Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The horse has historically had a key role in the forest industry, mainly for wood extraction. In modern forestry, the horse plays only a minor role in the forest industry supply chain. However, the interest for using horses in forestry has grown in recent years. This interest is mainly rooted in the need to solve the problem of damage to the ground caused by heavy machinery. Changes in climate are making soils moister and further limiting the time when the ground is frozen. This has been an important trigger for looking at alternative methods for wood extraction. Among methods like quad bikes, smaller tractors, and broad wheel bands used on heavy machines, the use of horses has become more attractive.
A problem for horse-entrepreneurs in Sweden today is reaching to the forest owners to market their services. A survey was conducted to get a better picture of how forest owners in western Värmland think about the use of horses in the forest. The result of this survey showed that the private forest owners in the area had a keen interest in using horses. The main conclusion of the survey is that there is a shortage of horse-entrepreneurs and that there are possibilities for growing this market in western Värmland.