As with the old Chinese curse, we are living in interesting times.
Between rising prices, and the proliferation of grossly unhealthy additives, substitutions, and GMO Frankenfoods in grocery store "food" products, a lot of folks are looking towards some level of self-sufficiency.
Fuel and equipment upkeep costs are motivating some small farmers to revisit really old-school approaches...
Our latest distraction here has been getting old-fashioned production of real, unadulterated milk flowing. (Once you discover fresh, creamy, raw milk from a grass-fed Jersey, you'll want to punch the grocer right in the nose for passing-off that bleached and boiled, watered-down sewage in plastic jugs...)
Around here, THIS is a milk "by-product".
Draft horses seem to be gaining in popularity in recent years. This may have started-out with folks wanting to breed them to performance stock to develop American sport horses. But more and more, folks appear to be gaining an appreciation of draft horses for what they are... Which means even veteran horsemen have to learn a whole new world of things, like collar fitting, harness types, and so forth. And, of course, farriers have to become conversant in these new things as well. Farriers have always been expected to know a good bit more about horses than how to mount them on iron.
This is why some fundamental draft horse and harness information worked its way into Millwater's Farriery: The Illustrated Dictionary of Horseshoeing and Hoofcare. The big critters are part of the scene on our farm too, and doing what they were bred for.
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