June/July 2013 - Community Connections

Community Connections
Page 31
June/July 2013
WHY EVERY SCHOOL NEEDS
A FARM BOY
By Gordon Wetmore
On an intensely snowy morning
in March, the school bus pulled into the
driveway of a family farm southwest of
St. Placide. The time was 6:30 am and
Jessy Desparois was the first pick up on
the 35 km drive to Lake of Two Mountains
High School.
With the snow coming down like
sifted flour, visibility was terrible. The
driver lost his place and the bus’ rear
wheels slipped into a steep ditch. A
tow truck would be hours away.
However, this was no ordinary farm
but a heritage farm on which horses
powered the ploughs, hauled the felled
trees and pulled the hay wagons.
Nor was Jessy a typical 15-year-old.
Used to hard work and animals, he
owned and trained his own team of
horses that competed in pulling contests.
He had already put in nearly two
hours of labour (his bed time is very
early) before eating, showering and
dressing for school.
Jessy immediately headed for the
barn. He reappeared with Prince, a
Percheron, and Tom, a Clydesdale, each
weighing more than 1000 kilograms.
(Tom’s usual partner, Jerry, had just
recovered from a sand colic and was
being rested before a competition.)
Quickly harnessing the horses to
hooks at the front of the bus, Jessy gave
then their instructions. Prince, the lead
horse, was to pull on an angle so that
the top heavy bus would not tip over.
Jerry was to pull straight ahead.
When asked how he communicated
to the animals, Jessy cited the daily
training and his relationship with them.
“If you respect your
horse, he’s going to
respect you and rely
on you,” he said.
On his command
(“Giddyup!”), the
horses leaned into
the harnesses and
pulled, and like that
the bus was back on
solid ground and upright. Jessy returned
Prince and Tom to their stalls
and rode the bus to school for a day of
learning about the world.
Jessy with Tom and Jerry
That weekend, Tom, Jerry, Prince
and Jessy were in Van Kleek Hill competing
against 24 other teams. They
had risen to fourth place, pulling 17500
pounds, when the back trim on the sled
boat snapped and they had to withdraw
from the contest.
There will be many more pulling
events during the spring and summer,
Jessy said.
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