By ANN ALLEN
Indiana Correspondent

ROCHESTER, Ind. — Not all the power at this year’s June 19-21 Fulton County Historical Power Show will be contained in engines. Quite a bit of it will be pure horsepower, the real thing as far as horse pulling enthusiasts are concerned.

The horse pulling event, conducted by the Northern Indiana Horse Pullers Assoc. and set for 7 p.m. Saturday, is expected to draw anywhere from 13-20 teams.

One of them will belong to Phil Heckathorn of rural Macy, who plans to bring Dan, a 15-year-old Belgian, and Charlie, a 19-year-old Percheron. Dan and Charlie have been working together for eight years and usually finish in the top five, whether the contest is local or in nearby states.

“They just love to pull,” Heckathorn, 67, said. And it’s safe to say he enjoys the pull as much as Dan and Charlie. Although he worked with his father’s horses when he was a boy and at one time farmed with horses as well as starting and breaking colts, he’s given all that up in spite of having had some really good animals.

But he’s not ready to give up pulling. He figures he’s been an active horse puller for 25 or 30 years and doesn’t plan to retire anytime soon. It just depends on Dan and Charlie.

“I told the boys (Dan and Charlie) that if they got to the place they couldn’t pull a respectable load, I’d hang up their harness,” he said with a grin. “They’re not ready yet.”

The reason for that, according to Heckathorn and his wife, Shirley, is that the sturdy pair, weighing in at 3,600 pounds, are trained and conditioned for what they do.

“They get taken care of real well,” Shirley Heckathorn said. “We doctor them or get a vet. They’re healthy animals.”
And, they’re ready to pull.