According to Jim Butcher, historic farm specialist at Carriage Hill Metropark in Huber Heights, the return to using horses for plowing has been driven by the rise of the organic farming industry.
“It’s a lot easier on the dirt to use horses,” Butcher said. “It doesn’t compact the ground as much and a farmer can create his own replacements. You can’t do that with a tractor.”
One such farmer, Mike McCormick, is following in his father’s footsteps and using the draft horse method to plow six of his 15 acres near Wilmington. He also is one of about 35 farmers who will be competing against one another in the fifth annual US Plowing Competition and Draft Horse Days to be held at Carriage Hill Metropark this weekend, Sept. 4-7.
“I grew up in Iowa,” McCormick said. “And my father taught me all about using draft horses in farming. I’ve been actively doing it myself for more than 25 years now.”
McCormick started using horses while living in Tennessee for logging and started competing about 10 years ago. He has participated in the Carriage Hill event each year since its inception.
Butcher decided to start the plow horse competition after reading an article about it in a farming journal.
“We held a plowing fun day the year before we started the competition formally to determine interest,” Butcher said. “We had so many people come out that we decided to make it an annual competition.”
The competition begins on Friday Sept. 4 and will include McCormick and other farmers from across the state. Saturday is designated as a “fun day,” and will feature farmers from all across the country who will demonstrate plowing and allow interested attendees to try their hands at this age-old process. Sunday and Monday are reserved for the national event during which contestants from all over the country will compete.
But for McCormick, the competition is just part of the fun.
“One of the main reasons I keep participating in competitive plowing is because of the people I meet,” McCormick said. “Each year the competitions differ and we all help each other.”
According to Butcher, the majority of farmers competing will bring teams of two horses and each will plow a plot, 100 feet long by 25 feet wide. Contestants are judged on speed but also cleanliness and straightness of their rows and on how they treat their teams.
“Draft horse numbers are up significantly from the 1970s when they were at an all-time low due to the transformation to heavy equipment farming,” Butcher said. “It’s nearly impossible to use horses on large farms but most small farms use them exclusively.”
And though only about half of the participants in the competition actually use their horses for farming, the other half continue the tradition as a hobby, in the hopes that the technique will continue to be handed down from generation to generation.
“Part of our mission at Carriage Hill MetroPark is education and interpretation,” Butcher said. “This event goes a long way to help educate the public about horses and how they are used. And people can really get up close and personal with the horses and the farmers.”
For more information, contact Butcher at Carriage Hill MetroPark at (937) 278-2609.
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