A22—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, January 28,1984
BY LAURA ENGLAND
CENTRE HALL - Situated in
the south-central part of the state,
Centre County is well-known for its
role as home to Penn State
University, complete with its
serene, country-like atmosphere.
However, housing the
agriculturally-based university is
only one of several roles that leads
to Centre County farm pride.
Of the 67 Pennsylvania counties,
Centre County has one of the
highest concentrations of draft
horses in the state and is number
one in the Percheron breed. This is
a fact which brings a beam of pride
across the faces of Percheron
breeders John and Susan Cole of
Centre Hall.
Owners and operators of the
Centre Hall Farm Store Inc.,
located on Allison Street in Centre
Hall, John and Susan consider
themselves promoters of the
Percheron breed, and “I’m proud
of that,” John said.
The Coles began raising Per
cherons in 1970 as a sideline hobby
to their farm store business and
400-acre farm. They also raise 150
feeder cattle and about 40 Angus-
Chianina cross breeding cattle.
Their first purchase of the draft
horse breed - they had always
owned light and walking horses -
included two young fillies. Their
herd now numbers 15 with Susan
paying close attention to breeding
and genetics and John placing his
interest in hitching competitions.
As Susan explained, John grew
up around horses while she, her
self, had a farming background.
“John’s dad worked with horses,”
she said, “and they always had
buggy or riding horses.”
Both John and Susan are Centre
play;
relating the success the Coles have had with their Percheron
draft horses.
These two young mares are part of the 15-head of Percheron draft horses raised at
Pennwood Farms in Centre Hall, Centre County.
Pennwood Farms
County natives. Susan grew up in
State College and John in
Boalsburg. With each having a
farming background and growing
up in an agricultural county,
raising horses came naturally.
In raising the breed, Susan keeps
up-to-date on the breeding. This
she does through reading and
research and just by visually
appraising other Percheron horses
to determine important breed
traits.
To get the breed characteristics
and refinement they wanted in
their horses, John and Susan
traveled to Alberta, Canada, three
years ago and bought one of the
country’s premier ■ breeding
stallions, Lo Lynd Joe Laet. They
later bought Glynlea’s Pride, also
from Alberta, to breed with Laet’s
offspring.
“We bought Pride to bring
outcrossing into the herd,” John
said. “We wanted size and
refinement.”
The size and refinement the
Coles were looking for has been
recognized at the breed shows they
attend. Pride was named
champion stallion at this year’s
Farm Show and was reserve junior
champion at the 1981 Ohio State
Fair. Both Laet’s and Pride’s
female offspring have done well at
shows, also.
Another area of show com
petition the Cole’s have challenged
is hitching where horses compete
as a team or in groups to pull a
wagon. This is where John’s real
interest in the Percheron breed
lies.
John has been in competitive
hitching for three years, par
ticipating in the Farm Show and
Ohio State Fair contests. At the
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is Percheron proud
Getting a little exercise in a snow-covered pasture are these two, spirited geldings
which are used in hitching competitions.
Farm Show, he has won every
class but one during the past two
years.
“Hitching is a real art,” John
said. “You have to get all the
horses working right together, and
the tuning is unbelievable.”
A right-hand partner in John’s
hitching ventures is Lewis
Mothersbaugh of Linden Hall,
Centre County. “Lewis does as
much of the driving as I do,” John
said.
To prepare the horses for hit
ching competitions, John put up
lights around his practice track to
allow for night driving. The horses
are worked about 25 times prior to
shows.
“To make a good team,” John
said, "the horses have to click like
one, look like one and think like
one.”
John, who competes in two
horse, three-horse, four-horse and
six-horse team categories, realizes
the practice needed to make a good
team and begins to work his horses
at about one and a half to two years
of age
"When we leave Pennsylvania,
the competition is tough,” Susan
said. “They’re all very high class
hitching contests.”
In addition to the breeding and
hitching interests, the Coles also
tie their Percherons into their feed
store promotions. During
Christmas, children are granted
hitching rides on a wagon with
Santa Clause. The horses have
also served as transportation for
newly wed couples.
The interest in the horses has
definitely helped promote the
business, John said. The business,
which employs 10 workers, covers
Centre County and deals primarily
in dairy, custom spraying and
fertilizing, seed and farm supplies
't .
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I *>■*»,
and feeding rations.
The Cole’s 28-year-old son, Chris,
is in partnership with his father
and likewise, shares an interest in
raising horses, too. Chris owns a
couple of walking horses.
The Cole’s other sons, Billy and
Chad, and daughters Kelly and
Yung Mi, also grew up with an
interest in horses. And now, the
Cole’s grandchildren have taken
hCI*oC r ’
John Cole, Center Hall, poses with 13-year-old Lo Lynd Joe
Laet, a one time premier breeding stallion in Canada.
A 2,250-pound Percheron gelding, Prince is an important
part of John and Susan Cole’s speciality hitching team.
* <».
“It’s (raising Percherons) a
family and country-oriented
hobby,” Susan said. “We try to
include our family. It’s the right
way to go.”
And the pride in raising the
horses stands out. As John added,
his goal for both his farm store
business and the Percherons is
“we want to continue to do what
we’re doing, but better.”