25 Years Ago
Late Winter/Early Spring 1976
by Maurice Telleen
published in The Draft Horse Journal, Spring 2002

One thing about huge consumer-type economies like ours is that you can depend on herd-like behavior, as one craze succeeds another. Things like hula hoops and blue finger nails come to mind, here today and gone tomorrow, in most cases. In the winter of 1976-77, the C.B. (Citizen Band Radio) craze was sweeping the country. A patrolman had little chance to catch a speeder in the act with that “Ten Four, Over and Out” crowd constantly notifying their C.B. pals of Smokie’s whereabouts.

It was also a handy gadget for, let’s say, fox hunters. That is how Jeannine’s father, Foster Sarchett, got caught up in it. He was about as free of frills as you could get. As for being trendy, forget it. The same could be said of the others in that group of winter afternoon fox/coyote hunters down there in southern Iowa. But when you’ve got all these pickups and guys scattered over a couple sections, that C.B. came in mighty handy. The hunters were the infantry, the foxes were the enemy, the pickup trucks were the cavalry and the C.B.s were the Signal Corps. I doubt if any group of 10 year olds in the state had more fun with their C.B.s than that bunch of mostly farmers. Fos’s handle was “Horse Trader;” others included “Critter” and “Undertaker.”

Incoming president Jimmie Carter put a new wrinkle into the inauguration parade when he and his wife, Rosalyn and daughter, Amy, decided to walk the parade route rather than ride in the limo. I’m sure it was symbolic. He was making a point but I’ve forgotten what is was. Perhaps it was as simple as saying that walking is an old, honorable and healthy means of getting from one place to another–and uses no petroleum to do so. Or maybe that a lot of us were too fat. Or maybe Jimmie Carter just enjoyed walking and wanted to kick off his administration with a walk rather than a ride. The Secret Service was not impressed. It made their job more difficult and, apparently, caught them somewhat by surprise.

It seems the various parts of the globe took turns in dominating the 6 o’clock news every night. In the winter of ‘76-’77 it was hard for any part of the world to get ahead of Africa for news of wars, rumors of wars, and outrageous and awful acts of all kinds. Colonialism had been cruel to Africa–so was (is) post colonialism.

Carter’s first big international test came from that continent. Jimmie Carter was, in my view, a mighty good person but he could be annoyingly preachy. Seems he made some less than flattering comments about the state of human rights in Uganda. Idi Amin, the president of that country, sent word that Carter might be well advised to tend to the human rights in this country. Then he detained 240 Americans in that country. They weren’t exactly hostages but neither were they free to leave. Having made his point, he turned them loose a few days later. Carter, no doubt breathed a little easier. I’d guess it was a learning experience for the new kid on the block.

The news out of Africa was routinely awful. We were supplying arms to Zaire to help them repel an invasion from Angola. On March 7 of that year, Saudi Arabia announced that they had allocated one billion dollars in aid to black Africa. The president of the Congo was killed by a suicide commando. And on and on. Many of those countries had just been hatched and were ill prepared for self government. Most of us weren’t even familiar with their names or locations.

As single (non-military) disasters go, a collision of two Boeing 747 jets on the runways at the airport in the Canary Islands was the hands-down winner–or loser. Both were charter flights, one from KLM (Dutch) and the other from PanAm (American). One was taking off, the other taxiing to get into position to take off. All 248 passengers and crew on the KLM flight died and 326 on the PanAm plane perished. This death toll of 574 fatalities was the worst commercial aircraft disaster in history–at least up to that point. They simply slammed into one another at an intersection in the fog.

Sometimes figures speak louder than words. Such was the case of the 1977 Belgian Review with their annual report of the business year. Their year had ended on October 31. Registrations were up 512 from the previous year; transfers were up 471; and new memberships were up 39. Those numbers will not knock anyone out until you put them into percentage of increase. Registrations went from 1245 to 1757. That is a 41% increase in ONE YEAR! Transfers went from 1883 to 2254. That is an increase of better than 26% in ONE YEAR! Memberships were up 30%. That is an absolutely fantastic rate of growth–unsustainable really.

Since a rising tide lifts all ships, we will not go into the other breeds. It would be redundant and besides, the Belgians accounted for 70 to 80% of all the registered drafters in the U.S. at that time. Suffice to say that it was a fun time to be a producer of good draft horses in any of the breeds.

With that kind of growth and enthusiasm, one would expect the market to be strong at the 1977 Spring Sales and it was. To save space we will just take a look at the holy trinity–the three breeder sponsored sales at Columbus, Indianapolis and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Lake Ledge Melody – Jr. and reserve grand at the Ohio sale and she sold for $4,000. That is Wally on the lead shank.

Terrible winter weather, blocked roads, frozen water pipes and a huge crowd characterized the first of the three–the Ohio Sale at Columbus. How everybody and all the horses got there, I don’t know. Three hundred and thirty-nine Belgians and Percherons averaged $1,669–just $7 a head less than the record breaking sale of 1976. Given that there were 66 more horses in the 1977 sale than in 1976, and the weather was absolutely terrible sale week, we decided that the 1977 sale was better than 1976. (Editors are powerful folks. They hold it in their sway to just up and decide that the sale with a slightly lower average is the better sale of the two. It is awesome.) Nine head sold from $4,000 to $5,500 at Columbus and the horses went into sixteen states and two Canadian provinces.

Indianapolis, coming three weeks later, was the oldest and most prestigious of the three at that time. This was their 29th sale, meaning that it started in 1948 when the future of the draft horse was about as bleak as a winter day in Siberia. They had 161 head which averaged $2,058, up $182 from the prior year. Indiana’s average, compared to either Columbus or Cedar Rapids, was not, however, apples to apples. For the latter two accepted a much higher percentage of yearlings to accommodate their consignors than did Indiana. Yearlings don’t do much for your sale average. Anyhow, they had a good sale with eight head from $4,000 to $5,775 and the horses went into eleven states and Ontario.

The sale at Cedar Rapids was the 23rd for the Tri-State Association (Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin). There 140 head averaged $1701, down about $150 a head from the previous year. But they had almost fifty more horses, so again we made an editorial decision that, given that big spike in numbers, it was every bit as good as the year before. They had five head from $4,400 to $5,100 and sold them into fifteen states and four provinces.

We will run several pictures of the toppers from those three sales which got 1977 off to a banner start for the draft horse trade.

The Shire breed was much in evidence in our Spring issue. On the cover were four registered Shire mares on the grain drill at Sue Wilson’s Folly Farm in Pingree, Idaho. In addition to Sue’s full page ad in that issue, and a half page from the Maryland Shire Association, Fred Weintraub (movie producer) and Alex Rose with their Big Foot Ranch in Oregon occupied the middle spread. There were a lot of new faces in the Shire breed 25 years ago.

Sue Wilson was one of our favorites in this business, as were Anne and Henry Harper with their imported Belgians–their ad used up the inside front cover. No mention of Brabants from them–they just called them “Milkwood Farm Belgians.” Now I think Brabant means European Style Belgians. Am I mistaken?

There is a good mix of articles about and by ordinary folks in that issue. Some of them, like Hale Farm, owned by the Western Reserve Historical Society in Ohio, are still around.

The article that especially took my fancy was “Preparing For The Match” by Sam Parlee, Wanham, Alberta, Canada. Now Sam’s cup of tea was not hitching, haltering or pulling–it was plowing. It was a plowing match that got his juices going. He wrote a neat little article about how he prepared for them. I’m going to use it as part of 25 years ago at the end of this column.

In addition to the Belgian Review and Percheron Notes, we have an additional reference source, namely the Clydesdale News, an annual starting in 1977. The Clydes were fixing to hold their annual meeting here in Waverly in March in conjunction with their National Sale. Their National Sale was, at that time, a part of the Waverly Spring Sale. We will probably take a look at that in 25 Years Ago in the next issue. In the meantime there was a new hitch presence in the Clyde breed. Hallamore Motor Transport Company with headquarters in Holbrook, Massachusetts, introduced themselves in that Spring DHJ. In February of 1977, they had five geldings in their stable, most of them imported, and were looking for more. Phil Taylor, formerly associated with Belgians and Percherons, was caring for and driving the Hallamore horses at that time. Since then, Hallamore has established itself as one of the great commercial hitches in North America. Ned Neimec is the present driver.

That Spring 1977 Journal also announced the release of our book, the Draft Horse Primer, published by Rodale Press, Emmaus, Pennsylvania. It was quite a relief to finish that book, which has now been through more printings that I care to remember. I didn’t realize it had been 25 years since publication until I was digging around for this column. Finding that out made me feel so old I’m going to call this column done with a reprint of Sam Parlee’s article and a few pictures from Spring 1977 DHJ.

“Preparing For The Match”

by Sam Parlee, Wanham, Alberta

(Reprinted from the Spring 1977 Draft Horse Journal).

Horse ploughing at the Alberta Provincial Ploughing Match attracts more people than any other ploughing event and winning the trophy and cash award is no doubt the hope of every contestant. Each time the silver plate has come as a pleasant experience and has served as a source of encouragement to me in conditioning the horses for the match.

My son Everett and I share two teams which we have entered in the different ploughing events here in Wanham. Recently we have acquired a registered Belgian stallion, rising three in May. He is responding well to the winter training and should put new blood into the area.

Winter rations for the horses consist of plenty of hay which is an alfalfa-brome mixture, with one gallon of ground oats twice daily for each horse. Horses have access to salt and pure well water in the watering bowls. Winter stabling is provided for any horses being used. Worming is taken care of regularly and hooves are kept in proper trim.

Haying scene on the Joe Allen farm – west of Cozad, Nebraska.

Hauling hay daily for the cattle provides exercise for keeping the team in top shape as well as a means of up-grading their training. When laying out new trails on snow covered fields it is quite important to drive straight and true. Lines should be held tightly when horses are in motion. Horses meandering on a free rein are not being trained for any event. Straight trails in the snow may well mean straight furrows at the match. The judge looks for land cut and turned at a uniform depth. The crowd looks for a display of horsemanship. Keen horses with a will to do their master’s bidding, horses that love great crowds and yet listen to every word of the ploughman, are the wonder of the age to every horse lover.

Our field work is done with tractor power and during the spring planting season the horses get a respite after a winter of steady muscle building toil. As soon as the last of the grain is in, the horses are put into the harness. Consideration is given to the fact that they are softer now than when they were turned out into the pasture. Rather than hitching to a plow, I find that a drag or stone-boat is an ideal piece of equipment on which one can ride and thereby gain that much desired so-ordination of man and beast.

Measuring and staking out for these preliminary exercises is not to be over-looked. Spirited horses will require no persuasion there than a firm command. I use the Liverpool bits as this gives the driver absolute control and at the same time tends to make the horse arch his neck. Working out the plot in this way may seem like shadow boxing but it does bring the team into perfect submission with a minimum of fatigue to the driver.

Round by round, so many turns to the right with an equal number to the left is to the horse as valuable as ploughing. Weighting can be undertaken with the drag so that the team may be taught to put out under extreme ploughing conditions.

The work-out period is long enough each day to bring out the sweat on the horses. It is better to hitch up twice a day with a two hour work-out, than to work the horses so long that they become leg weary.

After the second day, the team is hitched to the walking plough. Conditions for the horses’ sake should be as much like a public event as possible. A site near the road had its advantages as motorists park and take pictures. Movie cameras and honking horns are familiar features in these practice performances.

The plough that I use is housed when not in use. The share and mould board are coated with oil to prevent rusting during the off seasons. A sharp share is imperative as ploughing conditions vary from one vicinity to another. When a rolling colter is used it should be set about three-quarters of an inch to the left of the landside. The set screws on the depth control wheel are kept lubricated so that adjustments may be made on the spot. The bridle may have to be altered either vertically or horizontally to the ploughing site. The original pins were designed with a slot to permit a leather thong to be drawn through, which will allow minute adjustment in a moment of time.

I prefer one line in each hand. This is accomplished by having a loop for each wrist. The loops must be large enough to permit the hand to slip in and out easily. The hand is also placed around the line as well as the handle of the plough. This gives absolute control at all times.

Horses, like people, learn to do by doing. Complete coordination between team and driver is my constant aim. Working hard together under varying soil and weather conditions can strengthen the confidence–both ways. This can result in silver plates and cash awards to keep and to hold. They both have come my way.

However, the greatest compliment ever paid me as a horseman, was after the trophies were handed out and we were ready to leave. The judge stepped up to me and reached for my hand and said, “I want you to know that start and that finish were the nicest I’ve ever seen in my life.” It is the training that pays off.