Iowa Draft Horses and Mules
Iowa Draft Horses and Mules
South Central Iowa Draft Horse and Mule Association
We had our winter potluck in Minburn, Iowa on Sunday, January 17th. We had about 60 people attend and we had some GREAT food while enjoying some nice conversation. We held elections of new officers - congratulations to Brad Criswell as our new president and Wilbur Sheets as vice president. I'm glad they got voted in as both of these guys are very active in this club and work to maintain the goal and vision of the SCIDH&MA. I cannot say enough about the nice food that was shared with everyone - thanks to all who attended.
History of the club: The first meeting of the SCIDH&MA was held in Osceola, Iowa in August 1984. Since that time the group has grown to more than 120 member families that are dedicated to using draft horses and mules in harness for farm work, logging, shows, parades and pleasure.
The SCIDH&MA sponsors draft horse clinics throughout the year that include "hands-on" harnessing, hitching, driving with an experienced teamster as well as instruction on how to prepare your draft horse or mule for the show ring. We also host a yearly draft horse and mule show in New Virginia, IA in early September. This event has had such great success over the past several years that the SCIDH&MA will be hosting two clinic/show events this year on June 6th and September 12th. See the events page for details.
An article about the September 2007 New Virginia Draft Horse and Mule clinic and show was featured in the Winter '07/'08 issue of the Draft Horse Journal and was also printed in the Summer 2008 issue of Apples 'n Oats magazine. We have a link to the Apples 'n Oats article: http://applesnoats.com/drafts.pdf
Here's a picture of Doyle Nicholas, Winterset, IA at the 2008 New Virginia clinic/show demonstrating how to correctly harness a horse and fielding questions from the group:
A summary of this clinic and show was published in the Winter 2008/2009 issue of Apples 'n Oats. Here's a link to that article: http://www.applesnoats.com/drafthorseandmule.pdf
Draft Horse Show - Warren County Fair, Indianola, IA
For the past several years, members of the South Central Iowa Draft Horse and Mule Association run the draft horse show at the Warren County Fair, Indianola, IA. The event is usually the end of July each year and has several different hitch classes. Here's a link to a video of the 2008 team class:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB88A3NJRL4&feature=channel_page
Below is Dick Ledlie competing at the 2008 Warren County Fair Draft Horse Show:
SCIDH&MA meetings:
2009 SCIDH&MA Regular Meeting Dates: the first Tuesday of the odd months. See the "Events" page for details and exact dates.
Location: New Virginia Lions Club, New Virginia, IA
For information on becoming a member contact:
Jim Stuart: 641.449.3541
jstuart@iowatelecom.net
Meeting Minutes South Central Iowa Draft Horse and Mule Association
June 27th SCIDH&MA summer picnic: We had a nice meeting, picnic and driving event at Jim Stuart's place near New Virginia, IA with close to 40 people attending and about 10 teams of horses. Below is a picture of Jim talking to the club about how to get your teams ready for the upcoming obstacle course competitions at the Warren County Fair and the Iowa State Fair. There were several good questions and lots of discussion about training tips, how to train a team using voice commands (your team needs to think that there is ALWAYS someone holding those lines....), what to do if your team ends up "nose to nose", etc. We had great weather, great food and quality time spent with friends.
2010 Officers:
President:
Brad Criswell: 641.297.2446
Vice President:
Wilbur Sheets: 515.992.3103
Secretary:
Jim Stuart: 641.449.3541
jstuart@iowatelecom.net
Board of Directors:
Russ Dotts (2011)
Rick LaValley (2011)
Jerry Hatfield (2010)
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