The first week of January takes a little bit of adjustment. There is just simply too much emotion and ambition flowing in our hearts that it is tough to keep our feet on the ground. The best we can hope for is that we stick to our resolutions like glue so we don’t break them, and what is the goal of any resolution? The goal is to make us healthier and happier, to make the world around us a better place.
The same holds true for our horses – it should be our goal to make their lives better as well, to appreciate their strengths and respect their weaknesses. Much of the time this requires a resurrecting a certain skillset our horses might have. Such is the case with draft horses, with Brian Barth of Modern Farmer suggesting we should harness their power once again.
He writes, “Tractors may offer an easier way to plow a field, but they won’t love you back. Earth-friendly and emotionally rewarding, equine-fueled agriculture is experiencing a renaissance. Picture the kind of farmer who relies on horses, not a tractor, to plow his fields, and your mind’s eye probably conjures a conservative Amish gentleman or some Colonial Williamsburg curator in full period garb.”
Yes, Barth is suggesting that we go back in time a little bit, hop in a machine and travel to the past. Instead of using tractors to plow a field, we should turn to plow horses. Going from machine to animal may seem like a step back, but that isn’t the case at all. Given the rise in eco-friendliness, it seems like it is the natural and right thing to do. The upward battle, it seems then, is destigmatizing the sepia-toned image of someone relying on a horse for fieldwork. Just because we would be reverting to a way of doing things from the past doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a step back.
As Barth points out, “Cheaper than tractors, draft horses will toil for 30 to 40 hours a week on a simple diet of grass and hay, then export fertile manure – instead of guzzling fossil fuels and belching diesel exhaust.”
At Deer Creek Structures, we think this is a step in the right direction. Not only does it make the world a better place by decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels, it also brings us closer to the land and God’s wish for our lives. Seems like the perfect way to maintain your resolutions, whatever they may be. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.