Rural Heritage Reading Room

Above: Rural Heritage October – November 23 Cover: Three Belgian draft horses at the 2023 Horse Progress Days.

Rural Heritage is a bimonthly
journal in support of farming
and logging with draft horses,
mules, and oxen. The October/November 23 issue was mailed to subscribers on September 21, 2023. 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 discusses how he deals with comments on Rural Heritage social media posts, the effect of a pervasive drought on some of his video shoots and his upcoming travel plans.
Rural Bookshelf
We review Lynn Miller’s reprint of the 1894 classic book on small-scale farming, “Ten Acres Enough.”
J C Allen Archives
Vintage photos of rural life by renouned photographer JC Allen including photos of grey mules harrowing, mules and a tractor preparing a seedbed, traveling to town with the team and wagon.
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)

(frequently updated online)

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


Features
training wild mustang
When we depend on pasture for our animals, we learn that in addition to stewarding our animals, we must also steward our pastures.
From Wild to Mild - Training Wild Mustangs
Danielle Londrigan explains the Trainer Incentive Program (TIP), in which approved trainers take wild horses or burros considered “less adoptable” and gentle them in order to help find adoptors for them. She outlines the steps she uses to choose and train wild mustangs through the program.
pasture land
Introducing different objects and desensitizing a very flighty 2-year-old gelding, as he learns that he can stand still and trust me.
Stewarding Pastures − − − click on title to read this story in full.
When we depend on pasture for our animals, we learn that in addition to stewarding our animals, we must also steward our pastures.
healthy tomoatoes
A modern sickle sits beside one made from a bovine jawbone.
HPD 2023 Takeaways
Ralph gives his perspective on Horse Progress Days 2023 and how the event is a conduit for continuing draft animal power into the future.

 


Profoundly Country
Dick recounts his various experiences working in rural America and discusses how wildly varied the “county life” can be.




Stifling a Smile: I “stifled” a smile because that’s his “knee”

Philip talks about his experiences as an oxen teamster at the Orange County Fair and how he educates fairgoers about bovine anatomy.

training teamsters
C.J. Walters drives a Percheron put to a cart during the May 2023 Walter Hills Horsemanship Class.
Walter Hills Horsemanship Classes
The Percheron Horse Association of America and Walter Hills Horsemanship Classes team up to offer classes to novice teamsters.

blacksmith s hop
Preparing a seedbed with mules.
photo by J C Allen
HPD Equipment
Forecarts, Plow, Manure Spreaders, Cultimulchers and Tillage Equipment. Pictures and descriptions of the implements displayed and demonstrated at Horse Progress Days 2023.


Tales from Carter Country -
Haunted House
Jerry weaves a ghost story based on his experiences living in a ramshackle house that had bad luck before he even moved in.


A View from Holmes County
Mary Ann Sherman's annual overview of all the events and highlights of the 2023 Horse Progress Days in Shipshewana, Ind.


HPD International Meeting
Horse Progress Days organizers always make a point of welcoming international guests and exchanging ideas and innovations with them.
plowing with horses
The Whitehorse #715 plow, popular among farmers, is demonstrated at Horse Progress Days 2023
HPD Seminars
Mary Ann Sherman reports on the seminars held at HPD including:
Horses, Our Heritage and Life Today: Retired dairy farmer, Robert Yoder, discusses the virtues of a rural, horse-driven life, in general, and the Amish culture in particular.
Horse Training: Raymond Yoder and Jacob Barkman gave a demonstration on horse training with a mare that have never worn a bridle or had a bit in her mouth.
Produce Panel: Several produce farmers took part in a panel discussion about the pros and cons of produce farming. They covered topics such as farmer’s markets, co-ops, roadside stands, equipment needed and more.
Maintenance: Jacob Blank from I & J Manufacturing in Gap, Penn., was at Horse Progress Days to discuss how farmers can do some of their own repairs.
Cover Crop Roller: Jim Hoorman, of Hoorman Soil Health Services, discussed the benefits of using a roller/crimper on cover crops to suppress weeds.
Produce: Leon Hershberger of Cushman Creek Supply both soil health and greenhouses in successful produce operations.
Rural Ingenuity
Dick Courteau extolls the cleverness of people living in the hardscrabble economy of the Ozarks.
Handling the Lines Part 2 - LInes Behind the Back
Dick Courteau passes along more tips on how and why to hold the lines while operating walk behind farm implements such as a plow or cultivator. More tips on safety.
teamster tips
Dick Courteau shows how to he runs both checklines through a metal ring. Photo by Don House

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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