Mark Tripp and Lynn Stackpole-Tripp are pulled by Gypsy Cob Fin at Sable Oak Equestrian Center in Brunswick during the 24th Annual Sledding Day at Skyline Farm. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
NORTH YARMOUTH — Under blue skies and in a snow-covered field Saturday, a line of adults and children formed to ride a sled powered by two draft horses, Shay and Tiny, from North Anson, N.H. .
Nearby, in an outside track, Finn, a black-and-white gypsy horse from Brunswick, pulled an old-fashioned “cutter” sled across the snow that resembled an idyllic Carlier and Ives photo.
Further in the field, children were sliding down a gentle snow-covered slope.
Hundreds of people gathered for the 24th annual Sledding Day on Saturday. Skyline Farm is a nonprofit organization that has transformed a farm into a horse-drawn carriage museum with open space, community resources, and an extensive collection of antique sleighs and horse-drawn carriages.
Sledding Day is one of Skyline's community events that people are encouraged to visit, said Jennifer Robbins, president of the organization. “We have a carriage museum. That's our crown jewel. We have close to 150 carriages and sleighs,” she said. “There are a lot of people who live locally who have never heard of us.”
A large part of Sled Day is aimed at showing how sleds in the 1800s were used for transportation during the long winter months. Historically, sledding was a form of entertainment. Races were frequent and sometimes crashes occurred.
But this day isn't just about history, Robbins said. “People think of sledding as something that happened a long time ago, but it's still done today.” Throughout Maine, people own horses and sleds. Some clubs reportedly pull their teams with horse-drawn carriages or sleds.
Scarborough resident Ray Bellicoes tours the carriage museum at Skyline Farm during the 24th annual Sledding Day in North Yarmouth on Saturday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
She was happy with Saturday's crowds and conditions. “There were years when we had so much snow that we had to plow the area for the horses to slide the sleds on. … Today is just perfect,” Robbins said. There were times when sledding was canceled because there was no snow.
The farm was owned by Ken Soules, who loved horse-drawn carriages and sleds. He owned horses and amassed many sleighs and carriages.
After Sauls died, Robbins and others who lived near the farm didn't want to see their farmland lost to residential development. “We thought we couldn't see a 'McMansion' on site. We couldn't afford to develop it any further,” Robbins said. “We wanted to preserve this. Ken had always wanted to turn this into a museum, so we wanted to do that too.”
In 1999, the non-profit organization Skyline Farm was founded. Ken Saules' son, John, serves on the organization's board of directors.
At the Carriage Museum, visitors can get up close and personal with nearly 150 sleighs and horse-drawn carriages, some dating back to the 1700s. “It's a little chance to go back in time and see what it was like back then,” Robbins said. People love sleigh bells, she said. Vintage sleigh bells are on display for visitors to pick up and ring.
John Sowless was one of several volunteers to share their horse-drawn carriage stories. After World War II, people cleaned out their barns to make room for tractors and cars, Sauls said. His father bought horse-drawn carriages and sleighs, often for free, he said.
Each vehicle comes with a story card that shares its history. “Who owned it? Who used it?” he said.
One of the vehicles in the museum is called the “Comfort Wagon.” Early axles were made of wood and required stopping and regreasing every 10 miles. “This was used during George Washington's time,” Sauls said.
Children look out from a sled pulled by speckled draft horses Shay and Tiny, piloted by Aaron Boyce of Pineglen Farm, Skyline Farm in North Yarmouth. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
The other was the 1890 “School Bus Sleigh,” which was first used to deliver milk to Portland residents. Equipped with a cabin-like shelter, it was used as a horse-drawn school bus to transport children to Westbrook's Valentine Street School until the 1930s. It was donated to the museum by the Knight family and Smiling Hill Farm.
New York is home to the Seaspring Landau, built in 1902 and considered a formal horse-drawn carriage straight out of a British novel. In fact, Landaus is still used in British ceremonies. This trolley is suspended by springs for a smooth ride and has steps that automatically fold when the door is opened.
The other is the “Flying Dash Sleigh,” which dates back to the 1820s. It is a small sled with a curved body and decorated with artwork that is considered as a stylish vehicle. Riders sat in open sleds covered with bearskins and thick robes.
Ray Bellicoes of Scarborough was there because he loves sledding. “I work on restoring them. I enjoy the whole area of sledding, that culture, his old 1800s stuff. It's fun. Sleds and horses running in the snow. It fascinates me when I see it,” Bellicous said.
He was researching an 1890 cutter sled. This was an open two-person sled that was fast and very popular in Portland.
Ben and Katie Jones of Cumberland took their toddler Nellie on a sledding day. They planned to drive across the snow with two horses. “We would love to have Nellie involved and create some memories for her family,” she said.
She enjoyed learning about the ornate black hansom carriages in the museum. Handsome taxis were used in Europe, New York, and Boston in her 1800s. “The gentleman told us that initially there were no doors and passengers were jumping off without paying,” she said. Doors were added and passengers who didn't pay were turned over to police stations, Jones said with a laugh.
Handsome Taxi passengers pay their fares through an opening in the roof of the vehicle. “That's where the phrase 'paying through the roof' came from,” said museum volunteer Nick Buck.
Katie Jones was funny. “It's so cool,” she said. “We didn't realize how interesting the different types of carriages would be.”
The museum is open Sunday afternoons through Palm Sunday.
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