An American Dream
The American Sugarbush Harlequin Draft Horse
By Rebecca Buck
President of the American Sugarbush Draft Association. Flint Ridge Ranch – Drafts with Flash, home of Sugarbush Harley’s Classic O
If you grew up on the borders of Southern Ohio and Huntington, West Virginia, in the 1990s until 2008, you knew of the Sugarbush Hitch Company and maybe even have stories to tell of riding the horse drawn trolley with Everett Smith and his family. According to Everett starting the carriage service as his retirement job was unintentional. It just took off.
Everett took his severance pay from Corning Glass when they closed their doors and bought his first carriage. He had raised a few Percheron for his pleasure and decided to do more. He loved driving the twisting country roads and became an anticipated sight, driving his match team of Percheron sisters to town, delighted when people asked him for rides. He eagerly accepted an invitation to give rides at the Annual Huntington Holiday Festival from Thanksgiving to Christmas, leading to requests for weddings and parties, until his whole family was involved. His wife, Shirley driving a rig in one direction and he in another, to meet demand, with his twin grandsons Everett and Mason as drivers. Everett was living his dream.
While the business prospered, he searched for the best stallions for his mares, wanting to make a good thing better. He planned carefully, looking to champion Valley Vista Knightime, producing some of the finest Percheron based carriage horses in the Tristate area. He wanted high stepping gaits and tried Tennessee walking horses, then thought to cross to an Appaloosa, in hopes of creating some bling. He knew it would be difficult to keep the size of his beloved Percheron while on the quest for the patterns.
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Information
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