April/May 2026
Rural Heritage is a bimonthly journal in support of farming and logging with draft horses, mules, and oxen. The 2026 April/May issue was mailed to subscribers on March 26, 2026. 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 writes about the encouraging trend he has noticed of more young people working with draft animals and older teamsters serving as mentors. He updates readers on some of the trips he’s made and plans to make to cover interesting people and stories. One of those trips was to visit Ralph Rice in northeastern Ohio where he has begun training a couple of young Suffolk Punch draft horse geldings to drive. He starts by getting them used to wearing a collar, bridle and bitting harness, working them single, then putting them together as a team. We’ll be back several times throughout the spring and summer to document the process in a YouTube series. We also visited Donn Hewes in central New York where we started a series of videos on tips and techniques for farming with draft horses. Finally, he showed photos of a walking plow model sent to him by John Clayton who is looking for any information on the vintage plow it represents.
(contacts for breed registries and regional draft clubs)
(frequently updated online)
(please tell ‘em you saw it in Rural Heritage)
Features
The Open Bridle for Work Horses
Donn Hewes explains why he prefers to start his horses with open bridles (no blinders) and when he thinks that a bridle with blinders makes sense.
German Fellowship…click on title to read entire article.
Rob Collins writes about his recent experience spending a week at Lauresham open-air museum in Lorsch, Germany.
A Bridle/Halter for Safety
Donn Hewes writes about how he works his horses with a bridle that combines elements of a halter for safety and convenience.
Bioavailable Water
Jenifer Morrissey explains how water is more than you might think. She talks about research being done by Dr. Gerald Pollock into structured water, particularly bioavailable water, which provides unique nutritional properties for plants and animals.
Socializing Your Young Team of Working Steers
Mary Osmer writes about a couple of opportunities she has had to take her young team of working steers out in public, helping them gain experiences they might not get on the farm.
The un-forgotten Farmers of the Chars — Part 1
Paul Schmitt introduces readers to the Chars farmers in the Bangladesh Delta who are coping with changing climate.
Sixteen Mule Hitch
Men and women from California and Nevada hook 16 of their mules to to reenact a famous hitch used in the early years of Thermopolis, Wyo.
Florida Cracker Cattle
Les O’Dell writes about one of the oldest breeds of domestic cattle in North America.
Tales from Carter County
Jerry Hicks writes about the smoke house on his grandparent’s place and its many uses. .
An Unlikely Journey
Anna Knapp-Peck tells us about Lea Patrice Fales and Brian Alfonsi who farm with oxen at their Ray, Mich., farm.
Draft Animal Power Network
Becky Frye writes about Horsetail Herb Farm in Marathon, N.Y., where she raises certified organic culinary and medicinal herbs.
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