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Horses, Plows, and Sasquatch: Scenes from the Dixie Draft Auction 2024

Published November 29, 2024

I, Bernie Harberts, did not use generative AI to write or illustrate this article. Spell check and grammar check, yes. AI, no.

Entrance sign welcoming visitors to the 2024 Dixie Draft Auction in Troutman, North Carolina — Welcome to the 2024 Dixie Draft Auction.

My wife Julia and attended the Dixie Draft Auction today in Troutman, North Carolina. No, we weren’t looking to buy a new mule, an old saddle or 20 water buckets. We were looking for old friends like Ronald Hudson, who loaned me his mule Sandy and wagon a while back (more photos of Ronald shortly).

But first, some donuts.

Draft Auction Donuts

One of the biggest reasons that Julia and I attend the Dixie Draft Auction, aside from Ronald (no offense Ronald and all our other friends), and the cool horse drawn equipment, and, yes, even the horses, mules and donkeys offered for sale, are the donuts. Not just any donuts, but Granny’s Donuts. Just to let you know how much we think of these, Julia and I love donuts but these are about the only donuts we eat all year. One apiece.

To start your tour, let’s get your very own Granny’s hand cut, sugar dipped, still-hot donut straight from the fryer.

Listen closely and right at the end of the video, you’ll here Julia say, “Our favorite part of Troutman!” We refer to the Dixie Draft Auction as “Troutman” because that’s where it’s held (Troutman, North Carolina).

The Dixie Draft Auction is the kind of place you can buy most anything rural, from a horse-drawn planter, a corn shucker, a mounted deer head or a saddle – or twenty saddles – to Sasquatch

Wheel of an antique walk-behind horse-drawn planter at the Dixie Draft Auction — The wheel of a walk behind planter

Cast iron gears from antique horse-drawn farm equipment — The wheel of a walk behind planter

A row of used saddles lined up for sale at the Dixie Draft Auction — A line of saddles for your consideration

A western saddle tipped up to show its fleece-padded bars — A line of saddles for your consideration

A person in a Sasquatch costume standing among the crowd at the Dixie Draft Auction — Sasquatch made an appearance

Look deep into Sasquatch’s eyes and listen to him breath

A mounted four-point deer head for sale, its hoofs used to hold a rifle or umbrella — A nice four-pointer for your wall. Comes complete with hoofs for holding your rifle or umbrella.

Mixed in with all the ranch-y things up for bid were lots of sellers casually riding their horses around, hoping they’d behave. All the horses on site were on the auction block.

Julia Carpenter chatting with a four-year-old boy sitting on his pony at the Dixie Draft Auction — Julia chatting with a young rider. The rider’s mom said, “He’s four years old and the pony’s four years old. He started riding six months ago.”

A young girl on a paint horse holding a resigned-looking teddy bear — The paint, the girl and the resigned teddy bear

A young girl boldly leading her horse through the crowd at the Dixie Draft Auction — A young girl bolding leading her mount through the crowd

It’s Auction Time

One of the great things about the Draft Auction is listening to the pitter-patter of an auctioner describe something so fast and energetically you feel like you just have to have it. Need any horse dewormer? Here’s your shot at saving a few bucks…

An auctioneer taking bids on livestock at the Dixie Draft Auction — Do I hear fifty dollars?!

Spectators watching the bidding at the Dixie Draft Auction — Waiting for the next good deal

The way the Dixie Draft Auction works is the horses, mules and donkeys start showing up on Thursday and Friday and the horse sale starts Friday and runs most of the weekend. Julia and walked around to see the stock coming in for the sale.

Let’s Get to the Horses, Mules and Donkeys

I grew up in Statesville, North Carolina, about fifteen minutes north of Troutman, where the Dixie Draft Auctionis held. Back in the day (the 1970s) it was a low-key affair. Actually, it was so laid-back, that I never attended. I actually preferred going to the county fair the Kiwanis hosted. The high point was the horse show, which I attended with my first pony Snowflake.

About ten years ago, Julia and I went to our first sale there and had such a good time, and ran into so many friends, that we make it a point to try and attend every year. The sale has gotten much bigger over the years. In the early years, it sold low to medium quality horses and mules. Over the last five years, the quality has risen dramatically, with hundreds of beautiful horses, donkeys and mules up for auction. The sale has a strong Amish presence, from the auctioneers, who are largely Amish, to many of the food vendors. There are also a lot of horses up for sale that have been trained by the Amish.

The riding arena I used to ride in a kid is still there. I’ll show you what it looks like in a sec.

A paint horse being checked in at an old shed row barn before the auction — Check-in. A paint horse getting checked in before the auction. This is one of the old shed row barns the horses, donkeys and mules are stabled in before they’re run through the sale.

An old fairground barn used to stable horses before the Dixie Draft Auction — One of the fair barns. I remember this one from back when I was a kid.

A donkey waiting in a stall before being auctioned — Passing the time

A row of horses tied up and waiting to be auctioned — Lots of mounts to choose from

Horses, donkeys and mules with identification stickers waiting to be auctioned — Horses, donkeys and mules waiting to be auctioned off. The white stickers visible on some of the horses’ hindquarters are used to identify the animals.

A horse waiting to be sold at the Dixie Draft Auction — Waiting for a buyer

One of the best things after the Dixie Draft Auction (after the donuts) is getting a chance to catch up with friends you might now have seen since the last sale. Julia and I had the good luck of running into Debbie and Daniel of Rock Creek Farm.

Julia Carpenter with Debbie of Rock Valley Stables at the Dixie Draft Auction — Julia (R) with Debbie of Rock Valley Stables. Julia bought her Haflinger Pie from Debbie and her husband Jason. Ava’s daughter, who helped gentle Pie, wasn’t around because she was in the excercise arena with another friend working with her pony (See the video below. That’s Ava and her friend lying on her stretched-out pony.)

This is the riding arena I used to show my pony in in the 1970s. It also hosted a demolition derby, often right after the horses cleared the arena. These days, it’s used for showing off the sale stock. Look closely and you’ll see Ava, Debbie’s daughter, lying down with her pony.

A horse's long, lush tail at the Dixie Draft Auction — A lush tail. It belongs to one of the horses Debbie and her husband Daniel were auctioning off.

Finally, Julia and I ran into Ronald Hudson, right were we figured we’d find him. He was hanging out by the rows of wagons, carts, horse-drawn hearses and sleds.

Ronald Hudson, the friend who introduced Bernie Harberts to mules, at the Dixie Draft Auction — One of my dearest friends – as well as the guy that got me into mules – Ronald Hudson. You can read more about a recent Halloween mule wagon ride he and I did at a church right here.

Rows of cart and wagon shafts, many from Amish doctor's buggies — Rows of cart and wagon shafts. A lot of these are off Amish doctor’s buggies.

By the time we got through catching up with Ronald and other friends, the day was warming up. The warm weather was taking its toll and I suddenly had a strong urge to take my 23-minute nap. I should have done like these other folks and given in to the call.

A man napping while leaning against a milk can at the Dixie Draft Auction — Milkcan nap

A man napping in a lawn chair at the Dixie Draft Auction — Milkcan nap

If you weren’t able to catch this year’s Dixie Draft Auction you’re in luck. The next one is scheduled for this spring.

More on the Dixie Draft Auction

See more from earlier Dixie Draft Auctions in the posts linked below.

Here are two other posts I wrote about other Dixie Draft Auctions Julia and I attended. There’s:

Dixie Dogs (which is about exactly what it sounds like)
Dixie Faces (which is what it sounds like)

More at Around the Homestead.

More about:

mule rambles here in North Carolina.
stories from the Splinters pile.

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