2024 Draft Animal Power Field Days Presenters and Teaching teamsters

We are incredibly grateful to welcome a diverse and talented group of individuals from within the draft animal-power community to the 2024 Draft Animal Power Field Days! This event brings together some of the most skilled and passionate practitioners, who travel from far and wide to share their expertise and love for this work. Watching everyone come together feels like witnessing a grand migration, as our presenters and teaching teamsters gather to make this weekend truly special.

Each presenter brings their unique knowledge, animal partners, tools, and equipment, demonstrating the vast range of work that can be accomplished through human and animal collaboration. Many of them may be familiar faces, returning to teach, demonstrate, and inspire others in the world of draft animal power.

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Schedule & Course Descriptions

We are excited to introduce this year’s lineup of incredible individuals who make the hard work look effortless!

**Anna Knapp-Peck**

*Friday forestry intensive with oxen, presenter in the field and for the 3 pad collar ox harness*
Anna has been working with oxen for over twenty years. The last ten have been focused on using a single ox with a three-pad collar and harness. She prefers the harness, finding it more efficient for work and comfortable for the animal.

**Ariana Auger**

Oxen basics intensive, forestry presenter
Ariana began riding horses at a young age and has never looked back. She became involved in training young thoroughbreds before their racing careers and became increasingly fascinated by animal behavior, communication, and their relationship with humans. She is currently training her first pair of steers, who are proving to her that the sky's the limit.

**Austin Mantz**

*Horse basics intensive*
Austin operates a small equine breeding farm focused on draft crosses, offering a range of services including shoeing, foal training, and colt starting for both riding and

**Ben Klopchin**

*Oxen basics intensive, Homesteading presenter*
Ben works with a single Devon ox named Tony. Together, they do demonstrations with a wagon and stone boat, pulling various items. Ben believes a single ox can be very useful and almost as practical as a team of two.

**Bill Sherman**

*Draft dog training presenter*
Bill is a licensed veterinary technician and teaches at SUNY Delhi in the Veterinary Science program. He lives with his wife, Terri, on a small farm in the Catskill Mountains of New York, where they have horses and Bernese Mountain Dogs.

**Bill West**

*Farming intensive, presenter in the field*
Bill has been logging and farming with draft horses for the last 25 years and has worked with saddle horses throughout his life. He has worked horses on his own and friends’ farms in Maryland and New York and has attended DAP Field Days, local plow day demonstrations, and Horse Progress Days with animals. He holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Delaware and has spent his entire professional life designing and building agricultural and industrial equipment.

**Brandt Ainsworth**

*Forestry Intensive, presenter in the field*
Brandt, from Franklinville, NY, works with horses on the farm and in the woods. He also trains many colts, and enjoys competing in local horse pulls.

**Daphné Rose Courtès**

DAPNet Director, *Forestry intensive, teamster coordinator*
Daphné was born and raised in Paris and began riding horses at a very young age. After moving to Quebec, she completed a three-year program in organic fruit growing, during which she met her mentor, Paul Chaperon. He introduced her to working with horses on a farm. After buying one of her mentor's horses, Daphne started her own small-scale logging business, aiming to harvest wood in an ecological and thoughtful way with a single horse.

**Dave Gibaldi**

DAPNet Director, *Field Days Coordinator, homesteading presenter*
Dave began farming in 2011 and in 2016 transitioned to a mixed-power farm after buying his first team of mules. Now, he and his son are working mules on their farm and occasionally off the farm doing some low-impact logging and forestry work.

**Donn Hewes**

*Mower intensive, training workshops coordinator*
Donn runs Northland Sheep Farm in Marathon, NY, with his wife Maryrose Livingston. Donn and Maryrose took over the farm from the founders and ran a small farmstead dairy with horse power for over 15 years. Horses and mules have been integral to the farm since the beginning, doing everything from plowing snow to haymaking to cultivating a market garden to logging the woods. Donn teaches teamster skills with hands-on workshops around the US and at home in the context of his farm through Donn Hewes Teamster Training.

**Erika Marczak**

DAPNet Vice President, *Field Days Co-coordinator, barn sessions coordinator, and presenter*
Erika is a founding director of DAPNet, following involvement with the Northeast Draft Animal-Power Field Days. She has 17+ years experience in vegetable, egg, and meat production using a variety of techniques and power sources. Erika travels for work in a different branch of the equine industry and brings her draft cross-breeding program with her. A young pair of homebred fillies will be ready to go to work when she gets back into farming in the future. Erika is passionate about draft animal power culture, preserving working stock, soil health, and how it relates to the health and nutrition of all beings.

**Ian Snider**

DAPNet Director, *Forestry Intensive, forestry presenter*
Ian is a mountain silvicologist, regenerative rancher, and educator, with a deep connection to Southern Appalachia. He began working with draft horses in 2005 and now operates Mountain Works Conservation, a natural resource firm he founded in 2007. Ian brings his expertise from traveling to mountain regions around the world.

**Ivy Pagliari**

DAPNet Secretary, *Oxen Basics Intensive, Presenter in the field*
Ivy fell in love with cows during a summer job on a dairy farm and has never looked back. She has been working with oxen for 15 years. Ivy's interested in exploring all aspects of using draft animals, historic and modern, and helping others on their draft animal journey.

**Jacob Sherlock**

*Horse Basics intensive*
Jacob grew up around pulling ponies, but his family moved away from horses for some time. Three years ago, he began working with and training horses again, eventually purchasing his own team of 18-hand Belgians. His family has participated in numerous public wagon rides, including the Tree of Hope lighting ceremony in downtown Buffalo, NY.

**Jeff Mutchler**

*Sunday presenter and emcee*
Jeff lives on a 33-acre farm in Eastern Pennsylvania with his wife. He has been working with draft horses for logging on and off for 15 years. Jeff enjoys promoting draft animal power and worked as the logging coordinator for Horse Progress Days in Gordonville, PA, in 2024.

**Jim Gordon**

*Forestry Intensive, Presenter in the woods and for the sawmill*
Jim has been logging and farming with horses for 44 years. 32 years ago he and his wife moved from Vermont to northern New York and bought a farm and raised their kids there. He has made a living farming and logging with draft horses all of his adult life. He has worked with different breeds of horses and now has Percherons, Belgians and Suffolk Punch horses. He shares videos of his life with horses on the YouTube channel, “Working Horses with Jim.”

**John Fahey**

***Training workshop presenter***
John Fahey and his family operate Fahey Family Ranch in North Pownal, VT, where they provide boarding and training as well as lessons and camps for kids. John and his wife, Denise, started a local chapter of the International Liberty Horse Association called the Tri-State Liberty Horse Club, through which they offer competitions, clinics, practices, training, and more while maintaining the liberty horse discipline.

**John Smolinsky**

DAPNet President, *Presenter for chainsaw equipment*
John was introduced to working animals in 2010 when he started at Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, VT. He went on to intern with Carl B. Russell, a 35-year horse logger in Bethel, VT. Following his internship, John started his own small logging business using a Belgian draft horse, called Earthbound Forestry Services.

**Julia Ramsey**

*Forestry Intensive, forestry presenter and Felting with horses presenter*
Julia is a horsewoman and fiber craftsperson based in central New York state. She and Donn Hewes co-own Tripletree Horse Logging, a partnership which serves their region with a whole system approach to timber harvesting. Her current interests in draft animal power surround natural dye and bast fiber production, forestry, documenting bioregional methods/tools/practices, and teaching/education. You can connect with her on Instagram @mulespinner.

**Karma & Michael Glos**

*Field Work & Horse Brass Presenters*
Michael and Karma of Kingbird Farm, Berkshire, NY, have worked horses of all sizes from Haflingers to Percherons. They currently do field and woods work with a team of Norwegian Fjords, participate in local farmer’s markets, and grow a variety of unique plants in their small conservatory!

**Lara Weise**

*DAPNet Director,* *Felting with horses presenter*
Lara grew up in the Ore Mountains of Germany and began riding horses at a very young age. She competed in dressage and eventing and then began working with draft horses and oxen while studying at Sterling College, VT. There she worked closely with the oxen and horses and has also worked at Sanborn Mills Farm and Northland Sheep Dairy. In addition, she has worked at various livestock farms in New England. She most recently worked with a Devon beef herd at Bread & Butter Farm in Shelburne, VT. She has been a DAPNet Director since 2021 in various positions.

**Maggie Smith**

*DAPNet Director,* *Training workshop presenter, Vendor coordinator*
Maggie grew up in a near-total absence of horses or farming, in the middle of the New York’s Adirondack Park. In high school, exposure to Essex Farm planted a draft-power seed in her heart, and experiences in college sold her on organic agriculture. In spending seasons at Northland Sheep Dairy and Natural Roots CSA, she saw how the two things could be integrated and there was pretty much no turning back. Maggie currently lives in Trumansburg, New York, where she is in her third year of independent part-time farming, growing edible dry beans and garlic on borrowed land with borrowed horses. She is the proud co-owner of an awesome yearling draft cross filly that she's training up for her future team. She serves as Communication Committee Chair on the Board of Directors.

**Margaret Beeman**

*Training workshop presenter*
Margaret is a third-generation horsewoman who has spent over 45 years working with horses and their owners across the United States and abroad. Her goal is to help humans understand horses and vice versa, ensuring both are safe and enjoy their work together.

**Marielle Ingram**

*Farrier roundtable and hoof care presenter*
Marielle's hoof care education is based on whole horse health and soundness. Maintaining a healthy, balanced hoof through nutrition, trimming, and exercise are the goals in her business. She enjoys bringing awareness and knowledge to the importance of strong hoof growth and enjoys hoof related conversations.

**Matthew Schofield**

*Blacksmithing presenter*
Matthew first began working with draft horses at Paul Smith's College in 2007, through their Draft Horse Management class with Bob Brhel. He then interned at Howell Living History Farm in their Small Scale Farming and Historic Agricultural program. After attending Five Star Horseshoeing School, Matthew ran a small farrier business while working as the Historic Farmer/Manager Of Historic Trades & Agriculture for the Genesee Country Village and Museum.

**Natasha Klemek**

*Sunday funday Coordinator*
Natasha works at Threefold Community Farm in Rockland County, New York, and as a freelance architectural preservation technician. At TCF, she supports the use of draft horse power as a teamster and helps design and fabricate horse-drawn equipment.

**Neal Southway**

*Training workshop presenter*
Neal is a young dairy farmer in northern New Jersey. He milks a mixed herd of Jersey, Holstein, and Swiss cows and raises Suffolk Punch draft horses as part of the farm's operations.

**Patrick Dolan**

*Homesteading and forestry presenter*
Patrick has been working in the forestry industry for over 10 years, logging with mules alongside Dave Gibaldi. He also has extensive experience in the lumber industry, working in roles from grader to sawyer and writing forestry management plans.

**Ray Ramsey**

*DAPNet Director, Oxen Basics Intensive, Homesteading presenter*
Ray grew up on a 180-acre family farm in Indiana where his family grew grains, hay, and livestock. He also worked at several dairy farms in the community. After serving in the Marine Corps he moved to New England and settled in Pittsfield, NH 22 years ago where he lives with his wife and two children on a small homestead. He is the Farm Manager at Sanborn Mills Farm where they grow vegetables, livestock, and grains using oxen and horse power.

**Rich Dumond**

*Forestry Intensive, Farrier roundtable, forestry presenter*
Rich is a logger and farrier based out of Stillwater PA, in the northeast corner of the state. His wife Ariel and Rich also own/operate Stone Ridge Farm where she trains and boards horses, as well as provides both English and Western lessons.

**Russ Hausmann**

*Farming Intensive, Presenter in forestry and the field*
Russ has worked with horses for most of his life. He currently has a pair of Belgian geldings that he uses for various tasks, including plowing, woods work, and wagon rides. Russ is the vice president of the Hudson Valley Draft Horse Association and a member of the Ulster County Fair board.

**Sara Rose Dougherty**

*DAPNet Director,* *Draft Dog presenter and homesteading presenter*
Sara Dougherty is the Executive Director of Dougherty's Draft Dogs and sits as an active Board Member of the Draft Animal-Power Network. Sara has been a draft animal instructor for a decade now and has worked within equine educational programming at several NYS colleges and universities. Sara also has experience working as a stable manager and barn hand at a handful of private, horse-boarding facilities. She is the strategic mind behind the planning and executing of DAPNet’s small-events coordination and works as the volunteer co-coordinator for The Draft Animal-Power Field Days. She’s always had an affinity for the natural world and enjoys sharing her passion for working with land, people, and animals with others. Currently, Sara is living in Central NY and works at Colgate University, within their Biology Department, as the Greenhouse Superintendent and Conservatory Collections Caretaker.

**Saxon Alexandra**

*Equine Anatomy and Bodyworks presenter*
Saxon (they/them) is a queer and neurodivergent NBCAAM board-certified equine bodyworker, and anatomy educator. Their formal academic background is in biochemistry, they have 450 hrs of Advanced Equine Fascial Integration Therapy (EFIT) training, and 200 hrs of Large Animal Massage Therapy (LAMT) training. Saxon also has over a decade of experience as a pro rider and groom on the national three-day eventing circuit, and works closely with the Equus-Soma Osteology Center as an educational docent, a composting, exhuming, and bone-prep volunteer, and as a member of the private whole-horse dissection team. Saxon graduated from The Equine Institute school for equine structural integration and is the owner of their bodywork practice, Actuality Equine.

**Tamara Healy**

*Horse Basics Intensive*
Tamara grew up with horses and is now the owner of Classic Carriage Services in Johnstown, NY. She is involved in a few local draft animal organizations, teaches many beginner driver events in NY’s Capital District, and has successfully competed at World Percheron Congress.

**Ted Russell**

*Horse Basics Intensive*
Ted is the fifth generation on his farm in Sudbury. He traded a pound of homegrown for his first draft horse in 1977. He tells that story and others on his blog. Ted says he is ready to hand over the lines to someone who is looking for an opportunity to farm with horses. He will be hosting an open house/farm tour after the field days!

**Tianna Kennedy**

*DAPNet Treasurer,* *Farming Intensive, Presenter in the woods and the field*
Tianna has been farming in the Northern Catskills for fifteen years. She is the executive director of Catskills Agrarian Alliance, a multi-stakeholder food sovereignty project working on land access, mutual aid, farm-to-institution, and production and distribution of food in the NYC foodshed. She co-founded and is a partner in Star Route Farm, LLC, a diversified vegetable and small grain farm growing exclusively for mutual aid; THE 607 CSA, an 800+ person multi-farm Community Supported Agriculture Project; Schooner Apollonia, a Hudson Valley Sail Freight venture; and Delaware Phoenix Distillery, a draft-power NYS farm distillery producing top-shelf absinthe. She has been a DAPNet Board member since 2019 and is currently serving as the treasurer.

**Tom Jenkins**

*Forestry Intensive*
Tom is a consulting forester and oxen logger from Massachusetts. He works and trains young stock to be successful in any woodlot!

Christa Campbell & Kate Ziehm

Morning Ag Clips/DAPNet Administrator Team
Kate and Christa are the glue that holds DAPNet together! Kate Ziehm grew up on a dairy farm in central NH. She is the owner of the Morning Ag Clips and helps support Christa's role in managing the day-to-day operations of the Draft Animal Power Network. She resides in Greenwich, NY and has 3 boys, ages 20, 18, and 14. Kate loves to hike, bike ride, and swim. Christa Campbell grew up on a horse farm in Greenwich, NY. Christa is the day-to-day manager of the Draft Animal Power Network. She is your communicator and membership manager. Christa has 2 children ages 18 and 16 and thrives on staying organized and focused. In Christa's free time, she likes to garden, walk her dog, and clean!