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By Betsy Parker
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
In what could be argued the biggest honor in the world of harness horses, a team of area Belgians were selected to deliver the official White House Christmas tree to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on Monday, Nov. 26, to kick off the holiday season in the nation’s capitol.
Midge Harmon’s team of Belgian draft horses, Karry and Dempsey, and her son Scott will personally cart the 20-foot Fraser fir tree from a drop-point downtown to the North Portico^ • - a sort of patio that-extends from - the side of the White House into the lawn area.
There, First Lady Laura Bush will accept delivery of the tree — Harmon said she’s likely to give the horses a pat at this point — and then an army of assistants will remove the tall tree from Hannon’s wagon and carry the tree inside for decorating.
“They’re used to all the excitement,” Midge Harmon said of Karry and Dempsey, adding that through their experience with her and her late husband Jack Harmon’s Hayrides. The business provides wedding carriages, festive hayrides and town festival entertainment, and all the farm’s horses are quite serene, even in the excitement of a city street. “They know their job,” she added.
Karry and Dempsey are pure-bred Belgians — the beefiest, if not the tallest, of the five “main” recognized draft breeds (Shire, Suffolk, ftrcheron, Belgian and Clydesdale) Belgians are among the easiest to handle, and certainly are strongest.
“A single 20-foot tree on a four-wheel wagon,” Midge Hannon said, “won’t be anything at all to those horses,” who are used to pulling a big wagon with up to 40 people aboard. The geldings measure 17.2 hands high (70 inches at the top of the shoulder) and weigh in at a ton each.
They’re the biggest draft breed by weight,” Midge Harmon said. “And they’ve got wonderful temperaments. They are perfect for the job.”
Harmon said that son Scott and the horses were to report to
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