corn harvest

Farmers get out all the horses, the picker, a wagon, and, in this case, a daughter and march into the corn fields on days like today. The ears drop with a thud. The horses look interested and up for the challenge.

the day after: digging out

West Eby kids had school today. One father returns from pulling the sled with his two children, and notices the milk truck stuck. When it finally makes it to our house it gets stuck again and a tractor pulls it away finally. It's almost 3 p.m. and our road is not yet opened to the west of us.

snowplow scares horse

This neighbor's horse shied away from the township snowplow and got stuck in the ditch. Makes a nice neighborhood story when Montereyans converge and save horse, buggy and passengers. The plow driver even finally got involved when they pulled the buggy out of the ditch.

small wheels of Monterey

You can't see Pop with the weed whacker, but here is son on the tiny wheels, mowing the schoolhouse yard. If industrialized society had twice as many big horses and half as many 18-wheelers....

intruder in garden

Last night some horses traipsed through the garden, crushing some plants. Here are four lettuce plants off to a good start. The step in the middle has toppled one. I asked a neighbor, who noticed hoof prints in other fields nearby, but the culprits are still unknown.

make hay today

On Saturday while I was seeking relief from the heat my neighbor was making hay behind our house. Six horses pull the baler and hay wagon.

the team

Another look at the team pulling those wheels. They look like Percherons to me. Belgiums are similar but tan. I think Percherons are the largest draft horse. The grandfather of the youth driving the team was killed by a horse kick. You have to watch the kick, but horses are vegetarians and will never eat you.