GLENROCK — Mike Cushman and his wife, Julie, adore their dapple gray Percheron draft horses.
“I’ve just always enjoyed them, and it’s a niche,” Mike said. “It gets a lot of attention from people. We enjoy putting them out in front of people.”
The Cushmans started keeping Percherons for pulling wagons about 15 years ago when they ranched full time in Glendo. Eventually, in 2005, they named their company Powder River Percherons after the Powder River in Kaycee, where they lived at that time.
Their herd has grown from two in 2002 to 10, but Mike said they usually take only six at a time to pull a wagon at an event.
About five years ago the Cushmans moved to a place they bought near Glenrock. Formerly full-time ranchers on leased ranches, they now grow hay at their place and exhibit their mighty Percherons around the state.
The Percherons average about 1,700-2,300 pounds and about 17-18 hands tall, or around 6 feet, at the withers. Mike noted the Percherons were originally bred as war horses in France. The knights rode them in full armor, although he estimated the modern Percherons are probably bigger.
“And they all have that gentle giant type personality,” Mike said.
He said his Percherons have braved fireworks fights, water balloon wars and more during parades and exhibitions, but they never become spooked or unmanageable.
Mike said Powder River Percherons started doing rodeos and exhibitions about seven or eight years ago. He said they usually have a sponsor advertising on their wagon.
“We make a fair amount of money,” Mike said.
Julie said the Cushmans are busy almost every weekend during the summer taking their Percherons to events. They also attend some midweek events, like parades during Cheyenne Frontier Days.
They have traveled as far as Montana — Deer Lodge and Bozeman — as well as south to Parker, Colorado, but Julie said most of their travels are within Wyoming.
Julie said they always attend LeDoux Days, an annual event in Kaycee to honor the late Kaycee resident, rodeo champion and country singer Chris LeDoux.
“It’s quite an honor,” Julie said about LeDoux Days. “It’s a lot of fun to do that every year.”
Powder River Percherons also pull their wagon at many county fairs around the state, as well as the Wyoming State Fair.
Julie said Powder River Percherons gets most of its business through word of mouth. In addition to parades and exhibitions, she said they do two or three weddings a year now.
Mike said Powder River Percherons have hauled a lot of dignitaries, including former Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan and current Sen. Mike Enzi.
Mike likes to match the Percherons up in teams of two according to size, color and style.
“Quality excels when you can match things up,” he said.
Mike plans to send his two youngest Percherons — 3-year-old Waylon and Willie — to Iowa this week for farmwork training there.
“It teaches them patience and manners,” he explained.
As well as youngest, Waylon and Willie are the darkest Percherons the Cushmans have. The Cushmans explained Percherons lighten with age to their dapper gray dapple shade.
Mike said the Percherons are not just for exhibition, but also ranch work. He has used them to feed cows, drag a manure spreader and harrow pastures. He said they came in handy on the ranch in Glendo some years ago during 30-degree-below-zero weather when it was difficult to start engines. He remarked on saving a lot of fuel during that time.
The Cushmans obtained their first team of Percherons —Doc and Dan — around 2002. Mike said Doc and Dan now do wagon rides in British Columbia, Canada.
Mike said before 2002, he had some Belgian draft horses. He said he switched to Percherons because he wanted more eye appeal for parades and exhibitions.
Mike said currently his Percherons are not “prettied up” as they usually are for their job because they just came in from the pasture. He explained that during the winter, he turns them loose in the pasture to relax and be horses without shoes on, and they become disheveled. If they have to do a Christmas parade, they get their shoes on for that.
Julie said they fit the Percherons with shoes when they work because the shoes provide better traction on pavement.
“It’s hard for them to walk on pavement — it’s slick,” Julie said.
Mike said for safety, Powder River Percherons have bobbed tails so their tails won’t get caught in the controls. He explained the tail bone is docked when the Percherons are colts, but their hair can still grow long for swatting flies.
The Cushmans transport their regal Percherons to events in their custom-modified semi-trailer.
“It’s an old Frito trailer,” Mike said, pointing to where they had painted over logos. “We got it last year.”
Mike said they’ve had a semi-tractor to pull it since before they had Percherons because they’ve always needed a semi for hauling hay.
The trailer features nine stalls, although the Cushmans usually haul no more than seven horses to an event. The trailer also has a ceiling/wall where the harnesses hang; it opens and closes through the labors of an electric winch. It can come down as a wall of harnesses or fold up into the roof of the trailer with a touch of a button. Mike built the feature himself for space management and convenience.
Mike’s modifications included walling off the back of the trailer from the Percheron passenger space; it is where the Cushmans transport their wagon. Mike mentioned the wagon was built in 1904. The box was refurbished in the 1970s, he said, but everything underneath is original. He called attention to the 13 springs under the box, which makes the wagon “heavier duty” than a wagon with 11 springs, the usual number.
Powder River Percherons can be seen on Facebook at www.facebook.com/powderriverpercherons/.
