Horse Progress Days

Welcome

Welcome to the North Country

Lakes, forests, fishing, and farms, characterize our part of the world. We are very pleased to host you this summer in Clare, but it’s important for you to know that we in the horse farming communities of Michigan are scattered around in a number of areas in the state. So, unlike other areas where planning is done on a very local level with local planners traveling 20 miles at the most to participate in planning, some of us have traveled 100 miles and more on a regular basis for the past year to attend planning meetings. There are representatives from at least five different communities in Michigan who are working hard to prepare for this important event.

At Horse Progress Days in Clare you can expect to see and learn about all of the various pieces of horse farming equipment that are so much a part of it, as they are demonstrated in actual field conditions, pulled by teams of hardy horses. But, for various reasons, much of the farming that is done in northern Michigan is on a smaller scale than in other parts of the state and country. Horse Progress Days 2012 will reflect this in a variety of ways.

We’re excited about some of the activities we will be adding to the event which we feel are in keeping with the theme “something for everyone.” We will continue the tradition of assigning small groups of youngsters, their ponies and wagons, the job of bringing refreshments to you in the fields throughout the day. In the morning before we begin our field activities these same youngsters will give you a “pony express” Michigan welcome, you won’t want to miss it. And in the afternoon Friday and Saturday we will be holding a children’s pet auction. There will be rabbits, chickens, ducks, and pigeons offered for sale by our younger members for whom trading in small animals is a regular part of their farming experience. Guests to Horse Progress Days 2012 will have the opportunity to take home a live animal as a memento! The Mio community with its periodic pet/small animal auctions, is especially accustomed to this kind of farming activity, and considers it a valuable part of the education of its young people, since it teaches them the responsibility of caring for animals, and paying the expenses associated them, and selling them at a (hoped for) profit.

When you arrive at Horse Progress Days at the Alvin Yoder farm in Clare, you will be greeted on horseback by the Clare County Sheriff’s Department Mounted Division, a volunteer reserve unit with 15 members. They will help you find a place to park and help to ensure that your visit is satisfying, and each of them is trained in first aid and will be carrying a first aid kit in their saddlebags in case it is needed.

Watch out for horses, equipment and wagons, all day, all the time, as it moves around on the farm. Safety is of utmost importance. Please help yourself, your loved ones, and all in attendance to be safe by thinking ahead and anticipating a problem before it occurs, and doing everything you can to prevent it. But most of all, come and enjoy yourself, and be prepared to learn.

Norman Miller — General Coordinator

Mission Statement:

To encourage and promote the combination of animal power and the latest equipment innovations in an effort to support sustainable small scale farming and land stewardship.To show draft animal power is possible, practical and profitable.