Good Enough to Win the Royal - and Then Some

If I had to guess how many draft horses I have bought from Keith Hobden in my life, I'd say over 100. 

Yep, that many. Mostly Belgians. And according to Keith, just about every one of them was "good enough to win the Royal" (as in Toronto's Royal Winter Fair).

I was deeply saddened by Keith's recent passing. And though it's been a while since I purchased a horse off of him, I still spoke with him frequently by phone. 

He was one of the greatest draft horsemen of all time. If you wanted to beat Keith in the show ring, you had better get up very early in the morning and eat your Wheaties. Matter of fact, you better stay up all night. 

Keith was a great friend, great person and master at building championship draft horse hitches. And a great example of that takes me back to my days at the Alberta Game Farm.

The Alberta Game Farm was a 1,500 acre wildlife attraction in Edmonton, Alberta with over 3,000 wild animals on display - and I was the director of farm operations. Owner Al Oeming was a zoologist (and a professional wrestler ... which is a whole other story). One morning Al approached me and asked if I knew of anyone that could build us a championship caliber hitch of Belgian draft horses to promote and show under the Alberta Game Farm brand. 

Well, sure I did. Me! 

Al quickly brought me back to earth. "And by the way Jim, we're gearing up for the busy tour season here at the farm, so it can't be you. You'll be busy." 

The first person I thought of to assist? Keith Hobden. He was based about two thousand miles away in Lindsay, Ontario, but he was the guy for the job. 

I phoned him with the request. Two days later, he told me exactly what he had - or could get. A deal was struck and a week later the truck showed up at the Alberta Game Farm with eight massive Belgian geldings, a show wagon, harness and even Keith himself.

There was one thing we didn't like. The breeching on the harness. It wasn't attractive. No problem. A new breeching arrived a couple days later.

That's what it was like to do business with Keith. His business sense and execution were second to none. 

"Jimmie." (Keith always called me Jimmie.) "This hitch will be very difficult to beat in the show ring." 

What an understatement. I was lucky enough to show the hitch across Canada over the next three years. We went undefeated, including the Toronto Royal. 

(Sidenote: The first year at the Royal, I was unable to attend because of my duties back at the farm. The late Eddie Freitag, another great friend and draft horse legend, showed the hitch to first place in every class.)

I still remember Keith saying "and by the way, go ahead and keep the old breeching. I will know where it is in case I need it for someone else one day."

Keith, you were one of the very best of the very best. A wonderful friend and a great mentor. I’m thankful for all of our experiences and, of course, the transactions. You will be missed dearly.