Two new horses join Schaumburg's Volkening Farm

The new summer hires at the Schaumburg Park District's Volkening Heritage Farm are willing to work for food.

And at 1,800 pounds each, the two brothers will need a lot of it.

Bob and Dick are the farm's new draft horses, taking over from the 20-year-olds Prince and Duke. The elder pair are retiring to the same Indiana farm from which the younger recruits were just purchased.

Bob, 8, and Dick, 7, will share such tasks as pulling the wagon for wagon rides, mowing, plowing, and participating in special events like the Autumn Harvest Festival and Springtime on the Farm.

Farm Operations Manager Jon Kuester said the draft horses were bred for farming work rather than being ridden.

"They're more interested in daily tasks," Kuester said. "We go and harness them and put them on the wagon and they're perfectly happy. That's what they've been trained to do."

Draft horses are key to maintaining the historic accuracy of the farm at 201 S. Plum Grove Road. It's intended to show what life was like in the Schaumburg area 130 years ago.

"Horses are an important part of our programming," Kuester said. "We can do a lot of farm work with modern equipment, but to recreate the experience of an 1880s farm, you need horses. Farmers in Schaumburg simply couldn't have existed without draft horses."