3,000 pounds of ambition: Draft horses compete in Carl
Wolfe Memorial
CHASEBURG - At 72, Lawrence Anderson Sr. figures he's been driving horses at
least half his life. Lawrence, a semi-retired dairy farmer, works his team on
the farm in Rockland, pulling a manure spreader or bean planter, but that's just
to keep them in shape.
"These are no good for a farm team," he said. "They're too ambitious."
Anderson hoped his team's ambition - 3,000 pounds worth - would pull him to
victory Saturday in the Carl Wolfe Memorial horse pull, an event in honor of his
late friend who died of leukemia in 2005 when he was 58.
"He was a good fellow," Lawrence said of his friend. "He should have lived
longer."
Barb Wolfe said the family organized the charity event - in its sixth year -
because Carl loved horses and everything about them.
Tyler Anderson got his grandfather's Belgians, Bill and Oogie, into their
tack - collars and hames, tugs and belly bands. The 19-year-old said he never
got into riding motorcycles or snowmobiles. Always preferred horses.
"He's got it in his blood," Lawrence said.
So do a lot of Andersons. Lawrence would be competing against his son Jim in
the lightweight division. Lawrence Jr. also pulls, as do Jim's kids.
"It gets in your system," Jim said.
Nine teams took turns dragging the boat - in this case a flatbed Chevy on
steel skids - across the infield of the American Legion Park, 27½ feet at a
time.
The air smelled of hay and horse sweat.
By the time the boat was loaded to 9,000 pounds there were four teams left.
Jim Anderson doubted anyone would cross. The contest would come down to which
team pulled the farthest.
The first made it less than two feet.
Dusty Sayles, a 25-year-old from Houston, Minn., went four.
Lawrence Anderson spotted - picking the best section of track but giving up
any second chance. But he didn't get his horses far enough back to get momentum,
and they managed barely more than a foot.
Jim Anderson spotted as well. He tamped down the infield dirt with his boot,
led his team to the boat, and whispered encouragement - "Whish. Whish. Whish." -
as his ladies, Lisa and Queen, strained against the harnesses. Then he called
them off.
"Whoa!"
Twenty feet, eight inches. First place.
The first team made one more pull for just over two feet, then Sayles got his
chance. Twenty-six feet, eight inches.
Anderson knew his horses could have pulled farther but said he prefers to
call them off while they've got something left.
"I could have gone deep, but I saved my horses," he said. "They'll remember
this."
Lawrence
Anderson of Bangor drives his team of Belgian horses while
competing in Saturday's Carl Wolfe Memorial Horse Pull at Legion
Park in rural Chaseburg. PETER THOMSON photo
Article courtesy of LaCrosseTribune.com
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