The Suffolk Punch

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Paul Birdsell, seven-acre market garden, 55 acres in pasture and hay, Maine: "I use four, sometimes five, Belgians for all my farm work—plowing, cultivating and haying. In the winter, I log with them; I've got a 50-cord contract with Champion. Draft horses have held on well in this area. They're good for our poor soil, long winters and mud season. This farm has never been tractor-worked."

Robin Reading, 1,500 acres, Alberta: "I'm a cattle farmer, raise 120 head and 120 calves every year. This farm's been in my family for generations. We were pretty much out of horses in the '60s, but then we got a lot of snow and couldn't feed the animals with tractors. Now I have 10 Belgians and use them for about a fifth of my farm work. I cultivate, seed and cut, shock and load hay with them."

Chris Haugsten, 30 acres of grapes, California: "I use my Percherons a lot in the vineyard for spraying, sulfuring, cultivating, hauling boxes and harvesting. They don't get stuck in wet weather and can work hillsides that are too steep for a tractor. They're cheaper, too. I also do some logging with the horses, handle a lot of my hay work with them and make a little extra money giving hayrides. I use a tractor for heavy plowing and baling hay."

Gary Eagle, 100 acres, Washington: "I have 65 acres in hay, about 12 in oats and five in vegetables. I've been farming here about 15 years and use my horses for all the work: four Belgians when I'm plowing and doing other field work and two on the vegetables. I also have a stallion and six mares to breed stock for sale."

Clearly Jason Rutledge is not alone. But how many people are farming with horses? Good question. The editor of one prominent draft horse journal says, "Who knows? It's a mystery." The editor of the other confidently estimates "at least 100,000 people in North America."

Interestingly, a large number of these farmers use both horse power and horsepower: draft animals and tractors. (Rutledge himself fits in this group. "I've got a 60-horse-power diesel tractor. I chisel plow all my crop ground with it, then I disk and harrow the ground with horses. Hey, I'm a modern farmer—I owe the bank, the landlord, everybody. But there's still a place on every farm for a team. I believe in appropriate technology. When it's appropriate to use draft horses, use 'cm. When it's not, get them the hell off the field.")

Most of these "mixed-power" farmers see the two pulling sources as complementary. They claim that a tractor is best for the heavy work, for work you have to do over long distances or if you're in a hurry. But a team does a cleaner job. And it costs a lot less to purchase, own and maintain. "If I didn't have a team, I'd have to have a second tractor," is a frequent claim.

However, a number of farmers, such as Gary Eagle and Paul Birdsell, demonstrate that you can farm only with horse power. The two journal editors embody this contrast. Maurice Telleen, editor of Draft Horse Journal, says, "I was out this morning working up eight acres of oats. The hired man plowed ahead on the tractor. I harrowed behind with three horses." Lynn Miller, of Small Farmer's Journal, declares, "We plow up to 40 acres, cut hay on 80 and log off of 50 acres of timber. We use six Belgians to do all that. Well, actually, there was a borrowed tractor on my property today—to help me get a dead heifer out of a field."

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IMPLEMENTS FOR FARMING WITH HORSES AND MULES'

Sam Moore

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