Rural Heritage Reading Room

Joe gives a run down on all the books, calendars, videos and more we sell that you can enjoy yourself and give as gifts during the upcoming holidays.

(contacts for breed registries and regional draft clubs)

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

Ralph Rice gives brief history of how this event started – to give voice to the few manufacturers of horse drawn equipment once the big guys stopped making it.  And how it has progressed to become a place for draft horse farmers, equipment manufacturers and designers and farm families to gather, discuss, demonstrate and learn.

Hay crimper, hay rake, hay tedders, hay loader, round bale roller and more.

Mary Ann Sherman’s annual synopsis of the event including the Pony Express Parade, Thursday bus tour of neighboring farms, farrier demonstrations, produce equipment, auctions, old friends and new.

Visitors from Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, France, Germany, Mozambique, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland were present at HPD this year.  Some came to show and sell their equipment, most to learn more about farming with draft animals.

Terry Klein who runs a commercial honey operation, presented a workshop on beekeeping.  He gives advice on purchasing your first setup including equipment, bees, queen and what other equipment one needs.  He advises on location, overwintering, pest mitigation and more tidbits.

11-year horse trainer Andrew Weiler gave a demonstration on horse training.  He worked with a 2-year-old horse showing how to gently teach with touch and pressure, all the while rewarding with touch.

Turning a 500 head herd into DairyDoo, a major composting company, was the subject of this seminar.  Brian Morgan explained how he manages the composting business explaining everything from testing, blending, and turning to transportation logistics.

Dr. Kallie Ashcraft DVM demonstrated equine spinal manipulation to correct alignment.  She emphasized keeping the horse calm and explained the various locations that are commonly the cause of pain for the horse.

Veteran maple syrup producer Abe Schumucker showed the prices he gets for the various syrup products he sells, such a maple syrup, maple cream, maple cream and maple candy.  He explained the differences in syrup bags vs. tubing, ratios of sap to syrup, sugar content and more.

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.