We recently held a cultural event on May 14th, demonstrating traditional Korean farming practices through a live oxen ploughing performance at our museum’s outdoor terraced fields. This event not only showcased the ‘Gyeori farming culture’ but also featured a hands-on rice planting experience with over 200 students from a nearby elementary school, emphasizing the importance… Continue reading Ox Ploughing at the National Agricultural Museum of Korea (NAMUK)
Draft Animals
From Farm to Fork
An agro-industrial complex in the Eure departement, France, in the early 20th century. These Salers cattle belong to the Nassandres agro-industrial complex, made up of a sugar beet factory-distillery (in the Risle valley, between the Seine and the Eure) and six farms (Chrétienville, Les Rufflets, Bigards, Feuguerolles, Beauficel , Beaumontel), very close to the factory, representing… Continue reading From Farm to Fork
The Animal Power Behind the Vallus at Malagne
– Capucine, a jenny without equal, at Malagne, the ArcheoPark of Rochefort (Belgium). In the heart of the Rochefort countryside in the Province of Namur in Belgium, there is a little gem of nature and heritage interwoven: the site of the Malagne Gallo-Roman Villa, nestled in a green setting, where our visitors discover the remains and… Continue reading The Animal Power Behind the Vallus at Malagne
The Political Symbolism of the Triple Yoke in Castile in the 15th-16th Century
Many agricultural implements have been elevated to the status of symbols, either as representatives of a social class or, as with a special type of yoke, as a symbol of an idea of political domination. Ferdinand II of Aragon (reign 1472-1516) chose a yoke for three animals as his personal emblem and, although it appeared… Continue reading The Political Symbolism of the Triple Yoke in Castile in the 15th-16th Century
A Hames Inquiry: Location? The Clues are in the Images
After nearly 70 years of “playing” with working horse material and non-material culture especially from the UK and Ireland, I like to think that I am reasonably experienced in identifying where photographs without a given provenance have been taken. For example, in the following photograph. The above photograph shows a three-horse team drawing a Ransomes… Continue reading A Hames Inquiry: Location? The Clues are in the Images
Grand Messe des Bouviers du Monde
Le “Draft Cattle Symposium” au Laboratoire de Plein-Air Lauresham sur le Site UNESCO de l’Abbaye de Lorsch en Allemagne, 8-10 Mars 2024 Voir des vues aériennes et autres vidéos de la rencontre (Courtoisie Lauresham et Arbeitsgruppe Rinderanspannung) i Cette rencontre était le produit de convergences entre divers acteurs et réseaux intéressés par les bœufs de… Continue reading Grand Messe des Bouviers du Monde
Draft Cattle Capture a World Audience
The Draft Cattle Symposium in Lauresham Open-Air Laboratory at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kloster Lorsch in Germany, 8-10 March 2024 To say the very least of this remarkable meeting, it has been “a-building” for many years through efforts from many and varied partners and institutions, among them the AIMA, several of whose members… Continue reading Draft Cattle Capture a World Audience
Networking for Draft Animals and Rare Breeds
We often mention the networks of members and friends that come together in the AIMA, many times in our past congresses, regularly by contributing to the newsletters and blog posts, or by giving advice to help us and…. our networking partners. This often makes for a feeling of a very small world, as well as… Continue reading Networking for Draft Animals and Rare Breeds
A horseman talks about his donkeys
From Luxemburg, Pit Schlechter sent a note about his two donkeys. “They are Zamorano-Leones, a Spanish breed that is indeed related to the Poitou donkeys (although the Poitou breeders avoid talking about it, even if they sometimes go and get stallions from there). It took me a very long time to learn how to communicate,… Continue reading A horseman talks about his donkeys
Astrid Masson’s Handbook on Harnessing Cattle
– especially based on experience in open-air museums. Astrid uses cows and their calves in her work at the Dahlem Open Air Museum in Berlin, perhaps one of the world’s only urban museums of its kind and it is indeed “open” – the public can walk through the entire farmland section without paying any entry… Continue reading Astrid Masson’s Handbook on Harnessing Cattle
When work is fun and learning at Howell Living History Farm
It’s winter, so take the time out to visit and help with the ice harvest, tap the maple trees to make maple sugar and take a sleigh ride or attend the Sugar Moon Dance (in March). Later in the year, you can “walk” the corn maze. Looking for experience with working animals? Then apply for… Continue reading When work is fun and learning at Howell Living History Farm
Draft Animal Conformation
A Veterinarian’s Viewpoint. by Barbara Corson Of all the many tools that have shaped human cultures, harnessing* systems for domestic animals are among the most important. (*Note: Some people differentiate between harness and yokes, but in this article, harness is used in the sense of capturing or transmitting power, as one would “harness the energy… Continue reading Draft Animal Conformation
Draft Animals in the Past, Present and Future
Virtual Conference 8-9 May 2021. “Draft Animals in the Past, Present and Future” was piloted by AIMA President, Claus Kropp, now taking up the challenge of a world-wide effort to bring together draft animals users. The congress was virtual, and hosted by Lauresham Laboratory for Experimental Archaeology at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Kloster… Continue reading Draft Animals in the Past, Present and Future
The Vallus, a 2000-year-old Gallo-Roman Harvesting Machine
Malagne, the Archeoparc of Rochefort, in Belgium (between Brussels and Luxemburg city), is an interpretation centre for rural Gallo-Roman civilization especially designed to highlight an important villa active in the early centuries of the Christian era in Northern Gaul. Malagne’s special mission is heritage protection, scientific research and mediation of this listed site and archaeological… Continue reading The Vallus, a 2000-year-old Gallo-Roman Harvesting Machine
Harvesting with a cart: Pliny’s vallus and Palladius’ vehiculum
An on-going saga in agricultural innovation. How can you harvest with a cart pushed backwards? This idea proposed by farmers in northern Gaul is original and unparalleled in the Roman era: it suffices to combine two implements, a cart (vehiculum) and a hand tool for cutting or stripping-off. The idea seems simple enough, but the… Continue reading Harvesting with a cart: Pliny’s vallus and Palladius’ vehiculum