"Always be ready," Pa said. This was in reference to the danger of a runaway when working with horses on the farm. We all were aware of special dangers when using horses for mowing, raking or bucking hay. And cutting grain was a special problem because of sudden noises that occurred if we hit rocks, broke sickles or frieghtened a pheasant. As boys we learned to drive horses early, first while sitting next to Pa or Grandpa on a wagon or a sleigh, later alone in driving wagons to a field. We had to be older and stronger before we were allowed to drive the horses home at noon or at the end of a day's work. The reason for this was that horses were more anxious to get home for lunch or supper than were we. If given an opportunity they would run all the way.
The story of Gus Anderson's runaway was told often in those early years of horsemanship. Gus was dreaming a bit late one afternoon as he headed for home with a full load of hay on the rack. He had not noticed that the horses were gaining speed until the wagon bumped a rock. Then his horses broke into a full gallop. Here sat Gus, too high on the load to have stable footing, and the horses running faster and faster. Wagon bouncing, hay flying off, Gus trying to hold and jerk the team into submission. And all the while he was getting closer and closer to the farmyard and the trees. When the horses made the harp turn into the yard, the wagon load of hay rolled off. Gus rolled with it and came to a soft landing. The horses ran directly for the barn door. This was a narrow barn door, just rrom for one horse to enter at a time. Except this time! Heading for the door at full gallop, neck yoke between them, empty wagon behind, they entered. How, no one ever knew.
When Gus recovered from his roll, he found the front wagon wheels wedged in the barn door, horses in their stalls with wagon tongue and neck yolk still attached. We knew this could not have happened. I think that is why Pa made a point of stopping at Anderson's to show us the gouges on the barn door where the wagon had stopped. No one ever had a satisfactory explanation as to how those two horses entered the barn with yoke and wagon tongue attached. From that time on we really became cautious horsemen. Even so, runaways happened.
My runaway was with a three-horse team while on a grain binder. The grain binder cut the grain in a swath, a reel of four slats turned slowly and pushed the grain toward an eight-foot sickle, a platform elevated the cut grain to a binder and knotter, complex gears and chain were powered by heavy steel wheels that turned and powered the complex machinery as the horses pulled. It was very noisy and dangerous even when running well.
I was sitting on the steel seat in the center back of all this clanking machinery. There were many things to watch including making sure that nothing clogged the sickle, no chains slipped from their drives, and that the knotter tied the bundles the correct size and tension. On top of this was the continuous concentration on the horses and driving them so that cutting the grain was always in a seven or eight foot swath. The reins were held tightly, used only to move horses left or right and to pull back sharply to stop them in case they did not respond to verbal commands. The three commands were "Gee" for right, "Haw" for left, and "Whoa" for stop.