Landwirtschaft mit Pferden
Farming with horses - demonstration
Traction animale moderne - la démonstration
Die PferdeStark hat sich über die Jahre zur europaweit größten und bedeutendsten Veranstaltung für modernen und zeitgemäßen Pferdeeinsatz in der Land- und Forstwirtschaft entwickelt. Neue Pferdezuggeräte werden hier einem internationalen Publikum vorgestellt und unter realistischen Bedingungen in der Praxis vorgeführt. Maschinen und Geräte, wie man sie in den Hochzeiten der Pferdenutzung noch nicht kannte und die heute den Pferdenutzern Möglichkeiten eröffnen, von denen Pferdebauern früher nur geträumt hätten. Neben Serienprodukten werden auch viele Prototypen vorgestellt, die von Anwendern kritisch begutachtet und später gegebenenfalls überarbeitet und verbessert werden. So hat sich die PferdeStark zu einer wahren Ideenschmiede entwickelt! Von ihr gehen viele Impulse für neue Projekte aus und viele Menschen werden dazu inspiriert und motiviert, es in ihren Betrieben vielleicht doch mit der Pferdearbeit zu versuchen.
The "PferdeStark" is the European Version of the US-HorseProgressDays. Nowhere else in Europe you will find more modern horsedrawn machinery and equipment than at PferdeStark. And this not only in displays but also under realistic working conditions.
"If you want to put a finger on the pulse of the current cart horse scene in Europe, then this show of heavy horses at work is compulsory viewing. Unlike so many events featuring big horses, the theme is firmly focused on the present and future. Nowhere else can you see such a wide variety of new machines and the horses to pull them. (…) Apart from being a practical shop window in its own right for horses and horsemen from all over Europe, a opportunity to meet old friends, make new ones and discuss ideas and problems in an open and informal fashion rarely encountered at more conventional agricultural shows, PferdeStark has a wider significance. For so much effort to have gone into developing practical new equipment, harness and other requirements for the working heavy horse indicates to me that there is a real revival of interest in such animals. An interest that is no longer an exercise in nostalgia, but a positive belief in the future." (Charlie Pinney, GB)
Detmold -Wendlinghausen - , c’est avant tout l’utilisation moderne et future de la traction animale comme source d’énergie
renouvelable.
Un nombre impressionnant de machines nouvellement développées et construites aux Etats-Unis, en Angleterre, en Allemagne, en Scandinavie, en Suisse sont exposées et présentées au travail. Les
avant-trains les plus divers, les outils les plus simples et les machines les plus sophistiquées, tirées par un, deux ou quatre chevaux, tournent dans les prés, les champs et les bois du musée:
faucheuses, faneuses, andaineuses, botteleuses, charrues, herses, bineuses, semoirs, épandeurs à fumiers, porteurs forestiers etc.
German Version of Horse Progress Days: Pferdestark
Enough already, then already! Pferdestark
by William Castle
There is a rather neat phrase in German – ‘wenn schon, denn schon’ – which literally translates as ‘enough already, then already;’ but what it actually means is ‘if a something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. That would be a fitting description of Pferdestark, the German version of Horse Progress Days, not just because of the abilities of the individual teamsters, but also because of the organisers’ achievement in attracting teamsters from far and wide and putting together a wide ranging, interesting and enjoyable event.
For sheer variety of different breeds of draught horses, regional and national harness styles, or for that matter, languages or hats, it would be hard to beat Pferdestark, but the main point of the event is to show what horses can do and to showcase new machinery. This year the event also hosted the finals of the European Logging Championship as well as ploughing matches and main ring displays of dressage, driving and pulling competitions, draught horse football and horseback gymnastics, so there was plenty to see and entertain the casual visitor as well as the dyed-in-the-wool work horse enthusiast.
In comparison with North America, the number of working horses in western Europe is relatively small, so the use of forecarts with tractor machinery is common, and there were plenty in evidence at Pferdestark, though there does seem to be a movement towards using more implements made specifically for horses, especially for work in vineyards, for logging, and other work using a single horse. Given that working horses are spread thinly across many countries, Pferdestark is an important event, bringing together working horsepeople and enthusiasts, idea-smiths and invention-makers from all points of the compass, from Norway to Italy, the Czech Republic to Ireland.
What the pictures cannot convey is the great atmosphere at Pferdestark. From its beginning in 1995, an important objective was that the participants should enjoy the whole experience. In achieving that aim they have also done something more – they have created almost a family atmosphere as the teamsters, the helpers and designers of machinery worked together. As the enthusiastic and knowledgeable commentators with their roving microphones explained the features of different implements, introduced the horses and their drivers, or explained why a field is ploughed in the way it is, each part of the event moved from being a spectacle to an education, from an education to a communal gathering; and in that process drew everyone into the world of the working horse.
From: Small Farmers Journal from issue: 37-4