Farming with Horse Power
Hungary 1990
There wasn’t much to see as we drove through southern Hungary: gently rolling land covered in pale, spring green. No villages. No cars on the road except ours. Then I saw a scene right out of my childhood as a farmgirl in South Carolina; two massive draft horses, still in harness, were standing hipshot in a partially plowed field, waiting patiently while the farmers refreshed themselves with a drink of palinka, a Hungarian brandy. The horses were giants, a mountain of equine muscle developed from many seasons of turning the steppe into furrows for planting.
I asked the plowmen to hold the horse’s heads for me. The men took turns, following my directions…in English not Hungarian. Some of the men seemed dazed. The palinka and the heat had gone to their heads. Finally, I got this shot of the plowman I liked best for his luxuriant moustache.
This is a scan from a slide. The scanned colors are not what they are on the slide, but at the present this is the best I can do. I love this photo because it represents the essence of the rural life of my girlhood. And I love those horses, don’t you?
To see some American draft horses: click here: http://www.rosemarysheel.com/archives/work-horses