Swihart Belgians

Updated 01-10-10

Welcome to our homepage from Fred, Debi and Brad Swihart!

In 1993 we bought our first team of Belgian grade horses just to have around the farm. Our original intent was to purchase a team of gray Percherons but because we were novices, the owner talked us into the "better" pair of Belgians he had. One year later we bought our first registered mare and the rest is history.

We are a family owned farm on 70 acres in Grass Lake, Michigan (although our mailing address is Jackson). Fred has retired as a self employed building contractor and I have worked as a college professor for 24 years. Our family consists of Erin, her husband Andy and their son Max (our first grandchild born in April) who live in Woodland Park, Colorado. Erin is a middle school teacher and Andy works at a gold mine in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Our second son Fred II, lives in Clinton, Iowa and  works as a chemical engineer at a nuclear power plant near the Quad cities. Our third child Brad lives at home and has just started  his third year of law school.

Brad is our hitch driver and main "horseman" but Erin and Fred always manage to make it to a couple of shows each year. It's in their veins and they do miss the horses. What has turned out to be a family tradition, we all  met in Davenport for the National Belgian show, along with Fred's fiance' Emily (an Iowa girl) and Brad's girlfriend Trisha whose family also raises and shows Belgian horses. From Iowa, we went on to the Wisconson State Fair which is always a great fair. We competed in about 12 shows this summer and had a great season.  Please check the "hitch mare" page for some of the results.

We would be remiss if we didn't also mention Mark Perham who has worked for Fred and been a part of us for over 20 years. Mark is our right hand man at the shows and also drives our semi.

We have thinned the herd of horses this year and now have about 17 head. We are expecting 7 foals for 2010.  We always have horses for sale and welcome visitors....the coffee pot is always on! Just call ahead to make sure we are home!

Thank you for visiting our website.