May 19, 1999
Plows & horses dice, plow, drag
By Garret Leiva
Herald staff writer
Silver-studded harnesses sparkle like stars in the clouds of hardened soil kicked up in the sun-drenched field. The labored breath of Belgiums and Percherons mixes with the smell of freshly turned earth. Along a long furrow, a single bottom riding plow scrapes a fieldstone while to the north echoes a faint shout of "ha-around."
These are sights and sounds not found on the Cal and Willo Spangler Farm in Grawn these days. But this Sunday is not like most days on the 218 acres stretching across both sides of Hilltop Road.
Instead the 10th annual Northwest Michigan Draft Horse and Mule Association's Plow Day is about old-fashion plowing, discing and dragging and following in the furrows of forefathers and mothers. The annual event remains a throwback to the yesteryears of farming; a time when horsepower was not rated in cylinders but truly horses.
"Some of these older guys they really appreciate seeing this. They remember back when this was the way it was," said Willo Spangler, who along with her husband, Cal, each year open up their fields for Plow Day.
Held under sunny skies and a slight spring breeze, this year's Plow Day featured 15 teams from throughout the Grand Traverse region and Michigan said Jane McManus, secretary of the Northwestern Michigan Draft Horse and Mule Association. These two-horse - or in two cases Span mule teams - vied for top honor in several trophy categories including best sulky plow team, best walking plow team and best obstacle course team.
As a plowing judge, Clarence Weber said each row is examined for straightness, depth of the furrow and if the surrounding soil is turned over without leaving vegetation showing. A former farmer and owner of Belgium draft horses, the Long Lake Township resident said this old-style method of farming is not easy on man nor beast.
"One year I had to do 14 acres of corn with the horses using a riding cultivator. All I could do in half-a-day was 30 rows, which was 80 rods long, because the horses weren't used to that kind of hard work," said Weber, who even judged his brother, Jay of Buckley who was out in the field plowing with his Belgium's "Rusty" and "Prince."
Then there were those like John Otte who reveled in Plow Day although they've never farmed a day in their life. A truck driver by trade, this Grant, Mich. retiree finally had his dream of owning draft horses realized - and all it took was 50 years of wanting and waiting.
"Ever since I was a kid if there was a county fair with a horse pull show I'd go," said Otte, as he sat on a World War I vintage sulky plow pulled by his Percherons "Spike" and "Ashley."
"I wanted to do this and it took me 50 years to get my first team, but hey, what else should a retired Teamster do on his days off but play with horses."
For many gathered on the Spangler Farm, however, horses and farming has been the only way of life they've ever know.
At "pert near" 80-years-old, Fred Sievert has officially retired from farming, but that doesn't mean he's given up the life. "I still get up at 4:30 in the morning to watch the farm report," said the Manistee resident, who drove a team of draft horses owned by his son, James with a light touch on the reigns and simple "ha-around" and "gee" vocal commands.
"I know that (farming) is a hard, almost thankless job in some respect. Most people don't realize how much a person puts in of themselves into farming. There is no such thing as going to work at 8 a.m. and coming home at 5 p.m.," he said.
Over the course of his life, Sievert has witnessed the modernization from horse-drawn buggies to mechanized horsepower. He has also seen the modern-day farmer face dwindling margins of profit and disappearing use for local products. Despite the hard work and hardships of farming, Sievert seems unlikely to walk away from the only way of life he's known.
"There is a partnership that goes on between a man and his land. I won't give up farming as a way of life because it gets in your blood and you just can't get it out," he said.