About The Draft Horse Journal

A subscription to The Draft Horse Journal—printed quarterly since 1964–will be of interest to anyone who loves draft horses, and of great value to anyone presently engaged in breeding, working, or showing them.

Content 

The Journal covers breeding, raising, showing, selling and using all breeds of heavy horses: Veterinary and legal commentary from Dr. Lisa Eller and attorney Ken Sandoe; recent competitive results from horse pulls and shows; market reports with photos from recent draft horse sales; and entertaining deep-dives from draft horse historians like Edward Y. Morwick.

Feature articles address horse and mule logging, PMU ranching, horsemanship clinics, modern equipment, bloodline profiles and more, written by some of the best in the business. Though most content pertains to North America, Journal features also occasionally include stories from overseas, import and export news, tours, et cetera. 

Readership

The Journal’s circulation base includes subscribers from over 20 foreign countries in addition to all 50 states and all provinces of Canada. Collected on the shelves of tens of thousands of households, the Journal’s readership community likely constitutes the largest and longest-standing heavy horse audience in the world.

In Partnership Across the Industry

The Draft Horse Journal reaches more than 10,000 active households in the United States, Canada and numerous foreign countries, and is the magazine that people in the industry count on for locating draft horse events, and buying supplies, equipment and services.

Thanks to the active participation of our advertising partners, these readers always find what they are looking for. We thank our partners from across the industry, and encourage readers to make note of the work of our advertising partners. We hope you will visit them, and enjoy all that they have to offer.

History of The Draft Horse Journal

The first issue of the Journal was published amid post-WWII years that saw both horse numbers and horse use plummeting.

The number of drafts being exhibited dwindled, and many shows dropped heavy horses altogether. On the farm, in the space of a single generation a vast field of working horse knowledge seemed to be on the brink of sudden erasure.

The Draft Horse Journal's founders, Maurice & Jeannine Telleen (Waverly, Iowa), rigorously organized draft horse usage information and market data into a new quarterly publication that championed all breeds of draft horses. From its midwestern vantage point, the Journal grew into a centralized clearing house of draft horse industry contacts, connecting all those interested in working, breeding, and showing drafts. With approachable intelligence and wit, the Journal raised questions of economy, sustainability and community that were salient to many, and remain so today.

With continuous quarterly publication since its initial release in 1964, The Draft Horse Journal represents a near comprehensive history of working horses in North America and beyond. 

Philanthropy

The Draft Horse Journal proudly support philanthropic educational organizations such as Draft Animal Power Network; American Shire Horse Educational Foundation; Carriage Operators of North America; Percheron Educational and Charitable Fund; Classic Series Youth Cart Series. A complete collection of back issues is housed at Iowa State University library. We want to encourage the next generation -- please call us for special rates on youth subscriptions.