Southern Draft Animal Days survey site

[Gabe Ayers]

We have put a site together to explore the possibility of having a horse progress days type event in the south in 09.

Anyone interested please go to this site and give us your thoughts.

http://www.southernhorseprogressdays.com

Thanks,

[Gabe Ayers]

We have recently heard from a board member of HPD that they would not
look positively on the use of the words Horse Progress Days even with the word Southern added. So we are trying to come up with a different name to accurately decribe the event.

At this point the name Draft Animal Development Days – South (DADDS) is on the table. The name will be important, but the location and quality of the vendors and presentation will likely be the telling feature on the events success and ongoing presence in the community of interest.

The most common theme in the 50 or so responses so far is to keep the event small and appropriate to folks that would be starting up with draft animals as a part of their lifestyle. Small meaning equipment and techniques for a team and single animals, will less emphasis on multiple hitches that aren’t appropriate to start up folks. This will be the idea and every vendor available will be invited once we decide on a location.

We are working on forming a volunteer steering committee to work on this at the moment. We have three volunteers so far and invite anyone interested to go to the above mentioned site and log in and help with the project.

Hope the attendance at NEAPFD is record setting and an example of the growth among the community of interest. We are inspired by the work of this group.

Thanks for everyone’s interest.

[Gabe Ayers]

We have decided on a name for this event:

Southern Draft Animals Days

The new site will be http://www.southerndraftanimaldays.com (it is not up yet – promised for next week)

This event will be a fund raiser for Healing Harvest Forest Foundation. There will be an admission charged with advanced ticket sales used to pay for advertising. If turn out is good compensation will be made for demonstration teamsters.

We have decided on dates: November 7-8 2009 (demonstrators and vendors arrive on the 6th) We have the site rented for four days 6-9th (inclusive).

We have many details yet to work out but the plan, so far is to have:

Field demonstrations of new and old equipment (separately), plowing, seedbed preparation, cover crop planting, corn picking, every vendor of related equipment and merchandise we can get to come, lectures, round pen seminars, music, local food, animal powered restorative/sustainable forestry demonstration, invitational horse pulling contest on Saturday evening and maybe an invitational mule pull on Sunday evening.

The event will be about small scale (teams and single) animal powered use and limited multiple hitch sized equipment. The goal is to attract, educate and inspire more start up and small scale people in this culture of modern animal powered techniques.

All participating animals will be by invitation only – negative coggins required.

Camping is available with electric and water connections.

We have a few more site specific details to work out before announcing the location. It is south of Virginia.

Stay tuned to DAP and mark the dates on your 2009 Mischka Draft Animal calendars to come on down south for a late fall early winter event.

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