Gentle Giants

4 JANUARY 2009 CLEARWATER POWER

By Linda J. Henderson

When winter holds its icy grip on the earth, a rare sunny day lures horseman Don Nagle to

venture outdoors in spite of a deep layer of snow.

For Don, it means an opportunity to “muscle up my horses” for the coming events in spring.

Don and his wife, Betty, take their team of Belgians to several events during the year: Farm Days in Pomeroy, Washington, where they pull a three-bottom plow, the Pendleton Days Parade, and the Draft Horse and Mule International at Sandpoint.

In the winter, Don has the horses pull a sleigh to help them get fit for the coming season. His grandson Brandon is in the barn feeding and harnessing the horses, and will take turns with Don driving the team.

“We’re only going to take four horses out today,” Don explains. “We need to muscle them up a little bit. That’s why we like to drive on the sled rather than a wagon because it pulls on them.”

Their barn is clean and cozy, and smells of sweet alfalfa. It is well equipped with roomy stalls, hangers for tack, and a strong pipe rack to hold a horse in place for doctoring, shoeing or grooming.

A friendly barn cat jumps down from a box with a bed inside. His box house is heated by a glowing light bulb.

The horses, standing patiently in their stalls, nicker a welcome. One by one, Brandon leads them out to be hitched to the sleigh they will

pull. Harold and Dan will be the “lead” horses, and Jake and Jim will be his “wheelers” today.

As Don completes the hitching, he explains the use of a few extra straps he attaches.

“When they farmed with horses, they didn’t use all this rigging, like these check straps,” he says. “The reason I’m using them is because when you hook up a six-horse hitch it puts their heads all in the same place and it looks a lot nicer. Now, this strap is called a cheating strap, and we put it around their butts because Jake has a tendency to kind of swing out. This keeps him in position.

“Jim has a habit of rubbing his head on the horse beside him, so this jockey stick stops him from doing that. The reason I use this stuff when I’m training is when I take them out I want them to look as perfect as they can.”

Brandon quietly finishes hitching the horses to the sleigh, climbs in the driver’s seat and gathers the lines. Don opens a big gate and climbs in the seat beside Brandon. A slight slap of the lines and the team leans into their harness and effortlessly glides over a rise and through a patch of woods into a snow-covered meadow.

Don entertains with stories about how to log with horses, how to adjust harness, how to hold the lines and myriad other pieces of rural wisdom. He is an encyclopedia of old-time country information and loves to teach man or horse.

“My grandfather John Nagle came here from South Dakota in 1903,” says Don. “My dad, Egan, was 3 years old at the time. Grandad farmed 1,200 acres with horses. So, my dad was raised with horses and I was raised with horses.

Draft horses pull keeps family involved in lifelong hobby

Gentle Giants

CLEARWATER POWER JANUARY 2009 5

“My dad said that Grandad was very strict. When you farmed, you worked the horses for 50 minutes and rested for 10. And while they were resting, you’d get out and curry them while they were resting. And it makes sense. Just like your tractors, You have to take care of them or you’re out of business.”

An affable man, Don speaks of being kind to horses.

“My dad used to log with draft horses for Potlatch years ago,” says Don. “He said they didn’t want anybody abusing the horses. Dad

told me about a guy who gave his horse quite a beating one day with a club, and Potlatch canned him. It’s not right to treat a horse that way.

Don has owned draft horses ever since 1954 when he got out of the service. Before that he had saddle horses.

Don and Betty are retired. Betty was a CPA and still does some work from home. She has been treasurer of the North Idaho Draft Horse and Mule Association since it started in 1976.

Don and Betty passed their love of horses on to their daughter, Marsha Harrison, who has a horse training arena just down the road.

Don says his horses are just a hobby now.

“We only use them to haul hay and manure, and stuff, and take them to shows,” he says. “In fact

we would have cut down but our grandsons, Brandon and his brother Riley Moore, are pretty interested in them.”

Last year, a picture of Brandon driving the team in the parade in Pendleton made the front page of the East Oregonian newspaper.

“It’s a perfect picture,” says Don. “The horses were all in line and everybody looked good.”

Don says that unless you do something with your horses they won’t learn a thing.

“I think about it this way,” he says. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve got four-wheelers, or snowmobiles—whatever you do—you’re going to spend what you want on your hobby. Our dad taught us, don’t ever make fun of anybody’s hobby, ‘cause you never know what yours is gonna’ be.”

Above, Don Nagle finishes hitching up his team with help from his grandson Brandon Moore. Left, Harold and Dan share an alfalfa snack. Opposite page, Brandon rests the team during their workout. Photos by Bud Henderson.