A John Deere Publication

draft horses Jack and Jill being hitched to an antique mower

Jack and Jill are hitched to an antique mower prior to cutting the hay they'll eat the coming winter.

Agriculture, Specialty/Niche September 01, 2024

Drafting New Passions

Borrowed horses lead to a slow-lane shift.

by Martha Mintz

Do you have a smartphone?

"Yes."

Do you like to use it?

"No."

Bart Bilden is a man of few words, at least when he's preoccupied working with his team of horses. The inflection on those two syllables and six letters, however, spoke plenty.

"It drives him nuts that he had to put the team in the trailer to drive them over here," Heather Bilden expounds, setting off a near soliloquy by her husband.

"Any day I don't have to start a vehicle is a good day," he says.

Since 2017, he's racked up a nice collection of good days. That year a friend asked the Bildens to winter his team of draft horses on their Lavina, Montana, ranch. He prodded Bart that if he was keeping the team, he might as well use them.

One crash course on driving horses later, Bart and Heather spent the winter feeding their 65 cow/calf pairs with Kip and Kash. Bart was hooked.

They started hunting for a pair of their own after returning the team that spring. After one failed start, they found success yet again in borrowing. Their current team, Jack and Jill, started as loaners from Bart's stepfather, Jim Quade.

It was a great fit. Bart and Heather convinced him to sell them the dusky black Percheron/quarter horse beauties.

Bart uses them every chance he gets. They pull the feed wagon, cultimulcher, fertilizer spreader, field sprayer, and the sickle mower they're being hitched to this particular toasty August day. On more relaxed days, Bart and Heather hitch them to their surrey to check cows or just to take a drive.

Cowboy Zen. Statements like, "We can grow grass but we can't grow gas," say the horses are an economic choice. In truth, they're a lifestyle choice.

"It takes more time, but this is how we've decided we want to spend our time in life," Heather says. She explains doing ranch work like cutting hay with the horses is what they enjoy, not a job they take a vacation from.

Doing field work with the horses facilitates a calm, meditative experience. Fingers full of leather lines can't stray to a smartphone screen full of business and distraction.

"All I have to do is look forward. Everything important is happening right in front of me," Bart says.

Bart's focus is trained on his partners in the field but his senses are free to indulge. He can feel the sun warming his back, hear the soft snicking of the sickles gliding back and forth, smell the alfalfa as it topples and begins to dry.

In spring 2023 Bart borrowed some literal extra horsepower to do some tillage work. He was treated to a show as he rested the horses—hitched four abreast—at the end of the field.

"I watched an eagle swoop down and pick up a gopher not 50 feet away," he says.

"Working with the horses allows us to interact on another level with our fields, livestock, and environment," Heather says. "It's just such a calm, and pleasant way to do things."

The Bildens also enjoy more interaction with each other.

Horse work is often a two-person job. In winter, Heather opens gates and pitches hay to the herd as Bart drives. She's sure to be present when they try new things, like the sprayer used to apply fish hydrolysate to their pastures.

"There was a little engine and big booms to fold out. We had no idea how the horses would react," she says. After some familiarization Jack and Jill accepted the new contraption.

Not all work is done with horses. After drought forced them to downsize their cow herd, the Bildens installed a pivot to produce more hay.

They partner with a neighbor to get the valuable crop harvested quickly and off the field so they can get water back on it right away. The high-quality hay provides diversified income to complement the Coulee Creek Ranch grass-fed beef they sell.

When time isn't a factor, they take it. They once bought straw from a neighbor 10 miles down the county road. Bart suggested using the team to collect the bales.

"It was a full-day adventure," Heather says. All in they spent six hours on the trail. Time well spent in their opinion. "It was a beautiful day. We took a picnic lunch and had some amazing quality time together.

"Slow time. In so many other areas of our life we're always going faster, doing more, multitasking. With the horses, it's just us and them."

Above. Jill casts a glance at her favorite person, Bart. She runs off any other horses competing for his attention. Heather and Bart enjoy that the horses allow them to more often be fully present in the moment, free from distraction. Jack and Jill are used to cut and rake small hay fields, feed cattle in winter, and take Bart and Heather on enjoyable outings. Sourcing and maintaining equipment many value as decorative antiques presents a challenge. Bart navigates competitive online auctions and does extensive restoration work to get pieces field ready after decades of disuse. Horses and antique equipment will not be relegated to yard ornaments on his watch.

The phone. Bart does concede the value of his smartphone for sourcing horses, tack, implements, and parts.

"If you're going to find anything for sale it's going to be online," he says. There he pays the antique tax. "I'm buying equipment I want to use bidding against people wanting something to sit in their front yard."

His manure spreader was returned to the field after a long stint as a yard ornament. Restoring it to full working condition together with his stepfather was just part of the fun.

So what does Bart like best about working with the horses?

"They don't talk, which is nice," he jokes—at least I think he was joking. "I just like horses. I think every bit of it is just as enjoyable. Maybe not cleaning the barn so much, but I'm still interacting with the horses. Anytime I'm around them it's the best part of my day."

Bart has a long history with horses. Fond childhood memories include riding to his best friend's house to spend a day in the saddle exploring. Or packing into the Beartooth Mountains to go elk hunting.

For Heather, it's a newer adventure. She grew up in the suburbs of Rochester, New York, never imagining a life on a ranch until she met Bart.

After getting bucked off a saddlehorse, she prefers mellow and trustworthy Jack for her riding adventures. She'll soon have new options.

In fall 2023 two Brabant fillies joined the herd. The yearlings are a long way from the hitch, but they're learning basic manners and bonding with the family.

"We can go days without seeing other people, but we're able to have interactions with our animals that are deep and meaningful. Even Maverick here has a lot going on in his noggin," she says, giving the family cow dog a well-received pat as they watch Bart cut the first round of hay.

Fortunately for Bart, the animals tend to keep most of their thoughts to themselves. ‡