2026 Draft Animal Power Field Days
Our hands-on educational conference
October 2nd - 4th
at the Shelburne Farms Breeding Barn
in Shelburne, Vermont
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DAPFD thanks our 2026 Sponsors!
Field Days tickets for all.
To keep Field Days accessible while covering event costs, we are happy to offer a sliding scale payment model again in 2026. When you buy tickets, please select the option that best fits your financial situation - no questions asked.
While it’s true we are a volunteer-run non-profit, charging admission keeps the event self-sustaining. Your admission fee helps cover essentials like equipment rentals, catering, printed materials, advertisements, and compensation for presenters and teamsters.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact Ivy Pagliari at ivy@draftanimalpower.org. If you would like to volunteer reach out to Emily DeYoung at volunteer@draftanimalpower.org.
Sliding Scale Passes
Advocate
Pass
Supports the event and helps others attend.
CHOOSE THIS PASS IF:
The cost is comfortable for you, and you’d like to help make Field Days more accessible.
You have stable income, savings, or financial flexibility.
You want to contribute to the long-term sustainability of this event.
Patron Pass
Covers the true event cost without extra support for others.
CHOOSE THIS PASS IF:
You can meet your basic needs and afford occasional extras like eating out or entertainment.
You have steady income but limited financial flexibility.
You want to pay the true cost of Field Days without additional support.
Friend Pass
Budget-friendly for those who need a lower price to attend.
CHOOSE THIS PASS IF:
You are a student, apprentice, or working a low-wage job.
You have financial constraints, such as significant debt, medical expenses, or high living costs.
You sometimes need to be mindful of extra expenses beyond basic needs.
Youth
are free!
Plus a Chaperone for Saturday and Sunday.
Thanks to a generous bequest from Robin Jurechko, this year young people (18 and under) and one accompanying chaperone can attend for free on Saturday and Sunday! Advance registration is still required so we can plan accordingly. Saturday registration includes lunch and dinner.
Register
Field
for The Draft Animal Power
Days
Sliding Scale Registration
Friday, Saturday, Sunday Attendees
Youth and Chaperone Registration
Saturday and Sunday Attendees
2026 DAPFD Schedule and Pricing!
Friday, October 2nd: Intensive Workshops
8am-5pm
Join us for a full day workshop focused on a single topic. Our Friday Intensives are taught by teamster educators, offer hands on participation, and have smaller group sizes to give time for individual attention and questions.
Friday registration includes lunch and dinner.
There will be a potluck continental style breakfast in the Breeding Barn before the workshops begin. You can sign up to bring something here soon.
Friday Intensive Registration Fees:
Advocate Pass - $225
Patron Pass - $180
Friend Pass - $140
Registration includes lunch and dinner
We are offering at par pricing for Canadians joining us at DAPFD this year. Please email info@draftanimalpower.org to find out more. This year there are 6 Intensive
Workshops to choose from.
Learn about them below:
Draft Horse Basics
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Dave Gibaldi, Coordinator
Participants will get a full day hands-on experience learning basic care, harnessing, and driving of equines. The morning will focus on basic equine care, harness parts and types, how to harness and ground driving. The afternoon will include more practice harnessing and how to hook/unhook and drive a variety of vehicles, as well as the possibility to try some more technical driving environments, like a basic obstacle course.
All topics covered will emphasize safety. All ages from youth to adult are encouraged to sign up. Any youth under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Farming with Draft Animals
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David Fisher, Coordinator
This hands-on workshop is designed for all skill levels and garden sizes, from backyard plots to full-scale CSAs. We’ll cover soil preparation, plowing, manure spreading, secondary tillage, bed forming, transplanting, cultivating, and harvesting, all with horses or oxen.
Teamsters will demonstrate working with both single animals and teams, emphasizing safe practices and effective use of tools. You’ll also learn about efficient wash-pack setups, storage, marketing, and more with plenty of time for questions and observation throughout the day.
Bring gloves and work shoes, we’ll be in the dirt with great animals and experienced teamsters.
Oxen Basics
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Ari Auger, Coordinator
Join us for a full day of ox and teamster training. From selecting and training animals, to grooming basics, yoking methods and yoke fit, as well as hitching and pulling implements with a chain or a tongue, there will be lots to do! We will have young steers and adult animals to work with. This is a great workshop for anyone curious about oxen, getting started with their own team, or who might need working cattle refresher. Young people are welcome when accompanied by an adult.
Starting Young Horses to Work
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Donn Hewes, Coordinator
Learn about starting horses to work and building a partnership with a working equine!
We will use 4 different horses in different stages of training to demonstrate a progressive approach to starting a young horse to be harnessed, drive, and get hooked up and drag things as well as work on a cart with wheels.
This hands-on program will have students practicing specific leadership techniques that prepare horses (and humans) for harnessing and driving. Throughout this program the highest attention is placed on safety and calmness of horses. Calmness in training leads to calmness at work.
Forestry with Draft Animals
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Instructors: Daphné Courtès, Tom Jenkins, Chad Vogel
Coordinator: John SmolinskyJoin our team of live power loggers for a day in the woods focusing on methods for home woodlot management and small contracts. We will cover chainsaw safety, tree selection, felling, limbing, lineless single horse twitching, skidding with one or two animals, landing management, scoot and trailer load loading, and forwarding logs. Our focus is on learning foundations and safety practices for working in the woods. The goal is to give participants the opportunity to see the basics and ask deep questions about the ways that DAPNet’s instructors make the simple component of timber harvest safe and efficient. This is a great opportunity to learn from professionals as well as to observe the regrowth of DAPNet’s 2019 forestry work.
Holistic Live-Power Business Planning
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Maggie Smith, Coordinator
Willie Gibson, Instructor
"What is the Future of My Enterprise?" is an all-in engaging intensive designed for farms and businesses (existing or planned) that want to optimize quality of life, farm management/stewardship, and over-all resiliency. This workshop will help you define your enterprise's future, or define your future enterprise. We will focus on assessing where you are now and creating a plan for achieving holistic goals in the short and long term
Instructor Willie Gibson is the owner of AGRI-Culture Services, LLC. He is a Certified Crop Advisor Agronomist in the specialty of Soil Health & Regenerative-Organic Farming. He worked for UVM as an extension agent and VT NOFA as a dairy and livestock advisor.
Saturday, October 3rd: Workshops, Demos, and Activities
beginning at 8am
Activities begin at 8am and include workshops, round-tables, and plenty of animals working in the woods, the fields, and around the farmstead.
After dinner, there will be a fundraising auction starting at 6pm and a barn dance at 8pm. The public is welcome to attend these evening activities.
Saturday registration includes lunch and dinner.
There will be a potluck continental style breakfast in the Breeding Barn before the workshops begin. You can sign up to bring something here soon.
If you will just be joining us for the evening’s festivities, registration isn’t necessary. You are welcome to purchase dinner here or bring your own picnic.
Saturday Registration Fees:
Advocate Pass - $125
Patron Pass - $90
Friend Pass - $70
Youth and Chaperone Pass - Free
Registration includes lunch and dinner
We are offering at par pricing for Canadians joining us at DAPFD this year. Please email info@draftanimalpower.org to find out more.Open the drop-down menus to find out more about everything going on Saturday at DAPFD!
Workshops and Demonstrations
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Click on workshop titles for full descriptions!
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Beginning at 8:15am at the Forestry Site
Our teamster-educators and professional loggers John Smolinsky, Daphné Rose Courtès, Tom Jenkins, and Chad Vogel will be at our forestry site starting at 8am on Saturday.
They will be demonstrating chainsaw safety and directional felling, basic arbor-site skills including setting a throw line and bull rope, hitching and skidding logs with single and double animals, working on steep and hilly ground, lineless skidding techniques and more throughout the day.
There will be a Quebec and USA logging roundtable during the final timeslot of the day.
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Item description
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Everyone is welcome to join our youth teamsters as we demonstrate and learn together.
Locations vary by workshop.
Activities
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10am-5pm Location TBD
Vermont artisans Lucian Avery, Eli Barlow, and Prin van Gulden will be creating draft animal equipment using traditional techniques. Stop by to observe, discuss, and learn!
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The Timber Framers Guild is bringning a barn to DAPFD!
Try your hand at traditional timber framing by helping assemble a 1/4-scale English barn timber frame. This hands-on activity invites kids, families, and curious adults to explore how a timber frame fits together using posts, beams, braces, and wooden joinery.
Come see how the pieces connect, help raise the frame, and learn a little about a building tradition that has shaped barns and communities for centuries. No experience needed—just bring your curiosity.
A fun, interactive activity for builders of all ages.
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Our vendors and exhibitors inside the Breeding Barn will include:
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Auction begins at 6pm in the Breeding Barn: Come ready to laugh and to bid on gently used tack, live power equipment, farming supplies, hand made goods, and more. You can count on an impressive array of useful, beautiful, and unique items up for sale. All proceeds go to supporting Field Days!
If you would like to donate something (clean and in generally good working order) to the auction, please let Erika Marczak know. Bonus points for a promo picture. erikamarczak60@gmail.com
If you would like to donate a large piece of equipment to the auction and it does not sell, you need to take it home with you as we cannot store unappreciated treasures.
Raffle: At the end of the auction the winning raffle ticket will be drawn for the beautiful mosaic table made by former DAPNet President Jen Judkins-Godin.
Tickets are $5 or 5 for $20 and will be sold at the registration table. Be sure to stop at the table to say hi to Christa and buy the winning ticket.
Click here for a few photos of the table in progress. Thank you, Jen!
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From 8pm-10pm in the Breeding Barn.
Join us in the for live music and contra dancing!
Sunday, October 4th: Community, Learning, and Fun 7:30am-1:00pm
Join us for teamster breakfast put on by the Green Mountain Draft Horse Association at 7:30 (payment by donation $10-$15 suggested) and the DAPNet Annual Meeting at 8am.
Afterwards there will be workshops and activities all morning. We wrap things up with our horses versus humans tug of war.
Everyone is welcome to help clean up and look forward to next year!
Sunday Registration Fees:
Sunday admission is FREE FOR EVERYONE thanks to our amazing fundraising team and generous donors. Join us for a day of community, learning, and fun!
Please register for Sunday so we can plan accordingly.
Open the drop-down menus to find out more about everything going on Sunday at DAPFD!
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7:30-8am - in the Breeding Barn
Out friends at the Green Mountain Draft Horse Association prepare this most eagerly anticipated meal of DAPFD. All are welcome. Suggested donation $10-$15.
You can sign up to bring an ingredient here soon!
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8am-9am - in the Breeding Barn
Join us to find out what the DAPNet Board of Directors has been up to this year, what we are planning for next year, and to elect our 2026 Directors. There will be time for members to share thoughts as well!
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9:30-12 - in the Breeding Barn
Repair Cafe with Natasha Klemek. Work together to clean, repair, and renew items. We have some items and tools but bring your own as well.
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9:30-12 - begins in front of the Breeding Barn
Join teamsters and artisans Prin van Gulden and Lara Weise in a hands-on community art project! Learn how to make large and small felt pieces with the help of draft animals.
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9:30-12 - in front of the barn
Whether you are an old timer or a green horn, demonstrate your skills and learn some new ones with friends at the obstacle course!
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Click on workshop titles for full descriptions
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Ongoing until noon
The Timber Framers Guild is bringning a barn to DAPFD!
Try your hand at traditional timber framing by helping assemble a 1/4-scale English barn timber frame. This hands-on activity invites kids, families, and curious adults to explore how a timber frame fits together using posts, beams, braces, and wooden joinery.
Come see how the pieces connect, help raise the frame, and learn a little about a building tradition that has shaped barns and communities for centuries. No experience needed—just bring your curiosity.
A fun, interactive activity for builders of all ages.
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Our vendors and exhibitors inside the Breeding Barn will include:
But wait! There’s more!
Free dry camping (no power or water hookups) is available from Thursday afternoon to Sunday morning.
There will be trained working draft dogs at Field Days. No participants are allowed to bring pet dogs to the event. ADA service animals are welcome.
Lunch and dinner are included with all Friday and Saturday registrations. Teamster Breakfast is offered by donation on Sunday morning.
If you would like to purchase additional meals, you can do so on the registration page. This link will take you there.
Interested in volunteering at Field Days? Please contact Emily: volunteer@draftanimalpower.org
Still have questions? Email us at info@draftanimalpower.org or check out our FAQ!
See you at Field Days!
Ready to
Register?
2026 Sponsorship and Vendor Tiers
July 1 update:
We’ve met our July 1st sponsorship goal! Sunday registration is free for all participants!
It’s not too late to be a sponsor. Support your hands on educational conference today!
The Draft Animal Power Field Days couldn’t happen without the businesses, farms, organizations, and individuals who sponsor this event each year.
You provide the seed money that pays the deposits, buys the supplies, and starts the magic!
Our sponsorship and vendor tiers are summarized in the chart. More details about the levels are available in this document:
Sponsorships at $200 and above offer “perks” shown in the chart to the right. But you are welcome to sponsor any amount that works for you.
Every sponsorship is appreciated and has the perk of making Field Days happen!
Have Questions? We’re ready to answer them! Email: info@draftanimalpower.org
To make a sponsorship with a card or ACH, use the form on this page. Donn will be in touch with further details.
To sponsor with a check, please make the check payable to Draft Animal Power Network with Sponsorship in the memo. Send it to PO Box 24 Greenwich NY 12834.
To become a vendor on commission contact Donn Hewes (tripletree@frontiernet.net).
Ready to be a Sponsor or Vendor?
Thank you! See you at Field Days!
2026 DAPFD Art Contest!
Congratulations to our 2026 Field Days Art Contest winner: Lotta Hauswaldt!
Lotta Hauswaldt is an artist who primarily creates linolcuts. She has worked on different farms throughout Canada, Germany and the US, after graduating from Eberswalde University of Sustainable Development, Germany. Her art is inspired by the daily farm work, her passion for draft animals and glimpses of other cultures.
Congratulations to Lotta, and a huge thank you to everyone who participated and shared their creativity with us. We were amazed by the talent and passion shown in every submission,
Thank you to our past featured artists:
2023 - Natalya Zahn || 2024 - Julia Farner || 2025 - Leslie Sims
Field Days FAQs
