Traveling team (Ross

Traveling team

Oh what fun it is to ride

By JILL SCHRAMM

Senior Staff Writer jschramm@minotdailynews.com he horse-and-buggy era never ended for Allen Lund. It lives on in black Percherons and a red stagecoach, a covered wagon and other teampulled buggies and wagons at his ranch near Ross.

Lund has been keeping the era alive to the joy of oldtimers who still remember earlier days and to the delight of youngsters who get to experience what is largely a bygone mode of travel.

Whether it is a parade, rodeo grand entry, a wedding or a funeral, there’s something about a horsedrawn carriage that makes an event special. That it is special to Lund is beyond question.

For the past 10 years, he has been offering rides and participating in private and public events throughout a good portion of North Dakota.

“This truly is his passion. I can’t believe how he has taken off with it,” said his wife, Debbie Lund.

Lund grew up in the Ross area and after serving with the Army in Vietnam, he returned to ranching and participating in rodeos. After he and Debbie married, he focused on ranching and kept his ranch horses.

“In the early ‘80s I bought a team of mules. We used them for driving and fun,” he said. He eventually sold them, only to later purchase a team of Palomino horses. He later replaced them with a team of Percheron mares from Minnesota, which he replaced with more Percherons.

He currently has four Percherons and typically uses them in teams of two. At 18 hands, a term of horse measurement, his males stand about six feet tall. Lund also has a quarter-horse/small draft horse mix, Charlie, to give wagon rides at children’s birthday parties.

His teams first received public exposure when Lund entered them in area parades. Then the Stanley Commercial Club began calling about having Lund bring his team to participate in some of its events. Other communities began doing the same. Lund and his team have participated in a number of weddings and about a dozen funerals.

Lund recalled taking the stagecoach to a Kenmare wedding as a surprise arranged by a family member of the bridal couple. He quietly pulled up to the church once everyone was inside and waited to surprise the couple after the ceremony.

Lund has been keeping the era alive to the joy ROSS

Submitted Photos

TOP: Allen Lund stands with a team of Percherons in this photo by Veronica McGinnity.

BOTTOM: Allen Lund drives his team of Percherons as they pull a Cinderella carriage last May. The carriage carries a young girl whose dream to be a princess for a day was fulfi lled by Make A Wish. Driving his team behind Lund is Chris Kubal of Keene.

Jill Schramm/MDN

Several of the 13 buggies and wagons owned by Allen Lund are shown at his ranch. The various transportation styles serve a variety of functions.

“They loved it,” he said.

Although funerals are sad occasions, Lund said he likes being able to contribute to a family’s memorial service and finds people are so appreciative.

Lund particularly enjoys giving rides to elderly residents and children. He recalled one elderly resident whose Alzheimer’s was barely noted as she conversed during a buggy ride, likely remembering similar rides in her youth. It made for the most heart-warming trip he has taken with his team, Lund said.

Lund’s Cinderella carriage not only serves for weddings but last May was used in helping Make-A-Wish grant a 10-year-old girl’s wish to be a princess for a day. A fully equipped knight and a court of princesses took part in a Dickinson parade and a trip to the Enchanted Castle in Regent.

“That was just awesome,” Lund said in remembering the young girl’s joy. “We met with everybody that night before, and they told us don’t expect too much out of her. She’s really shy. She wasn’t shy at all. She had a grin on her face from ear to ear the whole time.”

Another interesting experience for Lund’s team has been participating in Stanley’s Parade of Lights. Lund installed a light to help guide his horses, but he said they do surprisingly well finding their way in the pitch black darkness.

“We go to Stanley a lot. We had quite a few calls that we had to turn down this year, too, because of other commitments,” he said. “A young guy that had a good team and some equipment, he could make a living at it. I very seldom take a dime.”

He often keeps a tip box at an event and then donates the contributions to the local fire department or other charitable group.

He might charge for private functions but typically not if it is family or friends. He’s traveled from Ray on the west to Towner on the east in response to requests to participate in different functions. Most of his travels, though, fall in about a 100-mile radius.

Taking his team to different events involves a significant amount of labor, from cleaning the equipment and horses to loading them in a special horse trailer to haul. The Lunds also have hosted groups at their ranch for rides on their trails.

The Lunds make an annual trip to Waverly, Iowa, for a draft horse and equipment sale. It was there Lund bought his white hearse, which presents an eye-catching sight when pulled by two black horses.

Lund’s collection of 13 carriages includes a smaller and a larger bobsled for winter rides. Lund has wagons for hayrides as well. His collection includes a restored buggy from the early 1900s, a reproduction of a covered wagon and a stagecoach reproduction built in 1994 by an Amish carpenter, who kept the leather suspension that the original would have had.

Another of Lund’s wagons was purchased at auction and became a 4-H project of his granddaughter a few years ago. From November through March, he oversaw her work in renovating the 1880s freight wagon.

“The wood was totally rotten,” Lund said. “We took everything apart. We took every spring completely apart and we have pictures of her sanding it and painting it. It turned out good.”

The wagon won grand champion honors in local and state 4-H competitions. Other than rubber laid over the steel tires, the wagon is back to its original look when first owned by Debbie Lund’s grandmother’s half brother from Penn.

Lund also has rebuilt wagons. One he uses for weddings and Stanley’s lighted parade.

Debbie Lund said the first wagon her husband refurbished was one her father had used in feeding livestock. It was old and rotting when he rescued it from disposal.

Another preserved item was a sleigh that Allen Lund’s grandfather had acquired shortly after coming to the area to homestead in the early 1900s. Lund wanted to restore it himself but due to some special work required, he took it to a renowned South Dakota restoration company.

“He gets excited about the wagons, but the real stars are right over there,” Debbie Lund said, pointing to the Percherons.

The horses are Amish-broke, so they are easy to work with and love people, she said.

“They are just very gentle,” she said. “They are just truly a very, very amazing team.”

Nothing stresses them, even having a semi-truck drive by as they are walking down the highway, Allen Lund said. That makes them ideal for public appearances.

Having passed down their love for horses and rodeo, the Lunds enjoy it whenever other family members are able to also join them in working with the horses and buggies. Their son, Justin, has assisted at times in driving the teams at parades and funerals.

“I wish there were more young people getting into this,” said Lund, who believes horses and buggies still have a lot of enjoyment yet to bring. He’s working to persuade the next generation to continue the tradition – one ride at a time.