One of the programs we offer at the farm is a chance for some of the volunteers to drive the draft horses. I started doing classes on this subject while I was working at Living History Farm in Des Moines, Iowa. My friends Tony, Rick, Joe and I developed a set course that people could take that would not only introduce them to the big horses but give them the confidence to start learning and experiencing driving. The classes were a huge success and I have continued teaching them at all the museums that I have worked at.To drive the draft horses it takes some real skill. I know many people think you just grab the drive lines and say "giddy-up". I remember when I used to think roughly the same thing. When I first got my first historical interpreters job I was being trained on farming methods of the 1900's Iowa farm. The guy who was showing me around said, "hey, you grew up on a farm - I bet you know how to drive horses. Not wanting to disappoint anyone on my first day I said I had been around them before. With that he handed me the lines and sent me to the field to start raking hay. The team was Bob and Bill, an old team of matched black Percherons that knew enough to keep us all out of trouble. The truth of the matter was while I did grow up on a farm and had ridden horses this draft stuff was like nothing I had ever done before. It was so neat to work in the field and hear the ground that you were crossing. I had never been able to take in so much of the life in the field while on a tractor. As time went by I got better at driving and learned that I was lucky to have come out of my first experience as well as I did. Driving horses is something that you never stop learning about.
To keep the lessons going at Wagner Farm I have been taking all of my teamsters out for some one on one time. We talk a lot about different scenarios and how we as drivers would handle the situation. Between offering wagon rides, farm work and the exercise program the horses, and our drivers are exposed to a lot of different experiences.
