High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A horse- mill is a mill that uses a horse as the power source. Any milling process can be powered in this way, but the most frequent use of animal power in horse- mills was for grinding grain and pumping water. Other animals used for powering mills include dogs, donkeys and oxen. These are all forms of animal engines. Man can also be considered to be an animal, and engines powered by man include treadwheels.Sometimes a horse mill was used in conjunction with a watermill or a windmill.In Antwerp, Belgium, the Museum Brouwershuis is a good example of horse powered pumping machinery, the building dating from the C16th and the original wooden machinery was replaced in cast iron in the mid C19th, but retaining the original layout.