Local Clydesdales Pull Historic Bandwagon
by Daniel Mast, GM Suttler Post Farm Clydesdales, LLC
In 1902 Barnum & Bailey Circus paid the
New York-based Sebastian Wagon Co. $4,200 to build what would today be known as the world’s largest circus wagon, the Two Hemi- spheres Bandwagon. T e Two Hemispheres represented the 12 countries in which the cir- cus had toured.
On the Eastern Hemisphere side of the wag- on is Great Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Austria and Italy. On the Western Hemisphere side is Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Can- ada and the U.S. T e name Barnum & Bailey is above the globe on the Eastern Hemisphere, and the name Ringling Brothers is above the Western Hemisphere. T e wagon is 28 feet long, 10 feet 6 inches tall, eight feet wide and weighs over 13,000 lbs. T is wagon was designed to hold a full piece band when the circus came into town. In 1903,
Gorman of Gorman Studios, Inc., based out of Vancouver, Canada. Gorman wanted to add this wag- on to his collection of previously owned circus wagons. T e wagon is currently housed in the Interna- tional Circus Hall of Fame winter quarters in Peru, Indiana. T e circus was the theme of this
year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washing- ton, DC, and Gorman wanted the wagon to be on display during the Festival for others to be able to en- joy the true beauty of this massive wagon. He also wanted to see if the wagon could be driven during the National Independence Day Parade, and started searching for a teamster that could pull the 6.5 ton wagon down Constitution Ave. with a minimum of eight horses. He reached out to Jake Schut of J.W. Schut Wag- onmaster to see if he knew of a team located near Wash- ington, D.C. Schut put Gor- man in touch with Suttler Post Farm Clydesdales, LLC, located in Mechan- icsville, MD,
just
The historic Two Hemispheres Bandwagon being pulled by 40 horses in a 1909 Barnum & Bailey Circus parade (above) and by eight Suttler Post Clydesdales at the Washington, DC Independance Day Parade on July 4, 2017 (below)
45 miles south of Washington, D.C. After several phone calls, the plans to pull the wagon started to come to- gether for Gorman. Les Smout from the World Circus Museum coordi- nated with Gorman to help provide the teamster with all the correct infor- mation needed to make the trip into D.C., and with the approvals needed for trucks, and equine.
trailers
the wagon made its fi rst appearance in Brook- lyn, NY, pulled by a 40-horse hitch of Perche- rons and driven by Jim T omas. In 1904, Jake Posey took over the 40-horse hitch. By 1908, 12 and 24-horse hitches were used instead of the 40-horse hitch. In 1919, Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey were combined as one circus, and they only used 10 horses to pull the wagon. In 2016, the Two Hemispheres wagon went up for auction and sold for $250,000 to Peter
www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580 Wayne Mast, owner of Suttler Post Farm
Clydesdales, LLC., has been operating his family-owned business since 2001, and was honored to be part of the Independence Day Parade.
“Having been a part of the 2013 and
2014 Preakness Stakes was something new for our show hitch. It was a great honor to be a part of this National Parade. Pulling the Two Hemispheres wagon is just another feather in our hat,” said Mast.
A 1903 Barnum & Bailey poster showing the Two Hmi- spheres Bandwagon pulled by a 40-horse team
Once everything was a green light to go, things
started moving forward quickly. With less than two months’ notice about the parade, the Sut- tler Post Farm (SPF) Clydesdales swung into action. Preparing their eight horse hitch for a parade route wasn’t anything new for the crew, however pulling something as massive as this wagon was something the teamster and horses had never done before. SPF started working the horses on a work sled to get the them ready to start such a heavy load (remember, empty, the bandwagon weighs 13,000 pounds), and that was just the fi rst task! As the parade date drew near, the farm had a long checklist to comply with D.C. regulations. For example, the horses needed health charts, updated rabies vaccinations, and SPF needed a permit to bring the horses into city limits. Parade day fi nally came and the crew of 17
left Suttler Post Farm around 7:30 a.m. to make the trip into D.C. T ey traveled with a 53’ semi-trailer hauling the horses and part of the crew, while the remaining crew members traveled in the 34’ motor coach. T is made for fewer vehicles to move from the assembly to the disassembly area. SPF assigned drivers to stay with the vehicles because once the parade started, the vehicles had to move. T e SPF crew arrived at about 9:15 a.m and passed through a security sweep before they could enter the pa- rade area. Once they were through security, the eight horses were unloaded, tied to the trailer, braided, harnessed and had the lines run. After the vehicles left the assembly area, the horses were moved to the wagon on the National Mall. T e crew hooked the eight horses to the wagon and kicked off the fi rst step close to 12:30 p.m. Daniel Mast, the lead teamster for the SPF
hitch, took over the lines while seated on top of the 10 ft. box above the wheel horses. Daniel is Wayne Mast’s son and driver for the SPF team. Paul Sparrow, who had driven the wagon with a 40-horse hitch, rode as Mast’s assistant. T e World Circus Museum brought in Sparrow as continued...
AUGUST 2017 | THE EQUIERY | 31
James Schaffer
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