Dick Sparrow---40 Horse Hitch--passes

[oakbar]

Many of you have probably heard of (or even seen) the 40 horse hitch that was popular several years ago.  I'm sorry to report that Dick Sparrow (the man who recreated the 40 horse hitch) has passed.    Dick was from Zearing, IA and was a very interesting gentleman.  I last saw Dick at the Denver Stock Show in 2001 when he took over the reins of a six horse hitch from his son and proceeded to fly around the rodeo arena and throw dirt several rows into the stands.  Quite a feat for a guy who was 72 at the time.  Dick had a lot of experience doing this, however, he drove 6 horse hitches for Coors for 17 years following the break up of his 40 horse hitch in 1978.

I had the pleasure of being an outrider for Dick's 40 horse hitch at the Kensett, IA centennial in the mid 70's.  What a thrill to see all those powerful animals pulling together under the control of a very, very strong and talented driver--Dick Sparrow.  Dick went on to set a worlds record for the most horses in one hitch(48).  He said that many times when he was driving in the larger cities he would lose sight of the lead team when going around a corner.  Its understandable when you realize that they were more than 100 feet in front of him at the time.

I'm no good at attaching links to these messages but if you'd like to read his obituary its listed in Sunday's Des Moines Register as Elmer R.(Dick) Sparrow.

The  horse world certainly lost a gentleman who put his own stamp on the world.  RIP Mr. Sparrow!!

 

[oakview]

I have known the Sparrow family for many years, but never really got to know Dick well until I started working at the Zearing bank 13 1/2 years ago.  He was one of those men that I really enjoyed talking to in my office.  We rarely talked about business, but I learned a lot from him.  There have been several men of his generation that I enjoyed listening to over the years, almost all of them are now gone.  Dick's was a strong personality, he always had an opinion about something.  He also came up with numerous jokes, not all 'clean'.  I'll miss him.

 

[coachmac]

We had the pleasure to watch Mr. Sparrow and his family show his drafts at the ozark empire fair for quite a number of years.  My wifeand kids would not miss the driving competitions held in the arena.  They ran a nice ship and we appreciated getting to watch Dick perform doing what he had much passion for.  He will be missed at the OEF