Meet the Hitches

The Ames Percheron Farm is a division of Ames Construction, Inc.  The farm is located in Jordan, Minnesota, not far from the company’s corporate headquarters in Burnsville, Minnesota.  

Ames Construction takes pride in its reputation for quality construction of airports, bridges and highways, golf courses, mine development, commercial site development, power plants, railroads and water treatment plants, with divisions in Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, and the Minneapolis area.   

Managed and trained by Travis and Jacqui Shaw, the six-horse hitch of Percheron geldings perform as ambassadors for Ames Construction in competitions and shows throughout the United States and Canada.  

It is only fitting that the Percheron was chosen as the company’s symbol of Ames “Pride,” a tradition instilled in every project, whether it relates to construction or horses.

Our Percheron Mares are owned by Albert and Karen Cleve from Missouri, Jim and Peggy Day from Iowa and Steffen Dittmar of Lobau, Germany. Our Hitch has traveled throughout the United States and Canada, attending many state fairs in the Midwest, along with the Royal Winter Fair in Canada and other Draft Horse Venues. We are fortunate to have earned awards such as World Champion Percheron Mare Six Horse Hitch, World Champion Eight Horse Hitch, North American Six Horse Hitch Classic Series Champions, along with the prestigious Ohio State Fair Governor’s Cup and Champion Six at the Royal Winter Fair. This was all possible under the guidance and training of the Clear Creek Connection owners, Dean and Kelly Woodbury from Winchester, Indiana, along with their assistants, Cody and Alli Woodbury. We also enjoy meeting and visiting our fans and followers on our FACEBOOK PAGE: BLUE RIBBON DAYS PERCHERONS. Please like us and follow us as we travel and try to educate you on our care and love of these mares!

Chesapeake Clydesdales began with one horse at The Georgia Draft Horse Association show with the assistance of Hunting Creek Farm and in three years has grown to an Ultra Competitive Hitch holding World Champion Four and Unicorn titles and many victories throughout the show circuit 

The experience of showing within this beautiful industry has been such a joyful , happy endeavor that we quickly recognized the need to focus on sponsorship and Hosting of horse shows and specifically to enrich and enhance incentives to breed quality foals and recognize outstanding mares and stallions to secure a solid vitality for the future steeped in tradition for generations to come .....

In 2018, Express Ranches Percherons came to fruition with the purpose of teaming up with Express Clydesdales to be the equine ambassadors for Express Employment Professionals. The two gentle giant breeds will work together to represent the company at their local offices and compete at draft horse shows throughout the United States of America and Canada.

Fox Hollow Movers Percheron Hitch is out of Oswego, NY this hitch was a dream of ours for many years. 2019 Fox Hollow Movers an Allied Van Lines Agent out of Syracuse NY sponsoring the hitch while enjoying these magnificent  animals.  We are so happy to have great friends and family that help out and make this all possible to be in the show ring.

The Hunting Creek Farms horses live on an 1840's established working farm in the Piedmont of North Carolina. The hitch is owned by Jason Hunter, and sponsored by his Hunter Construction Group

Hunter Construction is an unlimited licensed general contractor, specializing in heavy highway, civilm and private site work; capabilities range from municipal projects and master planned communities, to commercial construction and environmental remediation.

Jason purchased his first Clydesdales in 2007 and Chip Lawrence began showing the Clydes in 2009. 2020 marked the end of an era with the Clydes, as they were sold to Grandview Farms. 2020 also ushered in the first outings of the newly assembled Percheron Hitch. Grandview Invitational will be only the 3rd show for the Percherons. As with the Clydes, the Percherons will compete and represent Hunter Construction at local events.

Grandview Clydesdales is owned and operated by Shannon and Karen Cobbs. A family operation dating back to the year 1240 in Scotland. Grandview has been one of the largest Clydesdale operations for over 30+ years, breeding and shipping semen to over 13 countries of both bay and black Clydesdales. They are no stranger to the show ring as they have shown all over North America. A couple highlights to mention would be winning the Classic Series Six Horse Hitch Championship, and was the reserve Classic Series Six Horse Hitch Champion twice. Grandview was inducted into the Clydesdale Breeders of the USA hall of fame in 2016.

Moving the farm to Florida a few years ago, they decided to organize and host the Grandview Invitational a 3 day draft horse show in Ocala Florida which is always the 1st weekend in February.
www.grandviewinvitational.com
They also have opened their farm for tours 3 days a week, so visit:
www.grandviewclydesdales.tours

Jackson Fork Ranch is located in Little Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Jackson Fork Ranch Percherons are a Percheron hitch consisting of mares and geldings. This hitch travels to around 12 shows a year from coast to coast. The hitch was established in 2008. Since that time, the hitch has earned many championships including the 2019 National Champion Six-Horse and Eight-Horse hitch. In 2020, The Jackson Fork Ranch Percherons were crowned the North American Classic Series Six-Horse Finals Champions! The Jackson Fork Ranch Percherons looks forward to a bright future of promoting the Percheron breed.

The Mark Messenger Memorial Hitch was formerly known as Messenger Bros. With the help of their parents and grandmother, the brothers Kirk and Mark Messenger started the hitch in 1982 at the age of 13 and 14. In 2002 Mark died in a tragic car accident. It was then that the name of the hitch became Mark Messenger Memorial Hitch. Kirk and Raedene Messenger, along with their 6 children and 7 grandchildren, enjoy driving and showing the Percheron hitch in memory of Mark. The horses are currently under the training of Brian and Colleen Coleman of Eaglesfield Percherons at Coleman Ranch in Didsbury Alberta Canada. The Messenger’s and Coleman’s partnered up in 2015 and have won several National and World awards including the North American Six Horse Hitch Classic Series Finals in 2016, The National Percheron Finals and numerous Calgary Stampede World Championship titles.  

MMO Percherons is owned by Dr. Mike and Maureen Odian and is located in North Central Maryland. Lifelong horse enthusiasts, the Odian’s first began in the draft industry in 1999 with black Clydesdale mares. A team of black Percheron mares convinced them to make the switch in 2011. 

The hitch is driven by Joe Dolan and Bailey Riemer. 

We are looking forward to the 2021 show season. 

Started showing Belgians in the early 90’s and have been show competitive ever sense. Ed has a construction company that he has built consisting of sand, gravel, stone, concrete, hot top asphalt. 

The Unhitched Ranch is a family hitch of Clydesdale geldings out of Southern California. Nick and Audrey Popoff have been showing these horses together since 1999. Through the years they have grown and developed their hitch and abilities. In 2019, Nick drove his own team of 8 for the first time at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, CO and lived to tell the tale. Their 2 sons, Jackson and Sebastian are also part of the show team. Both boys compete in the Jr and Pee Wee divisions of the shows and have both carried titles of State-wide champion. Sebastian now is an accomplished braider and helps braid and hook the show team. In addition to working the Clydesdales at home, Audrey also competes at the local level in the hunter/jumper and dressage rings.

Home, on the ranch the Clydesdale herd is also expanding with the addition of a young stud colt and some mares, now in foal for home-grown babies in the summer of 2021. The Popoffs also raise Texas Long-horned cattle, Kune-kune pigs and various fowl.

After showing on the West coast for the past 20 years the Popoffs are very excited to bring this hitch to the East.

The Young Living Percherons, the equine ambassadors for Young Living Essential Oils, are brought to you from their global headquarters in northern Utah. Whether on the line or in the hitch, these horses are a powerful representation of the company’s commitment to providing essential oils of the highest quality to families across the globe. These world champion Percherons represent Young Living Founder D. Gary Young’s continuous pursuit of excellence. You can visit these mighty Percherons six days a week at their home, the iconic Young Living Lavender Farm in Mona, Utah. You can also see them in action as they compete year-round across the United States at fairs and stock shows, including Young Living’s annual Fall Festival and Draft Horse Show.

The Yoder Family Hay Company is a family owned and operated hitch, from Westciffe, CO. Driven by Enos Yoder. We have a six horse hitch of Percheron mares. We raise and train horses, as well as uptimes up around 40,000 bales of hay each year.

Zubrod’s Percherons is located in Guthrie, OK.  We are a family owned, trained and driven hitch.  We have been campaigning our six horse hitch of mares throughout the United States  competing in 12 to 14 shows each year.  We normally raise about 6 to 8 foals each year from our mares, these young stock are usually for sale.

Dr. Chad Zubrod is an Equine Veterinarian and a board certified equine surgeon at Oakridge Equine Hospital in Edmond, OK.   Melissa is currently working for Hershey’s as a Retail Sales Merchandiser.  Kynseth is 13, she has taken on the responsibility  this past year assisting Chad in training the mares at home, she also has started to drive the 4 horse hitch at shows and is a very accomplished junior driver.  She is the reining World Percheron Congress Jr. Team Driver Champion. She is currently the Oklahoma Draft Horse and Mule Association Youth Representative.  She is also very involved in FFA (showing goats), soccer and band in school.  Kolton is 10 and is involved in soccer and has been participating in showmanship classes and is becoming a great stall cleaner.

We can not begin to thank our loyal crew of Brad Klinger, Shelby Peyton and Heather Apenhorst for your friendship and all your expertise in making our girls look their best at all the shows throughout the years.