Board of Directors

Meet our Directors! These are the folks dedicated to keeping the Draft Animal-Power Network up and running. They volunteer long hours behind the scenes of our website, social media, fund raising, newsletters, and in-person events. Their work is organized in a few committees that meet regularly and often involves working with our hired administrative group. New directors are voted in by our members each year, at our annual Membership Meeting. All of our directors are approachable. If you have an idea, question, or concern, please feel free to contact any one of our directors.

During our 2024 Annual Meeting we were lucky to bring on four new Board of Directors. Welcome to the team Emily Brown, Ben Retberg, Cindy Nickerson, and Jeff Mutchler, we look forward to your contributions to the organization. We also said goodbye to four Board of Directors whose terms were up. Thank you Erika Marczak, Sara Dougherty, Dave Gibaldi and Lara Weise for all of their hard work through the years.

John Smolinsky (he/him), President, Finance and Fundraising Committee Co-Chair, ebforestryservices@gmail.com, Cabot, VT
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, 35-year horse logger in Bethel, VT. Following his internship, John started his own small logging business using a Belgian draft horse. Earthbound Forest Services focuses on low volume, high frequency harvest within the parameters of a silvicultural management plan. John focuses on putting the ecological integrity of the forest first by using his horse’s special draft capability within a harvest. The goal is to work with landowners so that they can understand how harvests provide long-term health and strength to the forest’s economic engine within a healthy and strong ecosystem.

Tianna Kennedy (she/they), Treasurer & Finance and Fundraising Committee Chair, tianna.kennedy@gmail.com, Worcester, NY
Tianna sits on the board of Draft Animal-Power Network as treasurer. She spends most of her time as Executive Director of the newly minted Catskills Agrarian Alliance and co-owner/operator of Star Route Farm, a diversified veggie and small grain farm in the Catskills. She also manages THE 607 CSA, an 750+ person multi-farm CSA project supporting 40 farm and food businesses in central NY, delivering to the Catskills, Hudson Valley, and the five boroughs. In 2015, along with her farm and CSA, she co-founded the Greater Catskills Chapter of the National Young Farmers’ Coalition, Bushel Collective, and the Schooner Apollonia, a Hudson Valley Sail Freight venture.  She is still involved with all of those projects in advisory roles. In 2022, Tianna was awarded a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for her service to her community by then Rep. Antonio Delgado. Her newest endeavor is Delaware Phoenix Distillery, a Draft-Power NY farm  distillery growing botanicals and producing absinthe in partnership with Ryan Jahn.

Ivy Pagliari (she/her), Secretary, Hitchpointfarm@gmail.com, Walden, VT
Ivy began her draft animal journey in 2008 with a bull calf given to her by the farm she was working on and the help of the internet.  From 2016-2020 she worked as the teamster for Tillers International assisting with their draft horse and ox classes as well as growing small grains and producing hay with live power.  In 2020 she returned to Walden, Vermont with her team of Shorthorn oxen where they help in the garden, make hay, and pull wood.  Ivy enjoys all things draft including preserving techniques and equipment for working animals, developing the capacity to do as much as possible with draft animals in her life, and supporting others on their live power journey.    

Ray Ramsey (he/him), Events Committee Chair, ray@sanbornmills.org, Pittsfield, NH
Raymond Ramsey is honored to be a part of this organization. He 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.  

Ian McAfee Snider (he/him) Education Committee Chair, mtnworks@gmail.com, Zionville, NC
Ian is a Mountain Silvicologist, Regenerative Rancher, and Educator. He is a lifelong resident of Southern Appalachia but has traveled to mountain regions the world over to inform his perspective and develop his skills. Ian began working with draft horses in 2005 after attending a workshop on horse logging near his home in Zionville, NC. He operates Mountain Works Conservation, a diversified natural resource firm founded in 2007.  He holds a B.S. and M.A. in Geography from Appalachian State University.  He studies and teaches in the Forestry Department at Clemson University.  He is the recipient of forestry related awards and grants from the Society of American Foresters’ Appalachian Chapter, Forest History Society, University of North Carolina, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, and the American Association of Geographers.  He attained the rank of Eagle in the Boy Scouts and has worked as a mountain guide, carpenter, and natural resources teacher since the age of 16.

Maggie Smith (she/her), Communications Committee Chair, margaretsmithlonglake@gmail.com, Ithaca NY
Maggie grew up in a near-total absence of horses or farming, in the middle of the Adirondack Park in New York. 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 second year of independent part-time farming, growing edible dry beans on borrowed land with the assistance of borrowed horses. She is the proud co-owner of an awesome yearling draft filly that she's training up for her future team. DAPNet has been invaluable to her so far and she hopes to be able to give back to this fabulous organization going forward!

Cindy Nickerson (she/her), cn24evnt@yahoo.com, Edgecomb, ME, was introduced to horses at a young age in 4-H and Pony Club, competing in eventing and combined driving for many years. She then discovered oxen in 2015, and now has her own team of milking shorthorn oxen living in Edgecomb, Maine.  She's excited about draft animal education whether for young people or older people.  She's involved with her local 4H group, recently helping the students make yokes for their calves.  She's made connections with other ox-enthusiasts from Tiller's International in Michigan to The Lauresham Museum in Germany (and that was just in 2024.)  She's all about hands-on learning and about helping folks find the right setup that works for them and their animals.  

Daphné Rose Coutrès (she/her), DAPChat Coordinator, daphnerosecourtes@gmail.com Quebec, CA
Daphné was born and raised in Paris and she started riding horses at a very young age. After moving to Quebec, she did a three year program in growing organic fruits and this is how she met Paul Chaperon and his family during an internship. He became her mentor and gave her the opportunity to use horses everywhere on a farm. From doing loose hay, logging, seeding, plowing and much more, it revealed her passion for working horses. She started her own small-scale logging business after buying one of her mentor’s horses, Fred. Using a single horse, the goal of her new project is to harvest wood in an ecological and thoughtful way.

Ben Retberg (he/him). Newsletter Coordinator, ben.retberg49@gmail.com, Penobscot, ME,
Ben grew up working with livestock on his family's small-scale diversified farm in Maine.  A love of animals combined with a desire to steward land ecologically drew him to draft animal power, which led him to Sterling College. There, he was introduced to draft horses and oxen by Nick Hammond and Ivy Pagliari. He loved animals, and the nuance and pace of live power, so he left school to pursue it further. After apprenticing at North Branch Farm, a mixed power nursery in Maine, he returned to his family's farm with a team of Belgians. Now farming full-time, Ben works with the Belgians to harvest firewood, cultivate a small market garden, manage pasture, and make hay for the dairy. He is excited and humbled by the opportunity to work with the DAPNet crew to help spread the culture and craft, both through engaging more people with it and exploring ways of making draft power financially viable for small businesses. 

Jeff Mutchler (he/him), efdgoon@yahoo.com, Easton, PA
Jeff lives on a 33 acre farm in Easton, PA with his wife Christine. In 2008 he purchased a team of Belgians to log with and has enjoyed the experience of working with draft animals around the farm ever since. His first trip to the Draft Animal Power Field Days was in 2022 and he loved the passion shared with people about working with draft animals. He looks forward to being part and supporting the success of this great program and invites you to join.

Emily Brown (she/her), emilymdeyoung@gmail.com, Boylston, NY
Emily is excited to join the Draft Animal Power Network Board of Directors this year! Emily has already been working alongside the DAPNet board of directors and has been instrumental in the planning, management, and execution of our organization's annual field days. She has worked this year as a coordinator for our forestry and woodlot intensives and she has been attending our weekly meetings for event planning. Emily grew up on her family's farm where they raised grass fed Herefords, it's here where her love for agriculture, animal husbandry, and the outdoors was fostered. Emily attended Paul Smith's College to study in their forestry department and found herself spending a lot of time down at the horse barn and gardens. After taking a course in draft horse management, with Teaching Teamster Bob, Emily became infatuated with working draft horses. She was hired-on to work as a paid barn hand, sleigh and wagon ride driver, and continued to learn more about utilizing draft animal power in farm and forest settings. Upon Bob retiring from the college, Emily was asked to work as an Assistant Barn Manager, alongside Sara Dougherty. Emily was a critical component in keeping the draft work on campus alive! Since graduating with her undergraduate degree, Emily has gone on to manage log yards, purchase a small homestead, and has been making handmade soap using the lard from her herd of Kunekune pigs. Emily has a background in horseback riding, draft animal forestry and farming, as well as woodlot management.