Draft Horse Breeding Barns

(Smoke coming out of the tailpipe of a car.)

[Abby Brown] Whenever I hear a car engine make this sound,

(engine revving)

I picture it speeding away.

(Tires screech on the pavement.)

Did you know the power an engine produces to move an object like a car is called horsepower?

That's because before there was an engine, there were horses. This historic place is where farmers would come to purchase powerful work horses.

(Map marking Jefferson County in southeastern Iowa.)

This is the Maasdam Barns in Fairfield.

(A large clapboard-sided barn is painted white. It has a gambrel roof, a type of roof that has two slopes on each side, with the lower slope being steeper than the upper slope. When viewed from the side the profile of the roof looks somewhat like a bell shape. A cupola, a small dome, is attached to the top, center of the roof. )

A long time ago, before tractors and other equipment did plowing, planting, harvesting and hauling on a farm, horses did the work. And the bigger and stronger a horse was, the more work it could do - which meant draft horses like percherons were in high demand.

(Two muscular horses with broad chests, strong backs and solid legs pull a wagon. They stand more than 16 hands (64 inches or 5 feet) tall.)

That's one of the reasons this farm is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was here that two Iowa entrepreneurs made a name for themselves in the draft horse breeding industry.

Jacob Maasdam and Edward Wheeler were childhood friends. When they grew up, they went into business together. They imported horses from Europe and then bred and raised them right here.

The horses they raised were big and strong like these.

(A large, dark brown draft horse with a midnight black mane stands beside a beige foal.)

No wonder farmers came to these barns to buy them.

The historic Maasdam Barns were designed by the Loudon Machinery Company, which was also located in Fairfield. Their engineering concepts made draft horse care and breeding as easy as possible.

The layout, or floor plan, of each barn was intentional and important.

Concrete was used because it's strong. And with horses weighing almost 2,000 pounds, strength was important.

Moving these large animals was a huge task. So the stall gates were built strong too, so the animal handler could both protect himself and guide the horses.

Overhead monorail carriers allowed farmers to lift large loads of hay into haylofts. And when you're feeding enormous draft horses, you need a lot of hay.

Maasdam Draft Horse Breeding Company famously raised a percheron mare that was named world champion at the International Livestock Show in Chicago in 1919.

There aren't normally horses here anymore. We were treated to a special appearance today. But visitors can always check out the three historic barns left over from the horse breeding days.

The Show Barn was where the horses were shown to potential customers.

The Stallion Barn housed the male horses or stallions.

And the Mare Barn was where the female horses, or mares, were kept.

All of the barns now serve as a museum, celebrating the intuitive thinking, hard work, and entrepreneurial spirit of local Iowans In the early 1900s.

Every county in Iowa has galloped through history with innovative ideas. This unique agricultural spot in Jefferson County is proof.

Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by The Coons Foundation, Pella and the Gilchrist Foundation.