Skidding logs with horses is an old fashioned method that is giving new opportunities to "state of the art" Sustainable Forestry.  Growing high value crop trees is not possible if the logging crew is not able to perform selective harvesting without doing excessive damage to the residual stand of timber.  Horse crews remove single trees, and rarely do significant damage to the future crop trees in a Sustainable Harvest Operation.

Trained Belgians can pull their weight in hardwood, all day long for a little hay and grain.  Even in wet weather when mechanical skidders are axle deep in mud, these animals can move timber with little impact.  The flexibility these crews offer to a selective harvest system is very important, and well worth the extra effort and slight additional cost.  The better the timber, the more valuable a horse team.