Illinois farmer puts horses to work

GREENVIEW, Ill. -- Farmer Tom Eldridge has at least six tractors and concedes he couldn't work his 325 acres without them.

But for fun, Eldridge trades his tractors' horsepower for horse power -- he uses the animals to sow oats, haul manure or plow between the end of the harvest and spring.

Eldridge has been working with horses -- as a boy on the farm, later as an adult driving teams in parades and fairs -- throughout his life.

"Somebody has to keep this going," Eldridge said. "We've got to keep this part of history alive."

Eldridge, 47, has one piece of land, near his father's home, that has never had a tractor on it. Each year, the Eldridges work that land with teams of horses.

"We think it's good for the horses to work them," Eldridge said.