The Hitches for Draught Horses – New Guidebook from Schaff mat Päerd
The Hitches for Draught Horses – New Guidebook from Schaff mat Päerd
review notes by Lynn R. Miller
Regular readers of this journal will be well familiar with the amazing work of Paul Schmit and Albano Moscardo of Schaff mat Päerd in Europe. Their in-depth articles on new continental innovations in animal-drawn technologies have set a very high bar for future inquiries into the discipline. This handsome and eminently practical addition to their Guidebook series covers hitches and hitching of both European and North American types. In addition to the directly practical nature of the information, there is here a subtle and intelligent comparison of two different cultural approaches to the working of horses. Take for example the quick release snap shackles between traces and draft springs connected to singletree (below). Giving the horse a way to ease into a load is easier on the implement as well as on the horse. It is the attention to such small details that point so clearly to a healthy future for working animals. And it is central to the mission of Schmit, Moscardo and Schaff mat Päerd. As is stated on the back cover: “We are convinced that even in our day and age, when the full digitization of agriculture is casting its shadow, the workhorse has not lost its importance … there is still no other farming technology that can reproduce itself … and which supports the idea of an environmentally friendly agriculture in closed cycles so wonderfully.”