Hugh Fifield has some hay to bale, and while most farmers would fire up the tractor, he calls in the horses.
Certainly among the last of his kind, Fifield, 85, has eschewed the technological advancements that have come along since he opened his Canterbury farm in 1972. Instead, he’s chosen to rely on what he knows to be reliable for the heavy lifting – old-fashioned horse power.
Fifield’s uses his pair of Belgian-Percheron horses, which he bought a decade ago, to help rake and bale hay on his 25-acre farm.
These horses are outfitted with rigs that they tow across the field, collecting hay along the way.
“You’ll never see something like this again in Canterbury, I’ll bet you,” he said.
Using horses was a natural way to help do work on the farm, Fifield said.
“It’s unique for this time and age,” he said. “I was brought up with horses, and when I graduated from high school, I started working with horses.”
Despite this commitment to horse-drawn farming, there was a brief time in the early ’70s when he experimented using different techniques.
“I bought a tractor,” he said. “(But) there’s a lot of breakdown and cost to it.”
Fifield eventually returned to using horses after realizing the tractor was too much effort.
While mowing and baling hay is an important part Fifield’s work on the farm, most of his income comes from a sawmill and lumber business on the property.
“I have a field up back where I sell the lumber and people come,” he said. “I don’t advertise. I’ve never had to really … I don’t have big selection like Home Depot, but people like rough lumber to build sheds, garages or barns. They often ask me ahead of time.”
While Fifield is still heavily invested in his work, he said it has become more difficult as he has gotten older and his legs have slowed down.
“You get old, and pretty soon things are a little different than they used to be,” he said. “But I love what I do. I love to work. I always have.”
In order to keep the farm up and running, Fifield has enlisted the help of close friends and family members.
“I’ve got good neighbors,” he said. “A lot of good folks around me and good kids – two daughters, one across the road … they help me out.”
Fifield said he does a lot of the haying in conjunction with fellow farmer Bruce Locke, who provides some of the horses necessary to rake and bale the hay.
“He comes over with his horses, and I have mine,” Fifield said. “I have two fields to mow, and we mow it with the horses. We do everything with the horses, baling and all.”
Locke shoes Fifield’s horses, and it’s through this work that the two came in contact.
“The last couple years, we’ve been going over to help him do his thing,” Locke said.
Despite his age, Fifield still makes an effort to get out and learn about horse-drawn farming techniques, including a recent trip to Lancaster County, Pa.
Fifield said he greatly admired the techniques displayed by the Amish farmers on his trip.
“What gets me going is these younger men,” he said. “They prod me along and keep me going. They won’t let me quit.”
Despite his age, Fifield said he has no plans to give up working on the farm. In fact, he has no plans as to what he’ll do with the farm when that day comes.
“I just go day by day, and as long as I can accomplish something every day, I’m happy,” he said. “I love to do whatever I can.”
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the power source for the sawmill. It is run by a combustion engine, not horses.