Two teams of horses arrived in Superior more than an hour before Candy Cane Lane's first hayrack rides of the season, Friday evening.

The teams are perhaps some of the best trained teams in Nebraska.

One team, owned by Jerry Mousel, was driven by co-teamsters Larry Jerkins and Hayley Boon.

Some standing near-by may have considered Boon, a high school student, inexperience. However, this summer she took second place in obstacle competition with a team owned by her grandfather.

"She lives next door and has always been interested in horses," he said. "She's gotten to be a good driver."

Boon lives in Eddiville, south of Broken Bow.

Jerkins trains teams as a hobby. Currently he owns 20 horses and has at least two teams ready to pull at community events.

When asked how he trains a team to pull a wagon through lighted tunnels, Jerkins said, "The team trusts me. They do whatever I ask," he said.

Jarrett Wagner, Franklin, provided the second team.

Earlier this season, members of the Husker Harness Club, provided six teams for an event in Hastings.

It is a way we make money, much of which is used to purchase the insurance required to pull wagons loaded with people at public events.

The Bohlen children were the first to arrive for this year's series of old-fashioned hayrack rides planned at Candy Cane Lane in Superior this season. Friday evening was still with no wind and moderate fall temperatures, so getting to sit near the teamster was worth the wait. Above center, Beckett greets the horses as her sisters smile for the photographer. Pictured (from left) are Bayleigh (12), Beckett (8) and Breckyn (5).

In general, members of the club come from a broad swath of Nebraska. Because of the distance, they have a difficult time meeting and when they do it is to provide rides and provide a historical reflection of the role of the work horse in Nebraska.

At times they join the Nebraska Draft Horse Association to compete and provide historical demonstrations.

Over the summer, the team of Haflings, had pulled wagons more than 200 miles as part of a three different wagon train on trips, 50 and 40 miles each.

They often pull at fairs and community events. Included this year was the Buffalo County Fair, Frontier Days, the Clay County Fair.

Haflinger Horse

The Haflinger Horse is a smaller horse breed that is from the Tyrolean mountains of Austria and Northern Italy.

They are an average of 15 hands high (60 inches). Most are 14.2 hands and are not quite short enough to be called a pony. A horse has to be shorter than 14.2 hands to be considered a pony.

Haflingers are used for light draft horses and harness work.