FOWLER — Old-fashioned horsepower was the star of the 26th annual Plow Days at 362 County Route 22, sponsored by the St. Lawrence Valley Draft Horse Club.

The show was rained out on Saturday afternoon, but returned to clear skies on Sunday. Visitors could see working demonstrations of horse-drawn farming equipment like plows and threshers, alongside an old-fashioned blacksmith and a cider press.

“It’s just a pleasure to see this old equipment working again; otherwise, it would be taken to a junkyard and sold for old iron,” said Gary E. Bush, one of the event’s directors.

Plow Days celebrates the ingenuity that made farming possible in days gone by, a trait still seen at the event. Sometimes equipment will break down, but the show must go on.

“We have enough people around here who are pretty handy, who can fix just about anything,” said club member William J. Siebels, Fowler.

Children could ride ponies, take wagon rides or just watch the animals in the barn.

“I’ve always brought my grandkids, and this year I brought my grandson. He’s 3, and this is his first year here,” said Cindy L. Ferry, Fowler, watching as grandson Brian Marshaw chased a chicken around a barn. “He loves the cows, he loves the horses, he loves all of it.”

A few antique engines chugged away, but machinery powered by draft horses was the focus of the show.

Wagon rides took spectators up to the fields, which were being worked by horse-drawn plows.

“When times were a little leaner, and they didn’t have as much machinery, this is how we did things,” said Liston C. Willard, president of the St. Lawrence Valley Draft Horse Club.

James W. Barbarito, Philadelphia, is a mechanic who said he likes the antique machinery as a reminder of a time when a computer wasn’t necessary to diagnose a problem with a piece of equipment.

“The companies don’t make this sort of stuff anymore,” he said, “so anything you have is something somebody saved in their barn.”

On Sunday afternoon, a parade of antique farm equipment rattled through the farm.

A silent auction and raffle raised money for the St. Lawrence Valley Draft Horse Club.

Plow Days is the club’s biggest event, and it takes a lot of planning, Mr. Bush said. “When we get done this year, we’ll be thinking about next year,” he said.

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