It's All About The Horse Power

There are some folks who still think of farming in the old-fashioned way, including it's use of horses for power. Plowing, hauling, logging and more were done with the use of hoofs and old-time elbow grease, not fumes and oil grease.

If you're one of those people (I know I am!) then this post's for you! Farming with horses has always been the low impact, Earth friendly way to work the land, and until the age of oil mechanization in farm equipment at the turn of the 20th century, horse drawn power had existed for centuries.

Horses hooves are low impact, they aren't part of the fossil fuel (oil) dependence issue, and what's great is that you can SAVE the many unwanted horses in North America (due to the economic downturn), and they don't cost many thousands like some new tractors and implements do.

Yes, there is training involved--both for you and your horse. Yes, there is grunt work to be had in grappling  a plow with horses. But when have farmers ever shied away from a challenge that involved grit, learning, and sweat equity?

Worried about paying for hay to feed your equine friends in the winter? Plenty of folks sew, tend, then harvest hay with their own horses--it's a great way for your horses to "work for their supper!"

Why do we bring this up? Our interview with Jared Flesher, director of "The Farmer and the Horse," of course! Jared is an award winning journalist whose first film explores the world of horse-drawn power, and this frames bigger ideas of why we farm, farming in the modern era, and farming in the new generation.

It's a great film if you love farming and farming the old fashioned way. You can find out more about The Farmer and the Horse at: www.thefarmerandthehorse.com

Here's the trailer, if you're curious:

And you can listen to our interview with Jared HERE:

Listen to internet radio with Renegade Farmer on Blog Talk Radio

Plus, Jared is currently working on his new film, Sourlands. For more on that, please see www.sourlands.com

So here's to horse power, REAL horsepower!