Scott Sowden loves driving his horses

Evergreen Hill Farm horses a staple at Norfolk-area community events

Scott Sowden, with the help of his family, offers a variety of horse drawn services from his Port Dover based Evergreen Hill Farm.

By Tamara Botting

In Scott Sowden’s opinion, when it comes to loving horses, “You’re born with it. It’s not something that people learn; I think it’s in your blood.”

That’s certainly been the case for him.

Sowden had his first team of horses when he was 16 years old, “and I’ve had horses ever since.”

Currently, he has a team of six Belgians.

“They’re my breed of choice. They’re docile … very much creatures of habit; the more you use them, the better they are at it.”

The horses spread their own manure, cut and rake the hay, etc. on Evergreen Hill Farm, which Sowden owns and operates with his brother Richard Sowden and son Kyle Sowden. They grow corn, soybeans, wheat and hay; they also raise around 34,000 broiler chickens.

The family has been farming in Norfolk County since 1864; the original farm was in Simcoe, where Holy Trinity Catholic High School is now.

Sowden said his love of horses is something he shares with both his grandfather and great-grandfather, who were impressive horsemen in their own rights. While his father was more interested in tractors, Sowden has found his passion with his horses, and especially driving them with wagons and sleighs.

His wife Julie Sowden said, “He does it because he loves his horses, and he loves hooking them up. It doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas day or Easter Sunday or Christmas Eve; he’ll hook up his horses if someone wants a ride.”

Sowden said the winter rush with driving the horses usually starts off with the ChristmasFest parade in Port Dover in mid-November.

“We’ve done that ever since it started. After that, we’re pretty much in a little town or village somewhere every week until New Year’s or after.”

He’s done Simcoe Christmas Panorama for at least 25 years, and has also done the Calithumpian Parade in Port Dover on Canada Day for a long time.

It’s not just big community events; Sowden said around the holidays, “We usually get a lot of the same people who come every year,” for personal sleighrides. They’ll travel in from Hamilton, Burlington, Toronto, etc. He even had a person from New York State inquire about his services, because they wanted to come to Port Dover.

There’s a heated party room beside the horse barn where people can gather; each sleigh ride takes about an hour.

When it’s the right time of year, guests can do a sugar bush ride, because the farm does bucket collection, rather than hoses, for the sap.

“They can go back in the woods and look at a pail and see how it used to be done,” Sowden said.

Sowden and the horses have also been hired for a number of special events, like weddings and funerals.

Julie said after he was hired to do a couple of funerals, “Scott decided to build his own hearse.”

One of the most memorable funerals Sowden was ever hired to do was a few years ago in Windsor in February. A man from a funeral home called him and asked him if he could drive.

“He’d been looking all over for a horse drawn hearse, and he said, ‘I found several of them, but they’re only in museums.’”

At first, Scott declined, because he wasn’t sure what the roads would be like to travel such a distance with the horses. The man asked him what it would take for him to do it.

“I just gave him a ridiculous price, and he said, ‘Be here by 11,’” Sowden said, adding that when he got there, the roads were blocked off, and there were television cameras.

“I don’t know who the person was, but they must have been pretty important.”

Sowden said whether he’s going to show his horses at a fair, or he’s driving them at a community event, he’s grateful that his family, especially his kids – Kyle, Greg, Krista and Samantha – will come and help him.

“It’s a lot of work,” he said.

It’s not just about loading the horses in and out, hitching them up, etc. A big part of the job is crowd control around the horses. While Sowden’s horses are gentle and extremely well-trained, they’re still 2,000-pound animals with a mind of their own, and that fact needs to be respected – something the general public doesn’t always comprehend.

“People are so removed from horses and animals and farming,” Sowden said.

Safety is always foremost in Sowden’s mind.

That’s why this past winter was “the lousiest year for sleigh runs,” Sowden said. “You would think with the amount of snow we had, it would have been good, but we had too much ice.”

For the past few winters, “the ice is gone in two days,” but this year, “it just stayed and stayed.”

Since the horses weren’t sharp shod to go on the ice, Sowden couldn’t take the risk.

“You can’t take a chance on horses falling, or people falling,” he said, because with the horse drawn operation, safety is “the biggest and most important thing.”

Sowden said there are plenty of people who would like to do what he does, but not all of them can get the insurance.

“To do what I do, you’ve got to have the right horses, and you’ve got to be confident in what they’ll do,” he said, adding, “You’ve got to know what you’re doing, do it properly, and have lots of help.”

His daughter Samantha Stokes “does a lot of the driving; most of it,” he said. She and her husband have a farm next door, with some Percheron horses.

It’s in her blood, too.

“I have always had an interest in horses and have loved driving them since I was young,” she said. “To me, it’s not work because it’s something I thoroughly enjoy. It’s something my dad and I enjoy doing together and he’s taught me so much over the years. I’m so thankful to have been able to grow up around horses.”

When asked if his succession plan for the horses is that Sam will take over that part of his legacy, Sowden said, “I hope so, someday.”

If you would like more information about Evergreen Hill Farm’s horse drawn service options, visit the farm’s website at evergreenhillfarm.ca, or visit the farm’s Facebook page. 