2024 Horse Progress Days Are Here! (2024)

Members of the Plain Sect communities have been using horses to farm in the Mid-Atlantic since the 1700s. Today, Amish and Old Order Mennonite farmers and some modern-day homesteaders still rely on draft horses of various breeds for the horse power on their working farms.

For the past three decades, a yearly summer showcase — Horse Progress Days — has brought field demonstrations of the latest mechanical equipment to these farmers who rely on horses or mules when farming.

Don’t call it a fair, as the event is conducted over two days on a working farm. But that’s not to say it isn’t fun for the family because there’s always something for everyone.

Horse Progress Days returns to its birthplace, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, for the first time in seven years. Since its inception in 1994 on the Elmer Lapp farm in Kinzers, thousands of farmers and their families have attended.

The site of Horse Progress Days rotates between the states having concentrations of Amish and Mennonite farmers, including Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania, said Stephen Esch, who serves on Horse Progress Days’ national board.

This year’s event will be held July 5-6 and is expected to draw farmers from the East Coast and Midwest to the Levi Fisher Farm in Gordonville.

“We have stayed true to our mission statement for three decades which is to encourage animal power and the latest equipment innovations to support sustainable, practical and profitable small-scale farming and land stewardship featuring draft animal power,” said Esch, the event’s general coordinator.

Estimates of the number of farmers using draft animals in North American are north of 200,000, Esch said, including most Plain Sect farmers, who will use at least some powered farm equipment during harvesting and baling.

Horse Progress Days’ mornings begin with a pony driving demonstration by and for children. Many farm children learn to drive and ride ponies soon after they learn to walk and own one in their pre-teen years where they’re responsible for care and training.

One of the highlights of the morning field demonstrations is local farmers using their draft teams of Belgians, Percheron, Suffolks, Clydesdales, American Spotted horses and mules with the new equipment.

Draft horse breed presentations will be held at the end of each day and a special auction with donated items from the on-site vendors is scheduled for 3 p.m. July 5.

The daily lunch break will give visitors a chance to sample some of Lancaster County’s favorite foods, including chicken corn soup, pulled pork sandwiches and the unique Hay Stack buffet-style meal on one plate. Proceeds from the Hay Stack Meal will support the Lancaster County Community Care Program, which provides treatment for special-needs children in the Plain Sect community.

Morning and afternoon programs are filled with seminars on a variety of farming and farm-related topics, including plows and tillage, roto tillage, transplanting, cultivators, sprayers, mulch lifters and irrigation. Also scheduled for the afternoons are haying demonstrations from cutting and baling to moving and wrapping.

Round Pen instruction will be presented both days and has been a part of Horse Progress Days since 1999. The Round Pen trainers will come from the East Coast Horseman’s Association.

Special programs for homestead farmers will be held, including sessions on livestock nutrition, dealing with electromagnetic fields, sheep and goats, and making and using compost.

Homestead farms got a boost in popularity during the COVID years when families wanted to buy their produce from local growers, and small farms grew and met those needs, Esch said.

Many of these small farms are between 4 and 70 acres, said Dale Stoltzfus, who raises and trains draft horses on his farm in Leola. He has been an active volunteer and coordinator with the event for 26 years.

“Homestead farming continues to have a place in the world of agriculture with families becoming more self-sufficient and choosing to live on small farms,” he said.

“There is a ton of work by lots and lots of volunteers to make this event happen,” Esch said. “We look forward to two days of programs from introduction and demonstration of new equipment to seminars and breed presentations. We’re hoping for good weather and look forward to welcoming farm and non-farm families from children to grandparents for the 30th anniversary of this great event.”

Visit the 2024 Horse Progress Days’ website for the most up-to-date information and each day’s schedule at horseprogressdays.com.