Rural Heritage Reading Room


rural heritage cover
Above: Rural Heritage Jume/July 22 Cover: VIctor Bunch of the NC Work Horse and Mule Association
shows a young lady how to handle a walking plow at the club's 2022 plow day.
Vol 47, No 3
June-July 22

Rural Heritage is a bimonthly
journal in support of farming
and logging with draft horses,
mules, and oxen. The June/July 22 issue was mailed to subscribers on May 24, 2022. Below is this issue’s annotated Table of Contents, with a link to a full feature article to showcase the good reading delivered to your door every other month when you
Subscribe to Rural Heritage.

If, in your reading, you run across
a drafty word you don't recognize,
consult our online Draft Dictionary.

Table of Contents
Departments
Publishers Post
Joe writes about his past and planned travel filming events and interviewing people who work with draft animals, and farm sustainably.
Reader Reports
A few words of praise and photos from readers.
Rural Heritage Bookstore
Selections from our extensive catalog of books and videos
on draft animal farming, logging, self-sufficient living
and much more.
Associations and Breeders Directory

(contacts for breed registries and regional draft clubs)

Events Calendar
(frequently updated online)

Our Advertiser Directory

(please tell ‘em you saw it in Rural Heritage)


Features
portable hoop houses
Danielle Londrigan driving a team of Belgian geldings
Starting Over - Part 1 − − − click on title to read this story in full.
The impact of COVID restrictions prompts a farm family to re-think their business model. This leads them to move to a property that will allow them to build an off-grid home, train horses and practice education-based farming. This first-in-a-series story details how they conducted their search for a new farm and the initial months of their bare-bones life at the new location.
A Focus on Water
Jenifer Morrissey researches how harnessing the power of regenerative agriculture can make more efficient use of rainfall, as well as lessen the impact of both drought and excess rain. This includes a discussion of “bio-precipitation,” how plant life can affect precipitation.
bozeman trail
The Figure-8 Hitch
Halter-Breaking: Establishing Control
Dick Courteau describes two variations of the pressure-and-release method for halter breaking: the Figure-8 hitch and the Heart-girth hitch. Includes some wonderful illustrations.
oxen
Ralph Rice is enjoying some time with week-old Suffolk foal Miss Magee.
The Germans (horses) are Coming

Members of the American Brabant Association made two trips to Germany to inspect German Rhenish Cold Bloods horses in an effort to re-build the pre-WWI horse. As a result, members are importing three stud colts to help improve the breed here.


The Wonder of It All

Ralph Rice relays the sometimes-devastating outcomes of foaling and offers a few tips on how to anticipate and prevent problems. One recommendation is putting together a “foaling kit.”



horse shelter
Taylor's Belgian, Mark, weighs about 1,850 pounds and fits easily when standing at an angle.
A Truck that Works
Draft horse powered logger Taylor Johnson converts a box truck into work truck and horse hauler. He shares many details and photographs.

aba gathering with brabants
The new handle is boiled for an hour and bent to conform to the shape of the old plow handle.
Out of the Mouths of Rubes

Dick Courteau explores the often-poetic sayings used by rural folk which are borne of their life with animals and the land.



Plow Handle Replacement

Jerry Hicks presents step-by-step instructions for making your own plow handle. From choosing the right tree through steam bending the handle and installing on the plow. His many instructive images help us learn this craft.



bozeman trail
Aaron Meyers’ six-mule hitch on the Bozeman Trail Wagon Train in 2001. Photo by Rod Henderson
Wagon Train Discipline
Participants in the 2001 Bozeman Trail wagon train reenactment learn many lessons in dealing with a variety of sometimes conflicting personalities as well as difficult situations and injury. The story highlights diary entries of some of the participants.
Tales from Carter County: Evil Eye
Jerry Hicks reminisces about his ever-watchful, all-knowing grandmother and how she shaped his life.
Somehow Hopeful
A review of the documentary “Somehow Hopeful,” by filmmaker Jerry McNutt. It follows horse-drawn logger Jason Rutledge and others as they seek to use worst-first timber harvesting.
Index of Past Issues of Rural Heritage

The Reading Room is updated with each new issue. If you wish to be notified by email when new contents are posted, please Contact Us. If you wish to receive Rural Heritage in your mailbox every other month, please Subscribe.

 

 

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