The use of work horses on vineyard estates: linking traditional methods to innovative and collaborative forms of work

In France, the agro-ecological systems are the basis for experimenting with alternative practices to industrial agriculture, renewing man to nature relations and considering ecological regulations to reduce the use of chemical inputs. Among these agro-ecological practices, the use of horses for mechanical weeding in viticulture has returned to the main French wine-growing regions. In addition to reducing the use of fossil fuels, the horse has a physical and emotional intelligence, which is useful to the winegrower. In fact, the communication between the winegrower and the horse requires developing the attention and observation skills necessary to an agro-ecological approach. It can take a long time to build this cross-comprehension between man and horse. That is why most winegrowers start this practice by using horse traction service providers. How does this observation and this understanding of the condition of the agro-ecosystem with the trio of horse, service provider and winegrower work? Can working with horse traction service providers be considered an agroecological practice? An exploratory study conducted in 2020 puts forward a description and understanding of the activities of the winegrower and the equine traction service provider by retracing the main stages of their cooperation in integrating the horse as an actor. This article presents the first results of this study. It focuses on the main characteristics of the work of the service provider with the horse on the vineyard estate, and on the influence of the climate context and the components of the agro-ecosystem on this work. The findings need to be developed further along two main axes: the role of the horse in the agro-ecosystem and the transformation of the activities of the service provider and the winegrower from year to year.