In Vermont, draft horses are used for both sugaring and lumber. They are much less destructive to the environment and allow the forester to manage the woods much more selectively. With the advent of plastic tubing, fewer sugar makers are using horses to gather their maple sap these days, but some are still out there.

To be honest, there is a lot of artistic license from this fellow. I was playing with a new set of pastel pencils and wanted a more dramatic-looking horse than what the classic Belgiums or Clydesdales traditionally used, so I took references from some Eastern European draft breeds.

This piece won a prize at the 2023 Vermont Pastel Society Member's Exhibition in North Bennington, VT.