The Draft Horse & Driving Club at UC Davis
Our History
We are the Draft Horse and Driving Club (DHDC)
Our club currently consists of University of California, Davis undergraduate students. We'll teach you how to handle, harness, hitch and drive our two Percheron draft horses, Dee and Olive.
We love our horses and we love to drive.
During the school year, DHDC meets on Mondays through Fridays for three to four hours each day. Anyone can attend for however many days out of the week, for however many hours they like.
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Mondays through Thursdays: Single Cart Driving
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Learn how to harness and drive one horse pulling a cart around the arena in front of the Horse Barn.
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Fridays: Team Driving
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Learn how to harness and drive two horses pulling one wagon around campus. This is when you'll see us making our trips around the Quad.
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We call the UC Davis Horse Barn home.
The club meets in the southeast corner of the main barn. Go all the way down the left hallway of the Horse Barn and you'll find us there.
All UCD students can join!
Students (undergrads, grad students, etc.) regardless of class standing or major! No horse or driving experience is necessary!
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To join just show up at our corner for one of our drive times (see Current Drive Times) wearing closed-toe shoes and long pants with an eager attitude in tow! If you have any questions check out our FAQs page or feel free to email drafthorsedrivingclub@gmail.com for further information.
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The Draft Horse and Driving Club was founded in 2003 by Joel Viloria and Robin Denney. Through the support and donations by Bob Denney of Hames Valley Vineyards, the club was able to start with a single horse, cart and harness. The first driving mare for the club was named Par, also a Percheron mare. Within the first quarter membership was up to 60 participants and it was clear that one mare would not meet the demands of the growing club.
Bob Denney loaned the club another mare named Patty. Equipped with two mares, a forecart and single cart from Mr. Denney, as well as a set of team harness from Dale Thurow, the club was off to a strong start. Happily embraced by students, faculty and staff of the University it was soon clear that the Draft Horses were here to stay. In 2005 Mr. Denney again helped the club by buying and donating a wagon which the club now uses weekly.
Over the years we have worked with several different mares due to our close relationship with Hames Valley Vineyards. In 2006 Bob Denney donated to the UC Davis Horse Barn and the club two percheron mares. In 2010 Mr. Denney continued his generosity in loaning two more percheron mares, Olive and Marty. Marty was a staple to our breeding program, producing high quality draft mules, until she passed in 2017. Olive and Dee, another donated Percheron mare, have become the backbone for the driving and teaching program of the club. Together these two form the basis of our success today.
Our Mission
The Draft Horse and Driving Club teaches students of all backgrounds and experience levels how to safely enjoy working with and driving draft horses.
