Hello and good day to you.

Here I am, once more writing one of my certainly long and rambling welcomes for you all, the citizens of the DAPNet newsletter email list. Today marks over 8 years since I signed on for my volunteer duties as a director of the board and nearly 6 years since I joined the executive committee and became the “president”. Sitting or not, I feel very connected to this community. “Community”: This is genuinely what this whole organization is built on and, in all honesty, what the strongest nations in the world are built on. Community overcomes things like greed and selfishness. Community seeks to remove individuality from the picture and instead form a common goal and purpose. The community embraces all that come to join it with integrity and meaning. I never had to run a campaign and I likely never will, but if I did, Community would be bigger than my name on the lawn signs.

I sit here, likely writing the last welcome I will write for DAPNet as the chair of the board, the commander in draft, Mr. President. I will tell you all, it has been my greatest honor to serve this organization of people, work with the other volunteers, struggle and fight to get things done, finish deadlines, and push through hard patches. Non-profit board service will always be a deeply meaningful part of my life. 

I was asked to write a note about “why draft”. That topic is far and expansive. That question is one I receive personally all the time and to the common individual it can be hard to answer. I've had tall and burly loggers looking down at me with judgement in their voice asking with an assumption that I am a “paid for millennial rich kid that has daddy’s credit card so I can do 'whatever' I want”. I've been asked by the little old lady who is running the cash register at Ocean State Job Lots in St. Johnsbury who spots my business logo on my t-shirt. I think the majority of people see it as a thing of the past, quaint, interesting but certainly not modern or practical. This judgement of a power source which you feel so passionate about can be challenging. I've always said that you had to have thick skin to be a horse logger. 

THEN WHY? I've said this before, my protest is the same as my art, I believe in keeping myself scaled so that I can still fit into a human sized operation. I believe the avoidance of connection to animals and the earth is a flaw that the human race is veering towards. I believe greed is gripping the world, especially in developed countries like mine. I believe that this tarnishes communities and divides people over imaginary lines and imaginary opinions for imaginary purposes so that people can be plugged into a machine like a battery. I don’t swing with a left or a right hand when I get into a fight, I use my head and break the proverbial egg with deductive reasoning and questions, questions that I form and seek to humbly pursue an answer that makes sense to me, logically, and not an answer I want but an answer I believe. 

WHY DRAFT? What I get out of using live power is true authentic engagement with nature. Connection that will make you ask these questions. Make you wonder and explore your curiosity, seeking answers for real, on-the-ground reality. The way I see it, no relationship can fast track you into this mindset as working animals. In my opinion, don’t be greedy, be real. Let your animal do the talking and for the love of this earth, put the phone down. 
                    
“There is no doubt,
Mr. Jones,
That the sound
of a moldboard
slicing through soil, 
 muffled footsteps,
in cadence of eight,
and the odorous medley 
 of horse sweat
and freshly turned Earth, 
 complimenting
the physical connection
 to living power,
moving in unison
to your silent command,
will touch something deep inside.
 Bank that,
it is the value
that will support you
as you leave the readers
and bean counters
in the dust... 
                   
 CBR”        

John Smolinksy, 
Board President

Draft Animal Power
Field Days
Preliminary Schedule

Our events committee is hard at work preparing for the 2025 Draft Animal Power Field Days on Loudon, NH.  You may have already seen our tentative schedule for the weekend in your inbox last week - but stay tuned as we release more details in the coming weeks.  Registration is set to open TOMORROW AUGUST 1st!  Check back to our website then to sign up for a weekend of fantastic workshops and demos combined with the opportunity to connect with the otherwise geographically scattered community of draft power practitioners and enthusiasts.    

Friday October 3rd - (8am-5pm):
All day intensive workshops

Registration will include lunch and dinner.  The whole day is focused on one topic. We have 6 intensives this year - old favorites and also 2 new offerings!

1) Oxen basics
2) Draft horse basics
3) Forestry with draft animals
4) Farming with draft animals
5) Build an ox cart in a day!
6) Large Animal Emergency Rescue and Preparedness taught by Vicki Schmidt

(See Vicki’s DAPChat from this spring here to get a sense of this workshop)

Saturday, October 4th

Morning Sessions
Block 1
Large Animal Emergency Rescue
What to Look for when Buying your First Draft
Meet and Greet (Youth Teamsters)

Block 2
Basic Chainsaw Maintenance & Safety
Oxen Hoof Care
Obstacle Course & Chores with Drafts (Youth Teamsters)

CATERED LUNCH (included in admission)
Food provided by Twelve 31 Events, dietary restrictions and preferences noted at registration.

Afternoon Sessions
Block 1
Large Animal Emergency Rescue
Equine Dentistry
Hands-On Stoneboat Build (Youth and all ages welcome!)

Block 2
Harness Fitting & Yoke Building
Hoof Care & Farriery
Implement Skills Demonstration (Youth Teamsters)

CATERED DINNER (included in admission)
Food provided by Twelve 31 Events, dietary restrictions and preferences noted at registration.

AUCTION
Donations of farming, logging, and draft animal related items welcome. All proceeds benefit DAPNet!

BONFIRE & SOCIAL HOUR(S) 
Come see your friends and make new ones!

Sunday October 5th - (7am-noon)

Sunday starts with our teamster breakfast (by donation, all are welcome!) and then the Draft Animal Power Network Annual Meeting, followed by the equipment repair cafe, a demonstration on hitching multiple horses and oxen (although not to each other), making felt with draft animals, and an obstacle course for everyone from beginners to experts.

Last year’s Sunday tug of war, two Belgians vs. many humans.

This line up is made possible in large part by our sponsors, so a huge thank you to the businesses who have already stepped forward to sponsor this year's event!

2025 Field Days Sponsors

Are you or is your business interested in sponsoring this event? 

The Draft Animal Power Network offers several sponsorship levels that both support this event and promote your business name to the draft animal community or show your personal support for our flagship event. Choose the level of support that's best for you using by clicking the button below and arrange your sponsorship or vendor status via our website.  

Become a sponsor

Have you had a chance to listen to the Draft Animal Power Podcast?

Last year, we have published six different episodes with interviews of people working with draft animals in the USA and Germany! Find us on any podcast listening platform and subscribe to be the first to know of a new episode!

Listen Here

From the Horse's Mouth

Several of our intrepid board members past and present have recorded information about this year's Field Days for your viewing pleasure. Check 'em out below: 

John Smolinsky on Field Days

Donn Hewes on Field Days

Maggie Smith on Field Days

Committee Updates

Executive Committee - July is the second of our 4 all board meetings of the year.  It’s summer, everyone is busy, numbers are crunching, projects are projecting, planning for Field Days is in full swing.  At the end of the meeting we had a little bit of time left for any other business or announcements and someone chimed in with an update on how to give a under the weather pig antacid, and someone else told a (fortunately funny) story about yellowjackets in their tractor, and a third board member shared that while her freezer had broken in the heatwave she was on her way to buy another one and had gotten to eat some of her home grown tenderloin that had thawed.  It was a very fun moment of community with everyone that included lots of laughs.  So the report this month is that we did a lot of laughing at the board meeting.  

Events and Field Days Committee - Events Committee is busy planning Field Days!  We have a great update from Ray Ramsey - board member and FD liaison at Sanborn Mills.  Ray reports that the field work is going well.  There will be fall brassicas to cultivate, cover crops to mow, and nice ground to plough.  We’re excited to return to Sanborn this fall!  

Finance and Fundraising Committee -  Finance Committee is happy to report we have recently received generous Field Days Sponsorships from The Berry Center, Tillers International, and Speckled Hen Garden.  A big thank you to these organizations for helping make Field Days happen!  (Sponsorships start at $25 - find out more here https://www.draftanimalpower.org/registration )  Our committee is also continuing to work on the grant funded project of setting up a CRM platform for DAPNet.  (A CRM is a way to organize DAPNet’s information - memberships, fundraising, event signups.)  We have used spreadsheets for a long time and love a pivot table as much as we love a d-ring harness.  But the time has come to make the jump to something a little more integrated and organized.  This will mean less time entering information and more time for programming.

Communications Committee - Thanks to the hard work of board member Cindy Nickerson, DAPNet will be at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine.   Cindy as well as other volunteers will be telling folks all about DAPNet, selling merchandise, and showing off the tabling kit the Communications Committee has been designing.  These materials tell people about the work DAPNet is doing and help encourage others to join in our community.  If you’re at the Common Ground Fair, too, please stop by and say hello! 

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Events

Have a draft animal related event you’d like share with the DAPNet community? Fill out our Events Submission Form and our volunteers will add your event to our website calendar!

Event Submission Form

For more details on the following events and others, visit our website.
August 1st - 4th - Oxen Basics, Tillers International, Scotts, MI. Instructor: Rob Collins. Total Price: $500
August 21st - 22nd - Draft Horse Basics, Tillers International, Scotts, MI. Instructor: Rick Eshuis. Total Price: $410
August 23rd & 24th - Pferde Stark, Dörentrup, Germany.
September 19th-21st - Common Ground Country Fair, Unity, ME
October 3rd, 4th, & 5th - 2025 Draft Animal Power Field Days, Sanborn Mills Farm, Loudon, NH. Our organizations flagship event: https://www.dra

Welcome to the DAPMap

This month we are looking at our Farrier Services! 

NEW- Arrow G LLC -  Primarily a farrier business, but also offering draft animal work for custom logging, farming, property management, and public horse drawn rides. You can contact them here.

Black Swan Farriery- Full service farrier: barefoot trims, shoes. therapeutic specialist. Stocks available with hail-ins. We can also evaluate and provide solutions for more difficult horses. No horse is too big or too small! Service within 1 hour of Pine Bush, NY. Haul-ins by appointment only!
Visit their website here.

Fishing Creek Timber & Rich DuMond Farrier Services-  We are a mixed power logging operation and a full line farrier service business. On the side, we sell log grabs and skip hammers on our Horse Logger Supply website. Visit their website here.

McCarry's Clydesdales- We breed, train, show, and give carriage rides. We also so clinics on driving. I'm a professional farrier with 30 years experience. Contact them here.

Golden Sands Horse and Wagon Tours- They run horse and wagon tours on the beach here on the West Coast,  South Island, New Zealand. I also do a little bit of log snigging, pulling stuff etc. Low key barefoot farrier.  Visit their website here.

Join our Map