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Fun day with horses and sleighs

Written by Lisa Britton January 15, 2010 04:19 am

Event organized by new Eastern Ore. Driving and Draft Horse Association

Dave Miller brought his team over from Elgin for the first gathering of the new Eastern Oregon Driving and Draft Horse Association. (Baker City Herald/Kathy Orr)

First you hear the jingle of bells and then you see, across the snowy field, sleighs sliding through the snow behind teams of draft horses.

For a moment it feels like a much different time, when horses truly were the horsepower on ranches and farms.

Soon a team of Belgians pulls to a stop and their driver, 81-year-old Gene Westberg, grins and offers a ride to whoever is standing close.

Climb on and Westberg gets the horses moving with a twitch of the lines and a “Come up, Dolly, come up.”

This event, held Sunday at Westberg’s place on Old Auburn Road, was the first sledding party of the Eastern Oregon Driving and Draft Horse Association.

Fourteen horses were hitched for the day — six teams and two singles — and drivers came from Baker City, Haines, Keating, Halfway, Elgin and Prairie City.

The Association has 27 names on the mailing list — and it just officially formed last summer. The group’s first event was a draft horse fun day in October at the Oregon Trail Events Center.

Membership is $10 for individuals and $25 for families.

The group is the idea of Laura Bruland, who lives in Haines and is the president.

“What I wanted to do was bring teamsters together, and to the public,” she said. “Our goals are to raise public awareness about the horses working in our fields, forests, and streets. Also, to have a good time and, most importantly, educate drivers in safe driving and handling of their teams and single horses.”

The Association is a mixture of “green drivers” just learning the skill and those who have held lines their entire lives.

“I’ve been driving horses since I was 8 years old,” Westberg said. “I never lost my love for draft horses. They have the number one place in my heart.”

He still uses draft horses for plowing and planting, as does Sean Lee of Haines.

Westberg hopes to see the Association grow, but he admits not many farms depend solely on draft horses.

“The trouble is we’re scattered so far apart,” he said.

But that doesn’t stop them from getting together for a day of fun, and a few even gather to help each other plow or plant crops.

And to keep visible in the community, the next draft horse fun day will happen Sept. 25-26 at the Oregon Trail Events Center.

To learn more about the Association, call Bruland at 541-856-3741 or e-mail her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it