Horses know the way home Spring Hill

Welle family raises next generation with equine tradition

BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN | STAFF WRITER

SPRING HILL – Dan Welle has worked with horses all his life. His father, Vernon, worked with numerous teams in the harness and riding horses.

These days, Dan’s family has a mix of driving, riding and pet equines. Their team of black Percheron mares pulls a wagon for weddings, the Stearns County Fair, family outings and other occasions. Ryan, Dan’s son, has become a competitive and accomplished horseman. The youngest children of the newest generation are already being offered their turn to take the reins.

When Dan Welle was young, everyone had horses.

“Instead of a bicycle, you had a horse,” said Dan.

He grew up only a mile north from his current farm, and friends 13 or 15 years old would ride all over the place, to Spring Hill or Greenwald. They would ride through the woods out to Lake George and camp overnight.

“Nowadays people load their horse up to go riding.” Dan said. “We’d get on our horse and take off. Sometimes, it was 10 miles one way. It would be dark before we got home. The horse always knows its way home.”

Vernon used to farm with the horses, but he wouldn’t just get a good team and call it settled. He liked to break in new teams, work them, sell them and then start a new team. Dan was there to see it all, and to be a helpful hand.

“He would go to the spring sale in Waverly, buy a team, use them a bit and then sell them to the Amish,” Dan said. “For some of them, it took three people: one to hold onto each horse, and one dumb guy to get on the wagon. That

the way home

Lady andLinda

PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN (above) Members of the Welle family go for a horsedrawn wagon ride at their farm near Spring Hill. (right) Lady and Linda are Dan Welle’s trustworthy team of Percheron mares. At 20 years old, they just get better with time.

was always me! Some horses were good, but some wanted to run. You never knew what you were getting.”

In this way, Dan learned how to integrate new horses and train them in. He would ac-

Welle page 6

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company his father to give rides with the horses, which is not unlike how Dan’s son, Ryan, helps with giving rides. Over the years, Vernon continued to work with the horses, even as horse-farming largely gave way to machinery.

“People would stop and take pictures of him cutting hay,” Dan said.

Seeing the horses working is a novel experience in these times when tractors and other mowers are available to do the same work. Horses can still be seen demonstrating fi eld work like plowing or disking and giving rides. The Welle family has sometimes participated in the Northern Minnesota Draft Horse Association fi eld day, which this year will occur on Sept. 24 in Verndale at the England Prairie Pioneer Club.

Dan’s current main team is composed of two 20-year-old black beauties, Lady and Linda. They are older, but strong, and they know what is expected of them.

“The older they get, the better they get,” Dan said. “They’re a quiet team. My dad likes the ones up in the line that want to go. I like the ones that stand there. He always tells me mine are slow ones. Anyone could drive these two.”

With the Percherons, giving rides is rewarding. Santa once received a very special ride through Elrosa to hand out candy in the gently falling snow. This has been a great way to share the driving horses with the public.

“I do it for the people who grew up with horses and still like to see them,” Dan said.

After giving rides, loading them on the trailer to go home is as simple as removing their bridles and opening the door for them.

Dan’s teams, and the family horses, have become so reliable and trustworthy that they’ve made impromptu appearances in unexpected places. The family used to hook the team up to drive to nearby Spring Hill, have a drink and a pizza and drive home. The horses would stand there waiting patiently. Dan’s wife, Deanna, laughingly recalled the story when Ryan once ventured out from the Stearns County Fair to ride his horse through the McDonald’s drive-thru.

The mares know their job well. Linda and Lady can stay steady on the side of a highway with oncoming semis roaring by. They have learned to walk in sync with each other, as they are always moving in tandem in the yoke. Complex movements like a U-turn on the road look easy, but the coordination required to do this movement is a testament to the easy and coordinated grace of the mares.

Getting a horse to this level of partnership is not a complicated process, in Dan’s experience.

“Just use them,” Dan said. “That’s the main thing.”

To elaborate upon that, Dan explained how a new young team might

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN The newest member of the family, newborn Aimsley Welle, goes on her fi rst drive with the Welle farm visible in the background. From left: Brad Welle holding Aimsley, his wife Brittany, Dan Welle holding Wesley Imdieke, Mallory Imdieke, Delaney Imdieke, Ryan Welle, Adam Imdieke, Megan Imdieke and Deanna Welle

PHOTO SUBMITTED Dan Welle and his Percheron mares, Linda and Lady, pull a plow during a draft horse fi eld day.

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