Search Site   
News Stories at a Glance
Deere 4440 cab tractor racked up $18,000 at farm retirement auction
Indiana legislature passes bills for ag land purchases, broadband grants
Make spring planting safety plans early to avoid injuries
Michigan soybean grower visits Dubai to showcase U.S. products
Scientists are interested in eclipse effects on crops and livestock
U.S. retail meat demand for pork and beef both decreased in 2023
Iowa one of the few states to see farms increase in 2022 Ag Census
Trade, E15, GREET, tax credits the talk at Commodity Classic
Ohioan travels to Malta as part of US Grains Council trade mission
FFA members learn about Australian culture, agriculture during trip
Timing of Dicamba ruling may cause issues for 2024 planting
   
Archive
Search Archive  
   
4-generation Ohio farm family tackles rough racing schedule


By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

LEBANON, Ohio — Every morning Joe Essig Sr., 70, guides a Standardbred from barn No. 8 onto the track at the Warren County Fairgrounds near Lebanon. In the meantime, his wife, Janet, cleans one of the stalls and adds fresh bedding made of hay before Joe returns.
The couple’s grandson, Joseph, 22, is busy preparing by strapping a sulky to yet another Standardbred and will soon join his grandfather on the track for a 20-minute jog. Soon, Joe will return his horse to the stable area, where Janet will unhitch the horse and take it to its clean stall. Joe then prepares to take another one for a morning jog, just minutes before Joseph returns to the barn with his horse.
This routine will continue seven more times, ending at about noon.
For the Essig clan, this has been a way of life since the early 1960s. They’ve eked out a living raising, training and driving Standardbreds. They reside near Lebanon but also own a small farm in Indiana near Hoosier Park.
“My dad had horses, my uncle had horses. Joe Senior doesn’t drive anymore and turned the driving over to our son, Jody, and our grandson, Joseph,” said Janet, who used to compete in the sulky as well.
Long before there was Hoosier Park the Essig family flocked to and stabled their horses at Lebanon Raceway. They tended to the farm near the Indiana track as well, but today crops there have given way to three jogging ovals, as horses have become their chief income.
“I may be born a Hoosier, but I’ve been around here 51 years,” Janet noted.
The Essigs (three work here in Lebanon while Jody races at Hoosier Park) once tended to a barn full of horses on a daily basis. Now that number is just seven – but more than enough for three people.
“It’s possible to tend to a barn full of horses and a lot of people do just that,” Joseph explained.
“We used to tend to 35 horses at one time,” Joe added. “We have trained and driven our own and we train horses for others, too. We worked for some owners for more than 20 years, but many of them have passed away.”
Each day they arrive at barn No. 8 by 7 a.m. By noon they make their way to Hoosier Park. Often they don’t race there until late in the evening, and when the races are over they make that long, late-night drive back to Lebanon. While the Essigs think back to the “good old days,” they admit some changes to the race industry have been good.
“Now the money is good, thanks to the racinos,” Joe said. “Back in the old days we might race here in Lebanon for just $400 purse money. That was back in the early 1960s.
“The harness and other tack is nothing compared to what it used to be. The tie-downs for the harness used to be leather straps and you had to wrap them around the sulky shaft and buckle them in, but nowadays you just click them. The equipment is easier to work with. The hobbles are easily unbuckled. The harness used to be leather, but now it’s nylon just like everything else.”
Some conveniences, for sure, but harness racing is still a tough business. “You have to have some money and some heart, and understand it’s not all glamour,” Joe said. “You might hit the jackpot with your first horse. You get to thinking it’s easy, but the next 10 horses might be horrible on the track.”
Joseph is the third generation of Essigs to take to the track. His father, Jody, remains in Indiana and does most of the driving at Hoosier Park.
“I was 14 when I started driving matinees at the county fairs,” Jody said. “To this day I think I’ve raced at 20 tracks across the country. If I had it all over to do, I’d take this same path again. It’s not an easy occupation. It’s very rough on the body and there’s long days. I still love racing at nights, but I’m getting to the age where working the horses in the morning is a bit easier.”
And there’s a fourth-generation Essig potentially waiting in the wings – Joseph has a 4-year old daughter who loves being around the horses.
“She loves horses, but I hope she doesn’t follow my path,” he said. “She needs to go to college.”
12/3/2015