how many young folks out there?

[lancek]

I would be interested in finding out how many young people under the age of twentyfive do we have on this site? If you would please give your age and maybe a short note on how you got interested in draft animal power it would be interesting to know Lancek

[Robernson]

Lancek,
Even though I just pm’ed you about it I will tell it again.
I am 14 and was “bitten by the bug” after getting to ride along on the trailer behind my neighbors mules. It was a great experience!
R

[TBigLug]

Well, I’m not under 25 but I’m pretty young. 27. Been around the horses my entire life. Had to be young and dumb for a few ywars but came back to my simpler roots. Bought my first horse as a 2 y/o in 2006. Never looked back!

[Traveling Woodsman]

Well guess I’m 26 so I don’t quite fall in there, but seeing that I’ve been using draft horses full time since I was 19 I thought I’d throw my 2 cents in. I got started in draft horses when I was 15, I believe, when our family bought a team to do all the work on our farm in the mountains of Virginia. I originally wanted to get a team because of all the nostalgic pictures you see, as well as the exciting atmosphere that surrounds horse pulling. After I got them and used them every day I soon realized that it was a lot different than I thought. You don’t just turn off the key and walk away when you’re dog tired at the end of a dawn ’till dusk day behind the horses. But after facing that reality I can still say that I really enjoy spending the day behind a team of stout horses skidding some good oak logs. After using horses on the farm for several years doing just about everything you can do with a horse, like mowing, tedding, raking, hay loading, walking and riding plowing, discing, harrowing, cultivating, all kinds of wagon work, and others, I ended up doing an apprenticeship through the Healing Harvest Forest Foundation in horse logging when I was 18. Shortly after that, I started out on my own with a 150 tract of woods several miles from the farm and have been all over since then. In addition to Virginia, my logging has brought me to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Montana. I’ve had many adventures with horses, log trucks, knuckleboom loaders, sawmills, and chain saws, some good, some bad, always learning something. Soon I am headed back to VA to work in the wonderful hardwood forests in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. Still the most diverse and interesting forests I have run into. So there’s the short version. I would be interested to know of anyone else with a similar story, ’cause I find that there aren’t many. 🙂 I’m also open to check out any new places where I might find work….

[Joshua Kingsley]

I’m in about the same boat as John and Benjamin, I am 27 and have been working horses off and on since I was 14. Logging and field work, Mowing and putting in hay for his cattle. I worked my Great uncles farm with belgins for the summer all during highschool and college. I tried to buy suffolks at 15 and have been after them till this fall when I got a GREAT Mare and a good looking filly. I got my first teams of my own in ’05 and have had at least one heavy horse since. I logged for a while till I got banged up. Thought about getting into little guys with the shetlands and decided that what I really want to do is farm with my drafts and am going to do it or die trying.
Hope to hear some others stories from those under 30 and trying to do it all with the horses.
Joshua

[Carl Russell]

Now some may not agree, but from my perspective I’m pretty young at 49, seeing as my mentors are in their eighties. I also grew up around people using draft animals. Most of them were still in the transition from animals to tractors, so mostly used them in the woods, and most of my early exposure was to farming with tractors.

Like several of you I got started in earnest at 26, buying my first horse in 1986. One of the biggest differences for me is that there are so many of you YOUNGER folks around now. I was pretty much alone, as the credit business, computers, and electronic communication were just blossoming, and most people my age were far from thinking about using draft animals.

I am very pleased to see your stories, and hope you find what you need to continue.

Carl

[OldKat]

Mrs. OldKat says that I am MENTALLY about 18 years old; does that count? 🙂

[Robin]

I am about to celebrate my 42nd anniversary of my 25th birthday….you can do the math.
I call my oxen adventure Senior Citizen 4-H. I’m have lots of fun with them along with the opportunity of meeting so many nice folks.
We do some work and some local events.

[Scott G]

I grabbed ahold of my first set of lines when I was 19, I’m 47 now. At that time I was working at a dude ranch and guiding/outfitting. As I worked up into the years of being a head wrangler and foreman it didn’t matter how rough of a day it was, when I harnessed the boys up and took a few folks on a “backcountry” wagon ride it made everything all better.

I’ve made a few major detours in my life but I have kept revisiting those roots and here I am again.

To the young men/ladies on this forum; you are our future. Please get some some of your similiarly aged peers interested in this culture as well. You folks are the ones who are in charge of maintaining this way of life well into the 21st century.

Take care, be safe, and have fun…

[lancek]

Well Scott
Thats the reason for this thead I just wanted to see how many young folks that we did have! When I seen the post from Robernson I was inpressed with his dedication to our field of indever, and was curious as to what motavated him and how many more young people we had on our site? I too agree that these young people should go out and try and recrute more young people to join our ranks. I allso feel we should look more strongly into inticeing more young people on too this web! That being said I will have to admitt that I am not sure how to do this and would ask some of the other folks how this mght be acomplished any ideas folks?

[lancek]

O and by the way Oldkat my wife agrees with you but she lowered my mental age to my shoe size:D:D:D And big lug i would have taken you for a little older you are proble like me . With me its not the years its the milage:D:

[Plowboy]

I am 32 And have been at it for 20 yrs now. My family decided to get back into draft horses after my great grandfather sold his team that my dad learned to drive on when he was a kid. He always had a solid interest and with a little prompting from my mom bought a pair of weanlings and trained them with help from our draft friends.I am the youngest serious teamster around here now although there are a few girls in their early twenties that have taken an interest in the past couple years. Our events have gotten gradually smaller in the last few years as some of our old timers have to give it up and those that are in a passing fad go onto something else. My son plowed last Sunday at 5 1/2 months and sems to like it. He rode with me and my Dad. Hopefully he’ll take a solid interest in a few years. Every Generation of my Dads family has worked horses on a farm since we have record of. Hopefully we can continue!

[Robin]

When we go events with the oxen, if folks really seem interested in learning I invite them to my farm. Over the years a few have come out. One has returned many times, others come a few times and that’s it. Granted, there are no oxen in my area other than me and we are now surrounded mostly with city folks that commute to NYC to work. There isn’t much land left for draft animals in this area. A few pockets here and there. I do try to educate all the folks about draft animals, how hard it was to settle this country, etc. Do they remember or have a real interest?!! Maybe, don’t really know. If I can touch one person with some history or knowledge it will make a difference. The people have a million questions and always want to pet the “big boys”. I usully have books, pictures, etc on display so the folks know there are ways to learn. Most folks are facinated. Truthfully, I don’t know what else I can do. Not so young, Robin

[Andy McEvoy]

I started working with draft horses four months ago. I’m 22 years old. I have enjoyed being around horses since I was little. I had grown up with thoroughbreds and other saddle horses, but I had always had an interest in working with drafts. I decided that fresh out of college was the best time to try something new. I asked around about possible apprenticeships and came across John Plowden and his horse logging operation. It’s only been four months, but it has been the best four months I have had in a long time.

I think that apprenticeships are going to be one way to encourage younger folks like myself to stick around in this arena. I have noticed that many of my friends and peers have gotten their start through apprenticeships on produce farms. They seem to be leading the way there. What if the forestry community took a page out of their book? I know that in Maine MOFGA sponsors a number of journey persons. The mentor is payed by MOFGA for the apprentice to come and work/live with them. It also seems like there are appentice opportunities at many educational farming facilities.

Looging professionals face a special obstacle because of the liability issues inherent in logging. Perhaps, rather than paying the mentor, the sponsoring agency could fund the insurance costs, leaving the mentor and apprentice to sort out the financial situation which suits them best.

Certainly everyone will not come into draft animal work through an apprenticeship, but I have found it an invaluable exprerience. I recommend creating more opportunities like an apprenticeship to let young folk truly immerse themselves in this world.

A

[draftman]

I am 13 yrs old. I started working with draft horses last year. My dad bought me a Belgian gelding to learn how to work horses last August. He is a great horse and my dad is a good teacher. We found a teammate for him in the spring. She is a Belgian mare named Betty. I now work with them single and as a team. I have a few pic on the photo gallery that my dad (Hoss) has posted.

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