"It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." A.Holmes

Friday, July 2, 2010

The Old Ways With Horses

Sam greeted us with a bark, a sniff , and then just a pose as we drove into the driveway of the farm our son was shoeing draft horses. The people who own and operate this farm are Mike and Terry. They have many beautiful, healthy, and well-kept Draft horses. Here Mike & Terry are harnessing 2 of their horses, Annabelle and April. They allowed me to photograph them, but make no mistake here, Mike and Terry are not posing here,they do this practically every day. They farm with their horses.
The horses are now led into the barn for harnessing to the hay wagon.
Annabelle and April are ready to haul the hay wagon out of the barn.
All the grass hay used on this farm is grown, cultivated and harvested by Mike and Terry working these and the other horses on this farm. The horses also eat the fruit of their labor. Truly, it is a labor of love for Mike & Terry. Mike leads the team hauling the hay wagon out of the barn and in between our car and the barn. Yikes! Look at how tight it is between our car and the barn! These are big horses, and the hay wagon is fully loaded....we offer to move our car but Mike's wife Terry says Mike would be insulted if we did that. He knows his horses and what he and they can do together, easily! Look at that. Mike does know his horses and himself well. The photograph does not fully show just how tight the squeeze is, but it is also apparent there is no worry or doubt about Mike's ability to guide his beloved horses. Here we go! Come along for the hay ride in the next post. Annabelle and April are hauling the hay , Mike & Terry, my grandson C.T.,and myself.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good Morning Kathy, What beautiful pictures of your visit. I look forward to your next post.

I also notice your oldest granddaughter has a new photo on your sidebar that is so very pretty.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

Thistle Cove Farm said...

What a fabulous post! Love seeing draft horses earn their keep; SO unlike my beasts -smile-. I'd love to have HayJ trained to a cart but there are so few folks who know how to do that these days. Are those Percherons? Or, did you say and I missed it?

Vickie said...

What a treat to go along on a real old-fashionned hay-ride! Now those folks are really farmers! I love the old ways - they are practically lost to the younger generations. I'm looking forward to your hayride!

Anonymous said...

Nice pictures!

~*~Amy~*~

KathyB. said...

Mildred, to think that Mike & Terry offered us the opportunity to ride along with them on the wagon when we were just there to drop off our Grandson to spend the day with his Uncle Daniel. Mike & Terry love their horses and farming with them, very much! And yes, the picture in the sidebar is the reason we went for the visit in the first place, to see our granddaughters' ballet recital!

Sandra, I do believe they are Percherons. Mike & Terry also have Belgians and another breed. Not sure though what.

Vickie,thank-you. It was a treat and I wish I could visit more with Mike & Terry. They are busy people who work hard, and I do not believe they have much "sit down " time for drop-ins. They are gracious though~

Dolores said...

Oh Kathy, the draft horses are so big and beautiful!!
Looking forward to the hay ride....
Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend...

Connie said...

That was fun to see how they still use horses to farm with. Nice pictures, Kathy. Have a nice weekend!

KathyB. said...

Amy, thank-you~

Dolores,the horses are so beautiful and they were so calm. It was a lovely day, and an unexpected privilege.

Daisy, thank-you. I am just glad I had my camera in the car because we drove there just to drop off our grandson to help his Uncle.

A. Joy said...

Thanks for the photos. Great memories for CT. He said the hay bales were really light. =) Little J. liked the very last photo and pointed and kept saying " More Horse Mama! Mama, more horse!!! " He was pointing at the horse wayyyy off in the distance behind the semi truck. I told him " Good eye! "