of the horses. Much like a used car, the initial purchase price can be easier than the upkeep and future costs. Grain, hay, bedding, health supplements, vet and farrier visits are the normal yearly costs for horses. Emergency vet visits, pasture maintenance to include fencing, seed and fertilizer, buckets and tool expenses all can pop up randomly. Wagon maintenance and future staff training are all things we are looking for support with from the public.

Staff and the Friends of Frying Pan are excited to be in the process of finding a new team to fill the big shoes left by Jeff and Charlie.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to future wagon rides, demonstrations and programs with a new team and the visitors at the site.