The Biggest Amish Horse Festival of the Year Just Happened in Illinois (23 Photos)

Horse Progress Days 2026 happened last weekend in the Arthur, Illinois community. Like he did last year, Budget Newspaper publisher Milo Miller shares a great batch of photos he took while at the event.

For those unfamiliar, Horse Progress Days is the marquee event for horse-drawn farming equipment. It draws thousands of Amish attendees from across the country each year.

It’s an event not only for the Amish, but for non-Amish horse enthusiasts as well. And being an Amish event, it’s a family event, with children involved. So you’ll see sights like this one, of a Pony Parade with dozens of Amish children participating:

More on that one below. And if you missed them, here’s Milo’s 2025 set from Clare, Michigan, and Jim Halverson’s behind-the-scenes photos from the same event.

Here’s Milo describing the event:

Like most Horse Progress Days, it was rather warm (low 90’s) and muggy. But it was two beautiful days with a nice breeze, which was welcome.

I have not heard the official attendance, but it felt like what I expected. I think attendance was similar to last year in Clare, Michigan, but I could be wrong. But thousands definitely! The event concluded a couple hours early due to impending weather.

This year’s edition was the 32nd, held July 3rd and 4th. The Arthur, Illinois Amish community is one of the regular sites for the event.

Horse Progress Days rotates each year across a collection of sites in prominent Amish-heavy locations around the country. (Note: the specific location is the Lavern Yoder farm – same community but technically an address of nearby Arcola).

We should note, Milo has been to a few of these, and has an impressive streak going – every Horse Progress Days since 2008, in fact. While there, he mans the Budget newspaper booth. As far as highlights, Milo writes:

I was tethered to my booth this year, however, I thought the Children’s Area was incredible. It had lots of fun offerings and was always busy.

As an example, here is the “Corn Kernel Box”, which he describes as “like a sandbox”:

Also in the Children’s Area, there was a Petting Zoo:

Also in the highlights:

In the logging area they were crafting HPD walking sticks with all donations from the sticks going to a special needs charity. Those seemed like a big hit. I made sure to grab a couple.

Let’s have a look at some more photos from the event.

Horse-Drawn Equipment

Horse Progress Days is a big showcase for horse-drawn equipment – especially the many and varied farming implements that Amish farmers depend upon.

And horse-drawn farm equipment doesn’t stay the same year-to-year, with producers making changes and sometimes altogether new devices. What exciting tweaks and innovations did they get to see this year?

Field Demonstrations

There are also numerous field demonstrations. Here we have some photos of a hay baler accompanied by what looks like a skid loader equipped with grip arms.

The 12-Horse Hitch

The 12-horse hitch is one of the most impressive things at the event.

Twelve draft horses pulling a piece of equipment – and I’m not exactly sure what it is, it seems like it has both plow and disc elements to it.

Here’s a bit of elevated seating if you don’t mind climbing up a hay bale.

Greenhouse & Seminars

The event also features greenhouses, and Milo gives us a neat look from inside them this year. Here we see sponsors from Pennsylvania and Michigan. This looks like it might be a space for a talk or seminar.

Here we have a tomato demonstration area – with different varieties trained on “Nolts Tomato Trellis Systems”.

Well-known farmer, author and speaker Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm gave a chicken processing seminar this year. Salatin was one of the marquee speakers on the schedule.

Pony Parade

The Pony Parade in the main arena is one of the day’s highlights. Dozens of children driving their miniature rigs around the ring, while parents and others enjoy the scene.

Outside the arena beforehand, the lineup. Note the “Safety Coordinator” vest. Up above we saw “Water Coordinator”, no doubt an important role with temps in the 90s. People take on different roles to make the event a success.

It’s not just for the boys – or just for the Amish, as you can see in this photo:

I can only imagine how much fun it must be as an Amish kid to take your pony rig out in front of the crowd.

Finally, maybe you’re a kid who just wants to take it easy and catch a ride. That’s what this Pony Express “barrel train” is for:

An Event of “Calm” and “Peace”

Describing Horse Progress Days 2026, Milo adds:

I don’t want to say it was “normal”, as every Horse Progress Days is unique and incredible. The two words that kept coming to mind was “calm” and “peace”.

Everyone was laid back, it felt quiet (in a very good way). It was a refreshing atmosphere with great people. The coordinators did a tremendous job crafting this year’s event.

A big thanks to Milo for sharing with us again. Looks like the 32nd edition was another success. And for more on the newspaper Milo publishes, check out our interview on The Budget and more.