by Terry Bailey and Dale Befus

Who We Are

Alberta Carriage Supply grew from our involvement in single and team driving of light and draft horses. Located just east of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, we have participated in a number of driving events, we use horse drawn farm implements, provide hay and sleigh rides, horse drawn weddings, and camping in the Rocky Mountains with teams and wagons. This led to the inevitable repairs being required as a result of breakdowns, and everyday wear and tear. As we found no easy access to parts, seasoned wood and repairs, we took several courses from practicing wheelwrights and then the wheelwright course at the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon. We have now evolved into a company that maintains a complete inventory of carriage and wagon parts, a full repair service, as well as a source for hard to find or specialty vehicles and implements. Alberta Carriage Supply has been in business for 15 years.

Our hands on experience in driving, repairing and maintaining all kinds of horse drawn vehicles and implements gives us a good understanding of how things should work, and what happens when they don’t. If a customer asks a question on a piece of equipment we can hook our horses to the implement and the customer sees first hand how the equipment works.

Our relationship with Pioneer Equipment has been great, and we sell a complete line of Pioneer Equipment. Our website works well for us. If a person has a used vehicle to sell we can advertise this as well. Now we have harness and horses for sale on the website too. We sell top of the line harness that can be customized to each person’s need. We have a skilled leatherwork man to repair harness for customers. Our forte is for the working team not show horses and this is were we excel. Stan Tiege is a professional draftsman. Stan has complete blueprints plans for vehicles, and we sell these plans and all the parts necessary to complete each vehicle. This is one of the first times this has been done that plans exist to build a vehicle from scratch.

Our Mission

“To provide a one stop shop of horse drawn vehicle parts, repairs and sourcing by horse people for horse people.”

Dale: My Dad always had a team of horses on the farm. There was a brief gap where Dad had to leave the farm and work in town, but as soon as he could, his goal was to buy a farm and have a team to work. The first team we had was off our original family homestead. This was a team of Belgians and then we switched to Clydesdales. We work our horses on the farm, plowing, harrowing, rock picking, parading, going for three day wagon treks in the mountains as well as setting up demonstrations at several events over the summer. We have had workshops for beginner teamsters for the past 10 years. If people are having a problem with their team they will bring them to us and we help them get started and solve their problems. There are more people wanting to have a team, and they want to accomplish a job with the team. So we sell them a piece of equipment, it could just be a forecart and harrow to start with. We also help people wanting to learn about wheelwrighting as well. A person can bring a vehicle, they do the construction on site here, and we guide them along and sell them the necessary parts.

Terry: I had two weeks horse back riding in grade 12 and then I met Dale when I moved from Burlington, Ontario to Calgary. This was 26 years ago. This started out with, “lets go for a ride”. This went from riding to driving. Dale had all the expertise and I had enthusiasm. I have an Appaloosa and a Quarter horse for riding, and Dale and I own the Clydesdales together. As we sold the equipment and parts the request for harness came along. We went looking for the best quality harness we could find to sell to customers. We sell leather and bioplastic harness. All of our harness is brought in with stainless steel hardware on it, so customers don’t have to worry about corrosion or pitting. The bioplastic is light weight and easy to clean, you just have to turn the water hose on it for cleaning.

Pioneer Equipment

Pioneer Forecarts come with a pole or shafts, with vinyl bench seats or an implement seat (1-3 implements seats can be used on this cart). The implement seat is spring loaded so they are very comfortable. This forecart is available in Haflinger and pony size as well.
Many people refer to the forecarts as training carts, but they are a work cart. You can hook a set of harrows behind the cart and go to the field. The forecart can be used in the winter by removing the wheels and attaching runners. The forecart has the options of fenders and brakes or a PTO cart for baling hay.

Pioneer Wagons feature behind the axle auto type steering, short turning and true tracking, rear hitch, adjustable reach and bolster springs for a comfortable ride. The Pioneer wagon gears are available in 1/2 ton, 1 ton, 3 ton or 6 ton capacity. There are many options available for the wagons including shafts; tongues; wooden wheels, steel wheels or air tires; sled runners, brakes – mechanical or hydraulic; seats. These wagons can be used as people movers or a pick up truck around the farm. It is handy to have one wagon that can be used in the summer and winter months. Pioneer builds good quality equipment. The Classic wagon has a tailgate with an RV step out for easy entry into the wagon. The customer can buy just the gear and then custom build the wagon box themselves. Pioneer Blade There is a blade attachment for the forecart but the implement seat must be used for this hook up as you have to have easy access to the blade levers. With the blade you can move gravel or snow. We find the blade on the forecart works better than our blade on the Kubota tractor.

Stage Coach Repair Project

We are repairing a stage coach for Anderson Valley Ranch. We had to reshrink the wheels to get the proper “dish” back into the wheels, replace the dry rot with new wood, put new rubber on the wheels, replace the roof and put a fresh coat of paint on it. A good wheel has to have a “dish” to strengthen the wheel’s ablility to withstand loads. If the wheel is perfectly straight the center will have a wobble in it but with the dish the wheel will have tension and the center will not wobble. If you are out to buy a vehicle make sure the wheels have a dish in them. The bottom spokes should be 90 degrees to the ground. The inside of the wheel is convex and the outside of the wheel is concave.

Alberta Carriage Supply Spring Clinic

We wish to thank all those that came to our first and second annual field day. Many Pioneer Equipment items were on hand for teamsters to try out and we received many positive comments.  This is a great hands on two day clinic were teamsters can share and learn from each other.  Alberta Carriage Supply’s 2011 Workshop Clinics include:

Driving Horse Basics

May 14, 2011, 9:00 AM to 5 PM

Cost: $200.00 includes lunch

What you will learn:
Driving single and team.
Harness Fitting
Harness care and cleaning
Shoeing for play and work.
Draft horse care

Instructors:
Dale Befus
Terry Bailey
Dwight Beard
Gordon Mowat

What you should bring:
Coffee cup
WARM Clothing.  This is a combination indoor/outdoor clinic.  In the event of snow, it will be held at an arena nearby.

Where:
Alberta Carriage Supply, Calgary, Alberta

Putting Your Horse to Work

Friday June 3, 2011.  9:00 am to 6 pm in the classroom.
Saturday June 4, 2011.    9:am to 6 pm in the field
Saturday at 6:30 pm
Includes a roast beef diner
Cost: $60
Note: To bring your own horses you must show a proficiency in harnessing and driving.

What you will learn:
Plows and Plowing
Mowers and Mowing
Blading and Grading
Camping
Instructors:
Dale Befus -   Alberta Carriage Supply
Wayne Wengerd – Pioneer Equipment
Where:
Alberta Carriage Supply, Calgary, Alberta

Driving Horse – Advanced

NOTE: For this course you must show a proficiency in harnessing and driving both single and team.
June 25 & 26, 2011
9 AM to 5 PM
Cost: $350
Includes lunch both days

What you will learn:
Multiple hitches, 3 & 4 abreast, 4 up.
Use of a rope and pulley hitch on 4 up.
Introduction to horse pulling.
Introduction to showing.
Introduction to combined driving.

Instructors:
Dale Befus
Terry Bailey
Dwight Beard
Gordon Mowat
Kathleen Winfield
Where:
Alberta Carriage Supply, Calgary, Alberta

http://albertacarriagesupply.com

Dale Befus and Terry Bailey
Box 9, Site 27, RR7, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 2G7 -  403-934-9537