Jack Wetzel with his two lead carriage horses, Digger (left) and Director. The Gelderlanders will perform at the Aiken Trials and at the Steeplechase. JEFF JANOWSKI/STAFF

Imposing Gelderlanders will grace pair of events

Web posted March 17, 2000

 Have a thought? Go to the @ugusta Forums.

By Pat Willis
South Carolina Bureau

AIKEN -- They stand nearly 16 hands high, their backs straight and long and their hooves broad and strong. They are Gelderlanders -- and they're beautiful.

These impressive horses will be taking part in two of the Triple Crown events -- carriage parades at the Aiken Trials and again at the Steeplechase.

These are firsts for owner Jack Wetzel of H 'n D Farm and his trainer Vance Coulthard, who brought the elegant carriage horses to Aiken less than a year ago. Now a team of four and a matched pair train daily at the Two-Notch Road stables and are ready to exhibit their prowess at the equestrian festival that has made Aiken famous.

``They are very excitable horses, very forward and very fancy,'' Mr. Wetzel says. ``We've worked especially hard to calm them, and they're working beautifully.''

Instead of the Amish training carriage that the sleek black Gelderlanders take down the dirt trails and side streets of Aiken's horse district in their daily workout, Mr. Coulthard, with four-in-hand, will be driving a vintage 1893 Studebaker carriage in the parades preceding the Trials and the Steeplechase. Though these muscular horses are used for show events in the United States, they were originally bred as workhorses in the Gelderlander province of the Netherlands.

Triple Crown Section  Race for the crown  Steeplechase event grows  Horses help economy  Trials test young horses  Facilities draw trainers  Gelderlanders to compete  Harness racing fever  Harness racing began as a 'church activity'   MAPS  Aiken Trials  Steeplechase  Harness Race

``They were often bred for heavy road-coach horses, but today they are bred for show horses,'' Mr. Wetzel said.

The designation warmblood, which describes Gelderlanders, distinguishes them from the cold bloods, or draft horses, and the hot bloods, thoroughbreds and Arabians. The ancestry of Gelderland horses can be traced to the native mares of the province, which were crossed with Andalusian, Neapolitan, Norman, Norfolk Roadster and Holstein stallions, according to the Gelderlander home page at www.imh.org/imh/bw/gelder.html. They were originally bred as utility horses, to work the land and to provide transportation. Today, the Gelderland is an elegant carriage horse and a talented jumper.

Mr. Wetzel acquired his six Gelderlanders in England in November to replace a team of Polish warmbloods, which ``were getting some age on them, but these are young, 5 and 6 years old,'' he said.

Both Mr. Wetzel and Mr. Coulthard, a native of the English Lake District, went over and ``tried them in England,'' Mr. Coulthard said.

Aiken is the perfect place for Gelderlanders, Mr. Wetzel said. ``The nice thing about Aiken is the sandy, loamy footing,'' not unlike the soil in the sandy eastern province of the Netherlands where they originated.

H 'n D Farms was quickly rewarded when Ida, one of the pair, placed second in a show in Southern Pines, N.C., recently. On April 8, Mr. Coulthard will take the team of four to compete in a three-day event in Southern Pines. The reins will be in expert hands, for Mr. Coulthard has been named to the U.S. International Equestrian team and in the past was on the British team that won a silver medal in international competition.

Rated sixth internationally in combined driving competition with pairs, Mr. Coulthard grew up with horses in the small market town of Perith, Cumbria, England. By the time he was 16, he was working as an exerciser and driver. This is not his first experience with Gelderlanders, introduced to the breed by L. Clay Camp some years back.

As the Triple Crown draws near, the population of H 'n D Farm will increase. Jimmy Faircloth has already arrived. Jack Seabrook and his four in hand are expected, and Frolic Weymouth is set to arrive from Pennsylvania.

In the meantime, with Director and Digger in the lead, Exodus at the right wheel of the coach and Jack on the left, the magnificent black Gelderlanders are being readied for their introduction at the first event of the horse season, the Aiken Trials.

Reach Pat Willis at (803) 279-6895.