They were busy at the hay this morning when I passed East Crieffvechter Farm on the outskirts of Crieff. Huge combines and tractors with hi-tech GPS computers and state of the art balers – there wasn’t one in sight. Rather, a few horses, pitch forks and a Tumblin’ Tam.
This was the British Horse Society Scotland‘s Working Horse Day and today, they were taking a nostalgic look back to these not too distant days when on the farm, “horse power” meant precisely that.
The “Tumblin’ Tam” is appropriately named. As the horse pulls the wooden implement, it gathers the dried hay into a bundle then the operator raises the handles and it tumbles over into a pile ready for building into a neat haystack.
There’s something relaxing and more manageable about a world where nothing goes faster than the steady pace of the horse.
Hard work, yes, but at the same time one can’t help but wonder why things ever needed to become more complicated.
To read more about Willie’s travels, from Crieff to Caithness and beyond, click the tag below.
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