It requires quick and strong hands to maneuver an eight-horse hitch of Percheron draft horses. Once entering the show ring, these majestic beasts quickly adjust to distribute the weight of the wagon and its passengers. They become like soldiers — synchronized in step and driven with purpose. Not for battle, but for competition. They are athletes competing for center stage.

Holding the reins is their “coach” Ross Honsberger, 33, with his wife, Nicole, next to him in the wagon. He’s part of a team that meshes two families — the Wagners from Ohio, and the Dingmans from Michigan — who bring their draft horses together to compete across the country.

On Oct. 14, they were at the Michigan State University Pavilion for what some consider the granddaddy of them all: the Michigan Great Lakes International (MGLI) Draft Horse Show and Pull.

It’s Ross’ job to see that these mighty and manicured animals compete as a unit — all in step, in straight lines, with heads held high at all times.

Outside the arena, the thunderous steps of the horses’ massive hooves hit the pavement and shake the pavilion. Their shiny, but hefty, body armor clinks and clanks. And when the horses slow down, the armor sounds like church chimes. It’s a dance of sorts, requiring precision movement that’s guided with eight leather harnesses weaved between fingers on just one set of hands.

It’s tricky because “it comes with the pull of great horsepower,” Ross says. “It really takes some strength to handle them.”

Competition’s stats
The weight of eight horses with hitches can be up to 9,000 pounds. Just idle, the driver holds about 40 pounds of reins. That can quickly climb to 75 pounds of pressure on the driver as the horses take off.

At the end of competition, it was Albert Cleve and Jim Day of Farmington, Mo., who took the top prize and $8,000. They also claimed the top spot in the six-horse hitch.

Ross finished sixth out of 12. However, at this show, his team took second place in the youth cart class, driven by family friend Marissa Supers.

The team claimed first in the all-breeds cart classes (for both men and women), driven by Ross and Nicole Honsberger. “On this day, that means we had the best horse on the grounds,” Ross says.

The winning horse, named Silk, is a 5-year-old, pregnant, 2-ton mare, measuring 18.2 hands (one hand is 4 inches). She is one of the wheel horses (next to the cart) in the eight-horse hitch. The wheel horses are the largest and most muscular of the “eight-up.” They are first charged with moving the wagon before the next swing team takes some of the weight, followed by the point horses and finally the lead team.

To get the desired high steps out of the Percherons, Ross says it requires a lot of training outside the show ring. “It’s also a lot to do with how you shoe them, not necessarily a heavier shoe, but a method,” says Ross, who is a farrier.

Hooves are shod in what the industry calls “scotch bottom shoes,” where the toe is squared off and the sides flared to cause the horse to break over earlier.

Unite to compete
Ross, an Ohio State University graduate and an Elmore, Ohio, native, got interested in draft horses at a young age and showed through the Nick Wagner family farm of All Star Farms in Wayne, Ohio. They became friends with Doyle and Renee Dingman of Belle View Percherons in Bellevue.

At a previous MGLI, Ross met Doyle and Renee’s daughter, Nicole, who would later become his wife. They have a son, Brezlin, and are expecting their second child in spring.

The two families combine their horses to compete in about 10 shows, from Oklahoma to Massachusetts to Colorado.

The Wagners own about 25 head of draft horses, while the Dingmans have about 20. Each family operation produces about six to seven babies a year. All of Wagners’ competition horses come up to Michigan for the summer season and then return to the All Star Farms for overwintering.

At MGLI, the melded team also won in the Percheron Mare Team Hitch and in Percheron Mare Unicorn Hitch categories.

Ross says money can be made competing, but “it’s more about the love of horses and the people who show them. And it’s about meeting new people.”

MGLI is one of the last shows of the year and considered the premier, drawing 842 horses and more than 35,000 spectators.

It is the only show in the country to feature halter classes, hitching, plowing, pulling and riding for Clydesdales, Belgians, Percherons or Shires, and mules at the same time and location.

I expected to stay a couple hours and was there most of the day. Next year’s event is Oct. 11-14.