2025 Deccember/2026 January
Rural Heritage is a bimonthly journal in support of farming and logging with draft horses, mules, and oxen. The 2025 August/September issue was mailed to subscribers on July 30, 2025. 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
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If, in your reading, you run across a drafty word you don’t recognize, consult our online Draft Dictionary.
Table of Contents
Departments
Joe Mischka celebrates the return of a couple writers (Jenifer Morrissey and Anna Knapp-Peck), who had taken a hiatus over the past couple of years, and the introduction of a new writer who focuses on working cattle Mary Osmer. He also introduces RH readers to the new Tillers International Executive Director, Megan Yankee.
(contacts for breed registries and regional draft clubs)
(frequently updated online)
(please tell ‘em you saw it in Rural Heritage)
Features
Developing Scotty Spring…click on title to read entire article.
Jenifer Morrissey writes about a man’s efforts to bring water to his ranch located in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota. We learn about why the water is so important, why it is so hard to get it there and how he made it happen.
Treating Duke
Donn Hewes is forced to take a break in his series about training his Duke horse after he developed an abscess after being kicked by a fellow pasture-mate.
2025 Sodbuster Days
Photo feature of teamsters gather with their horses at Fort Ransom, N.D., to demonstrate farming and ranching from a century ago. Haymaking, potato digging, threshing and much more.
Tales from Carter County – Christmas Gifts
Jerry Hicks reminisces about Christmases past and family, as only Jerry Hicks can.
2025 Horse Progress Days – Forecarts and Powercarts
We finish our coverage of the 2025 Horse Progress Days held in Clare, Mich., with an examination of the forecarts and power carts demonstrated there.
What Can Horses Do?
Dick Courteau discusses which tasks are appropriate for horses to perform and which are not.
The Pocketknife: Use & Care
Donn Hewes begins a series of articles detailing how he starts a young horse to drive.
Dick Courteau recalls lessons he’s learned about using and caring for a pocketknife.
Starting Joe & Mac
Mary Osmer provides an excellent primer on choosing and starting a team of working steers..
Draft Cattle Symposium
Rob Collins announces that Tiller’s will host the World Draft Horse Cattle Symposium in June 2026.
And He Died Anyway…
Ralph Rice relates the story of a foal that lingered for a few days after birth before passing away despite his best efforts.
2025 U.S. Plowing Contest
Results and photos of the contestants at the US Plowing Contest held at the Downs farm in Olympia, Ky.
 2025 ABA Rendezvous
The American Brabant Association holds its annual Rendezvous at the Julian Dairy farm in Medford, Wis.
2025 Suffolk Gathering
The North American Suffolk Horse Association holds its annual Gathering at the farm of Brian and Doreen Berndt-Paral in Hartford, Wis.Â
Tracy Allen — Ox Puller
Anna Knapp-Peck tells us the story of Tracy Allen of Reading, Vt., who trains and conditions pulling oxen and competes with them.
Cedar Creek Plow Day
Emery and Kaitlyn Edwards host their third annual Plow Day in Linden, Tenn.
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.