English blood, Wisconsin roots

RED WING — At 5 feet, 3 inches, one would think a 2,000-pound draft horse towering above would intimidate Danelle Kinney. Rather, having shown Shires since the early 1990s, Kinney is the first to comment on why this breed commands so much of her heart. 

“The Shire is known as the old war horse,” Kinney said. “They are extremely docile, they have a lot of heart, they listen well, and they want to please.”

Kinney, a nuclear senior chemist by day, said luck has found her more than once in her lifetime. Raising Shires in the rolling hills of southeast Minnesota’s Driftless Area, Kinney and her husband, Travis, reside on family land where they built their farm. The couple and their two sons, Britton and Merrik, do not all share the same interests, but with four Shires and a 15-acre farm known as Haugen-Hill Shires, there are chores that they do together.

“The boys have their own hobbies, and it’s not horses,” Kinney said. “They do enjoy helping me with the foals, and they are good about helping with fence work and feeding.”

Kinney’s Shire experience is showing, and her breeding reflects that type of horse.

“I like to breed my mares; … all my mares have national titles,” Kinney said. “My dad would always say, ‘If you’re going to feed an animal, feed a good animal.’ For me, that is a mare that complements the eye and has great conformation.”

Conformation refers to an animal’s physical structure and how closely it matches the ideal standard for the breed. All three mares owned by Kinney are homebred and have imported English bloodlines, Kinney said. She is very particular with her breeding program and has two mares in foal for 2027.

“My goal is to breed perfection,” Kinney said. “Trying to breed the best mare, the best stallion or the best colt has always been my goal, … and we know that will never happen, so that is why I love chasing that dream.”

Kinney had been searching for a new stud when she heard the owners of the stud she was using were getting rid of their horses. It was time to find her own.

“Shires have an extremely small genetic pool,” Kinney said. “When I breed, I have to look for that outcross to find what complements my mare.”

Kinney and her husband went to England twice in the last few years to find a new stud. Neither trip paid off the way she would have liked, despite the potential.

“It’s their birthplace,” Kinney said. “You’ll find hundreds of colts, … whereas here (U.S.), you’ll find a handful of colts, all with similar breeding. We traveled 1,800 miles up and down England,  … eight different farms we visited, looking for the pedigree and conformation I wanted, and we came home empty handed.”

Arlin Wareing, a longtime friend of Kinney who has imported hundreds of Shires over the years, was also scouting for her.

“We’ve worked together in the past, and Arlin knew exactly what I was after,” Kinney said. “He also knew that I wanted to produce, so he wanted to find me a good one, and he sure did.”

Kinney’s new stud, whose pedigree boasts many national champions from England, was loaded into a cargo plane at 12 months of age and arrived in Minnesota last spring. After her extensive search, Kinney said she is excited for the future.

Cattle, horses and showing have always been a part of Kinney’s family.

“My parents, David and Karen Haugen, ran a big dairy farm called Haugen-Hill Farm in Wisconsin,” Kinney said. “The show ring atmosphere has always been a part of me.”

She used to show dairy cattle, as did her dad and grandpa, but when her uncle, Jim, started showing Belgians, the doors opened for show horses, Kinney said.

The neighbor down the road from Kinney’s parents worked for Fox Valley Farms, one of the largest Shire farms at the time. He had several Shires at his farm, and that was Kinney’s first introduction to the breed.

“My family had always had draft horses; … my grandpa had Percherons he used for farm work, and my uncle had Belgians,” Kinney said. “When I met the Shires in person, they were friendly and sweet in nature, and I knew that if I had to handle these guys on my own, it would be easier than the higher-strung Belgians and Percherons that my family had.”

In 1994, she talked her parents into buying her a Shire.

“The plan was to buy a mare, have a baby, then sell the baby and put that money toward college,” Kinney said. “The plan didn’t really go as planned. Before I knew it, I had a couple of babies, then a herd of four, five; … I just didn’t want to sell them.”

Kinney attended college at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls despite not selling the first foal. She worked nights and weekends and often was unable to come home to take care of the horses. Kinney said she felt very lucky that her mother, who is no longer living, was a big advocate for keeping the horses and helping with their care.

One fall, Kinney and her father went to the Waverly draft horse sale to buy a cart, and Kinney’s experience in the show ring rapidly evolved from there. Not long after, in February 2002, Steege’s Cleopatra, a mare from Iowa, joined Kinney at the Haugen-Hill Farm in Wisconsin. Kinney said that was the Shire that kicked off her breeding program and show career in both the halter and hitch classes.

In 2007, Kinney married, and she and her Shires moved to Red Wing, where she started her own farm, Haugen-Hill Shire, in homage to her roots. Kinney continues to raise, breed and sell Shires to various buyers from around the country.

“Because I have shown extensively in the past, I often get repeat buyers,” Kinney said. “I only sell studs when they’ve been vetted to be capable of breeding all the qualities that I would want, so when I do sell intact, it is because they are darn good.”

Kinney said the show industry standards change, and staying in demand with what the industry wants to see is something she has experienced firsthand and remains aware of.

“The market has gone from a real farm-type horse to a more hitchy-refined-type horse,” Kinney said. “Today’s breed standards don’t want a lot of movement but rather a smooth ride.”

Kinney shows one mare in Western and English events, aside from the halter and hitch classes, and while she said she does not breed for a riding horse, she is aware it is a trait the market demands. To accomplish this, Kinney sends all her horses to a 45-day training program in Wisconsin run by her friend, Angie Rudd, whom she has known since the early 1990s.

Years later, the bond Kinney shares with Shires still has not faded, she said. After a busy time in her life led her to step away from showing for a short time, Kinney is getting ready to return to the ring again.

“It’s been a cycle; horses are full time, no matter what,” Kinney said. “There is so much prep that goes into showing, but we’re gearing up to start (showing) again. When you’re trying to juggle family and a full-time job, … something has to give, and the easiest thing to give was showing.”

Kinney likes to compete in a smaller show, such as the Olmsted County Fair, before heading to nationals, which has been held at the Iowa State Fair for just over a decade. Kinney is anticipating the arrival of new foals before assessing who is show-worthy.

“It’s really hard to show just one,” Kinney said. “Fuel prices are the same; farrier prices are the same. It’s worthwhile to bring a string of horses.”

Competing in shows requires a lot of help with horses that size, Kinney said. Her husband and in-laws did not grow up with horses, but they are willing to help and do a fantastic job.

Leaving for a show can be a task in itself, Kinney said. It requires vacation days from work and usually turns into a five-day stay with hotel and fuel costs. Lining up chore help is the next task. Winning ribbons can be great, Kinney said, but it is lucky to cover the entrance fee.

“It’s not about the prize money,” Kinney said. “It’s about going and meeting up with your friends who come from all over the U.S., the one time a year we’re all together. That’s what makes it worthwhile, … that and whatever prestigious award you get.”