We farmers were stumped. With three out of four draft horses unable to work, due to injury, and our first decent stretch of haying weather coming up, late in the summer, we needed to borrow a draft horse, in a hurry. But how likely was that?
“Maybe we could call the Borrow-a-Draft-Horse Agency?” I suggested.
“Let’s think,” answered my fellow farmer, “Who could we even ask? X’s team is pretty old, and he won’t want to split them up, anyway. Y’s horse might like the company of our horses, but Y would miss her horse too much. Let’s try Z.”
“And A, and B, and C,” I added, so we made phone calls and sent emails, thinking our chances were pretty slim. How many people have draft horses anyway, and who in their right mind would ever loan one?
Luckily, our farrier, Jake, whose generosity far outweighs his right-mindedness, said “Sure, you can borrow Button. She could use the work.”
We could hardly believe it, and we not only borrowed the horse, but the horse trailer to haul her. Button, who is half-Belgian and half-American Cream, is a big horse, a beautiful pale gold color. She was also out of shape, a “cream puff,” said our farrier’s mother, Mary. In fact, Button was so round and gold we were tempted to call her Butterball instead of Button.
Button was not pleased to be separated from her two pasture-mates. Happily, Mary helped us, leading Button into the trailer, multiple times. Button backed, right off the trailer, multiple times. Mary sighed, led Button’s mother into the trailer, tied her, led Button in, tied her, then untied and backed Button’s mother off again.
Thank goodness for mothers, we were thinking.
But “Thanks, George!” was what Mary said, relieved. George is Mary’s spouse, and Jake’s father. George died, in 2021, of cancer. George was also a farrier, and a teamster, and a draft-horse legend, and he carried that great spirit of generosity we still see in Jake. We all miss George. As my fellow farmer said, “I never thought I’d get to drive a horse that George trained.”
Button gradually settled down on our farm, showing her solid training, and remembering her good manners. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t a handful. George liked “hot” horses, and Button is hot. (She’s a hot button!)
At our farm, we introduced Button to just one horse, Clyde, while our three recovering horses stayed at our neighbors’. Luckily Clyde is a very steady, sleepy horse, so he made a good calming partner for the high-headed Button.
Button was learning a lot, and so were we, such as how Button likes to run away when she sees a person coming with a halter. A person without a halter? Button is your best friend. Still, a horse-horse relationship always tops a horse-human relationship, and Clyde never minds being haltered. So we would halter Clyde, as Button trotted around in circles, and then walk away. By the time we got to the gate, Button would give up, and stand for the halter.
Button loved Clyde, but she didn’t love all the rest of the new stuff: new stable, new harness, new noisy scary farming activities. But she managed. She even muscled up.
“I think we’ve gotten her from cream puff to cream cheese,” my fellow reported to our farrier and his mother. “She’s doing great.”
Button is doing great, and are we ever glad to have her visiting, hot or not. She is getting us through one long hard garden season, thanks in no small part to George, and to his human and horse legacy.
Originally published in the Monadnock Shopper News, Oct 18 - 24, 2023