Description

Features:

• Publisher’s Post: Joe Mischka 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.
• Stewarding Pastures: by Jenifer Morrissey. A thorough examination of how to steward our pastures so they can sustain grazing year after year. One key is seeing above ground but thinking below ground as well.
• From Wild to Mild: 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.
• HPD Takeaways Ralph Ricegives 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 Courteau 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 Henderson talks about his experiences as an oxen teamster at the Orange County Fair and how he educations fairgoers about bovine anatomy.
• Tales from Carter County: Haunted House: Jerry Hicks weaves a ghost story based on his experiences living in a ramshackle house that had bad luck before he even moved in.
• Walter Hills Classes: Chris Weaver talks about The Percheron Horse Association of America and Walter Hills Horsemanship Classes team up to offer classes to novice teamsters.
• HPD: Forecarts, Plow, Manure Spreaders, Cultimulchers and Tillage Equipment: Pictures and descriptions of the implements displayed and demonstrated at Horse Progress Days 2023.
•  A View from Holmes County: Mary Ann Sherman gives An overview of all the events and highlights of the 2023 Horse Progress Days in Shipshewana, Ind.
•  HPD International Meeting: by Mary Ann Sherman. Horse Progress Days organizers always make a point of welcoming international guests and exchanging ideas and innovations with them.
•  HPD Seminars: by Mary Ann Sherman: Horses, 1) 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. 2) 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. 3) 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. 4) 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. 5) Cover Crop Roller: Jim Hoorman, of Hoorman Soil Health Services, discussed the benefits of using a roller/crimper on cover crops to suppress weeds. 6) 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.
• Old Timer Tips: Handling the Lines, Part 2: Dick Courteau