Event brings draft horse fans together.Byline: The Register-Guard Lynn Miller is egging them on under the big tent at the rodeo grounds in Sisters. "Come on, this is a legitimate auction," he tells the crowd of 300 or so. "We're going to sell the world's only cast draft pig." The pig's a gag, a way of explaining the auction process to a group of students visiting from a nearby school. But for three days every spring at the annual Draft Horse & Horsedrawn Equipment Auction, the steady patter pat·ter 1 v. pat·tered, pat·ter·ing, pat·ters v.intr. 1. To make a quick succession of light soft tapping sounds: Rain pattered steadily against the glass. of an auctioneer's voice draws thousands of horse owners and the craftspeople crafts·people pl.n. People who practice a craft; artisans. who supply them with harnesses, carriages and farm implements such as plows, mowers, discs, even road graders. Miller - who organizes the event - is an enthusiastic proponent of draft-horse farming whose books and quarterly magazine, The Small Farmer's Journal Small Farmer's Journal is a large (11 x 14 inch) quarterly journal published by a family-owned business in Sisters, Oregon since 1976. External links
see draft animals. really can make a living off the land. Draft horse farmers and fans showed up this year from Oregon, Washington, California, Utah, Nevada, Montana, Nebraska, Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec for the April 22-24 event. Lisa Salisbury, a heavy equipment operator from Suquamish, Wash., came looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a two-wheel cart for her pair of Haflingers, which she rents out for wedding parties and parades. The small Haflingers are easy for her to manage. "They're very calm, they're like the golden retriever golden retriever, breed of large sporting dog developed primarily in Scotland in the mid-19th cent. It stands about 23 in. (58.4 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 60 to 75 lb (27.2–34.1 kg). of horses," she said. Chris Paddon came down from Astoria to buy a team of horses and a wagon to run as a taxi but also to advertise his new nonprofit, the Titanic Lifeboat Academy, an organization that promotes sustainable living in an age of dwindling fossil fuels. "It's a public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most tool," Paddon said. Robert Patrick, a retired cabinetmaker from Sweet Home, brought a reproduction stagecoach stagecoach, heavy, closed vehicle on wheels, usually drawn by horses, formerly used to transport passengers and goods overland. Throughout the Middle Ages and until about the end of the 18th cent. he and a partner had just built. A similar coach last year went for nearly $50,000, he said, purchased by a wealthy contractor from the Seattle area. His stagecoach - modeled on a pattern he purchased from the Small Farmer's Journal - sold for about $18,000 to an Alberta wheelwright wheel·wright n. One that builds and repairs wheels. wheelwright Noun a person whose job is to make and mend wheels Noun 1. who planned to use it for weddings and rades. Creswell residents Tony and Jennifer Broy picked up two mowers, a plow, some saddles and a 12-passenger wagon for their Belgians. For many, the auction is a good excuse to hang out with people who share their love of draft horses and their dream for a viable small-farm life. Lynn Miller's enthusiasm is infectious and his knowledge is extensive, Kathy Noble said. His encouragement is part of the reason she took a chance on her Suffolk horse-breeding operation, heirloom apple orchard and row-crop farm in south Eugene. "That's what Lynn Miller does," Noble said. "He encourages you. You have to keep pushing forward with it and it may take longer than you think. But he tells you this is not a silly dream." - Susan Palmer MORE INFORMATION Small Farmer's Journal: www.smallfarmersjournal.com |
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