Working Horses of Lancaster County

Product Description

Every day in Lancaster County, thousands of Plain-sect farm families hitch up draft horses to work their fields, and carriage horses to take them from place to place. These animals are foundational to a faith community that bans automobiles and tractors in a desire to live simple, agrarian-based lives. Stories and interviews accompany over 240 candid photos depicting the most common horses at work and play in Lancaster County—from foals frolicking at their mother’s side to six Belgians hitched abreast to harrow a field. The book features six draft horse breeds and five carriage horse breeds—Belgian, Percheron, Mule, Suffolk, Spotted Draft, Haflinger, Standardbred, Morgan, American Saddlebred, Dutch Harness, and Friesian. The photos and stories show how they are trained and cared for, offering profound insight into the emotional connection that Plain people have with their horses.

About the Author

Beth Oberholtzer and John Herr of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, partnered on 
Working Horses. They also collaborated on 
Plain Meetinghouses, which celebrates Old Order Mennonite meetinghouses. Beth, who has a great fondness for horses, is a book designer for various publishers. John is an architectural photographer. In branching out to photograph equines, he built a special rapport with his subjects.