10-Horse Pyramid Hitch returns home
Randy Meyer’s dad was born in 1915, an era when farming was done with the help of workhorses. His interest and love for horses has been passed on to three generations since and will be demonstrated at the Wisconsin Farm Technology Days in July, conveniently hosted by their neighbors, this year's show hosts, the Roehl family.
Randy and his wife, Pam, live on his family’s home farm while other family members live nearby on neighboring farms. The Meyer family has been raising and breeding Belgians and have trained many of their horses to take part in parades and competitions around the country.
His sons, John and Curt, have also followed his lead, raising draft horses on their farms.
During the media day event leading up to Farm Technology Days, Meyer brought ten horses lined up in a pyramid, with his son, Kris, and grandson, Tye, driving the team.
Kris served as the teamster now for the last five years, adding that it takes a lot of arm strength to keep the horses in line, took over the job when it began getting a little difficult for his dad to handle the powerful animals.
Tye, a student at Loyal High School, competes in numerous events. He recently won the national points award in addition to numerous other youth competitions with the family’s Belgians. Several of Randy’s seven children and 14 grandchildren have earned awards showing their Belgians over the years.
When the horses are out in public, other family members, including most of Randy’s children and grandchildren, help out, walking along on each side of the rig. Family friends also enjoy helping with the task.
Meyer says that a pyramid formation is something he learned over 25 years ago where he met another horse enthusiast at the parade in Marshfield.
He explained that the hitch is referred to as a “bowling pin” pattern: with four immediately in front of the wagon, then three, two and one horse in the lead position
"With a pattern like this no horse is directly in front of another one,” he explained.
Assembling the horses and the tack for the hitch is time-consuming and requires many helping hands, which family members provide.
The ten horses used in the hitch have varying levels of experience. The lead horse was hooked on for only the third time when they came to the Media Day event. Meyer says they will be practicing a lot with him before the July show to get the horse more accustomed to the job. Six other animals in the 10 horse hitch are also relatively new to the job.
The oldest horse, 15-year-old Marshal, has been pulling in a pyramid for 8 years.
The ten-horse hitch will entertain in the Fleet Farm Equine Area at Farm Technology Days along with other local and national presenters, educational demos and clinics.