The USA Fall Kentucky Horse and Mule Plowing Competition was held in Olympia, Kentucky Oct. 20 in a beautiful valley nestled in the foothills of the Daniel Boone National Forest.

Local teamsters who attended include:

• Pastor Mike McCormick of Clinton County received first place in the two-horse hitch sulky with Moses and Eli, and placed second in the antique sulky. Mike used his father’s John Deere sulky plow, patented before 1929.

• Reinhold Finkes of Greene County with his Percheron team, Charlie and Lyle, received first place in the walking plow, and first place in the antique walking plow.

• Dante Marshall of Greene County received third place in the two-horse antique sulky plow and fourth in the two-horse hitch sulky, with Hank and Hoppy.

These events for the most part are occasions of building community around the tug and pull of horses and mules.

”It is the quiet clanging of the chains and the puffing of the horses as they breathe that grab my attention; they are the sounds of silence pulling me inward to a place of sacred reflection,” said Pastor Nancy McCormick, husband of Mike and co-owner of Moses and Eli. “To watch these gentle giants quietly go about their business concentrating on the task set before them, is the reminder for me to stay connected to the humbler things in this life. The chatter and laughter of the men, women and children who gather is an important part of fellowship reacquainting with old friends and the possibility of making new ones as we begin to re-shape and build community.”