Before the First World War, the farm employed 40 men and about 80 horses. There were required for all aspects of the farming process. The introduction of traction engines did little to reduce their numbers. When they were being used, up to 8 horses were required to pull the water bowsers from the Pill Hill Brook, a tributary of the River Anton that runs through the Clatfords, to Red Rice to keep their boilers supplied. The introduction of modern tractors reduced the number of horses required.