A22—Lancaster Fanning, Satwday, May 5,1M4
For Elmer Lapp... There’s just something about horses
BY JACK HUBLEY
KINZER Hey, you. You with
the two-bottom plow and six-horse
team. Did you ever stop to think
about how many heads you turn in
a day’s time?
You don’t do things like most
people, you know. No 200 hor
sepower, no front-wheel-assist,
and no 12-speed transmission. Just
six tons of lathery horseflesh
breaking ground the way your
grandfather and his grandfather’s
teams worked the land in ages
past.
Tractors are nice, of course, but
there’s just something about
horses.
Which is why Elmer Lapp still
does things the time-honored way
on his 83 acre farm north of Kinzer
in eastern Lancaster County.
Living in the heart of Amish
country, Lapp and his purebred
Belgian draft horses seem no more
out of place than windmills and hex
signs. Yet Elmer is a bit different
Only 12 hours old
Elmer Lapp’s mare, Queen, proudly displays her new son.
Less than 12 hours old, the colt will weigh a ton or more at
maturity.
horses rest you
when you drive e tractor."
from his Old Order neighbors, for,
although the 65-year-old farmer
does own a tractor, he still prefers
to follow a team for much of the
field work.
“I guess I’m just a stubborn old
Dutchman,” Lapp chuckles, “but
there’s life out there in front of you
when you’re behind a team. That
makes all the difference to me.”
Elmer cultivated a fascination
for farming with horses at an early
age. Working the family farm with
his father, David Lapp, Elmer was
driving a hay loader, complete
with a four-head team at the age of
seven.
The elder Lapp retired from
farming in 1941, and Elmer
married during the same year,
assuming full farming respon
sibilities the following spring.
“I bought 24 head of Guernseys,
four horses, along with all the
necessary equipment, for $2,000,”
Lapp reminisces.
Why didn’t the young fanner
Teamster & team take a rest
_ company tei ,ield work jle other members of Lapp's 22-horse
family take a break in the pasture. Lapp’s youngest son, Elvin, inherited his fathers
interest in Belgians and currently owns a number of the horses at the farm.
“upgrade” his operation with a
tractor?
“Just wasn’t interested,” Elmer
replies. “And I probably wouldn’t
own one today if it hadn’t been for
my oldest son, Evan. We bought
our first tractor, a second-hand
John Deere, in the early 1960’5. I
use the tractor for the plowing, but
all our discing, harrowing and
planting, is still done with a team”.
Though Lapp maintains that four
good horses are capable of han
dling all the field work on his
nearly 60 acres of cropland, the
farm is currently home to 22
horses, including 11 breeding
mares.
After selling his dairy herd last
year, Elmer decided to direct all of
his efforts to what has become the
profitable business of raising draft
horses.
Elmer credits the high cost of
tractors and fuel for creating the
increase in popularity of draft
animals, particularly in the New
England states and Canada.
Lapp points out that fanners can
grow their own fuel when using
horses, and adds that horse-drawn
implements and equipment are
less expensive than their tractor
drawn equivalents.
Best of all, a team owner can
raise his own replacements.
Though an average draft mare will
cost $2,000 to $3,000, her spring foul
can be sold at six months of age for
half that amount. And a healthy
mare can produce quite a few
replacements in her lifetime.
“I have a 20-year-old mare who’s
(Turn to Page A 24)
Time to lunch; time to work
years of farming with horses, Elmer Lapp, of
Kinzer, still does half of his field work with a team of his
purebred Belgians.
With (from left) Ella, Pam, Becky and Nancy, in harness,
Elmer and his teawm of powerful ladies are ready for an
afternoon’s discing.
Let’s go home
Ella, Pam, Becky, Nancy