By Mary Drier (Contact / Staff Bio)
December 12, 2007 - 12:00 a.m. EST

CASS CITY — Instead of just singing about dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh over fields and through the woods, Annette and Harvey Bell and their Belgian horses can actually provide that experience.

The couple operates Har-Lyn Ridge Belgians Farms.

“I’ve been giving sleigh rides for several years. I do a lot of rides for church groups and such,” said Harvey. “We’re promoting it more this year.”

It takes a lot of hay to keep eight Belgian horses fed. The extra money earned by giving rides helps offset the cost.

Each horse weighs about a ton, and they are referred to as the “gentle giants.”

“Mostly, though, it’s a kind of once-in-a-lifetime experience. A family event,” said Bell. “Going for a sleigh ride pulled by horses in the snow isn’t something that everyone does anymore. It makes a memory.

“It gives families and groups something to do together to make a memory, and to be out enjoying nature.

“Plus, the horses get to exercise.”

The ride lasts about 45 minutes. Horses pull the sleigh through the woods and fields on Bell’s land. Deer and turkeys are often seen against Mother Nature’s backdrop of snow dusted with diamonds.

And, as the song goes, the bells on bobtails do ring.

“I put bells on the horses and they jingle. It’s great for Christmas spirit,” said Bell. “We’ve had people come here from as far away as Texas and South Carolina to go for a sleigh ride. They can’t wait until we get snow.”

Harvey has been raising horses on his farm since he moved down from Sault Ste. Marie in 1980. Raising horses is a Bell family tradition on the Upper Peninsula farm that turned a century old this year. Also, Bell’s brother raises Clydesdales and his sister raises Painted horses.

The Bells’ sleigh is a flatbed that’s about 14 feet long and 5 feet wide with four runners. It can seat 12-14 on bales of straw.

Rides are available primarily on weekends from the first to the last snow, and preferably during daylight hours.

“Horses don’t have headlights so we do the rides during the daylight hours,” said Bell.

After the ride is over and Jack Frost is done nipping at noses, the Bells provide cookies and hot cocoa in the barn to warm up.

“I think the sleigh bells on the horses and the cookies and cocoa are a big hit with everyone,” said Annette Bell. “If weather permits, we go through a trail in our woods. We travel our 40-acre farm, of which about 15 acres are wooded.”

Har-Lyn Ridge Belgians farm is located near Shabbona and Hurds Corner roads.

Call (989) 872-5163 for more information or to schedule rides.

Mary Drier is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at drier@tcadvertiser.com.