Beginning in the mid-17th century, every farm of any size had a pair of oxen, which provided the primary power for working the land. They were well suited for clearing, plowing, and hauling carts, and remained in use into the late 19th century, when increased use of horses began to reduce their role. It was common for twenty or thirty teams of oxen to gather for neighborhood and community projects, and in 1856 sixty oxen were assembled to move a building. Although their presence diminished over the decades, oxen still remained on some Guilford farms into the twentieth century. Horses later became the more common farm animals and stayed in use until about 1940, although on the Dudley Farm Nathan Dudley kept and worked a team of horses until 1968.