The Amish plow with horses. Not nostalgia — economics.
Advantages
Fuel: a horse eats hay and oats from your field. Tractor — diesel at $5/gallon. Repair: a horse heals itself or sees a vet. Tractor — parts from China. Manure: a horse fertilizes the field while working. Offspring: a horse produces a horse. Tractors don't reproduce.
Breeds
Belgian — most popular with Amish. Percheron — hardy, calm. Haflinger — for smaller farms. A two-horse team pulls a single-bottom plow across 2–3 acres per day.
Training
A young horse trains 6–12 months. First walks alongside an experienced horse. Then in a pair. Then solo. Amish children drive teams by age 10–12.
Limitations
A horse plows 4–6 hours daily (then tires). Tractor — all day. Large fields (100+ acres) aren't practical with horses. But Amish farms are typically 50–80 acres — perfect for horses.