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Our judge for this year comes to us from Mount Angel, Oregon. Dan Kintz resides there with his wife of 45 years, Molly. Together they raised four sons and two daughters around horses, just as Dan was raised. All four sons were plowing by the time they were 12-13 years of age.
Dan truly grew up with horses. He was born in Stayton, Oregon and moved to Silverton when he was about seven. His father worked horses building county and state roads, and Dan can relate stories of those days including his dad being frozen out of the job on Santiam Pass. His father and family farmed 43 acres with the horses evenings and weekends. They raised grain for the horses, and mowed and raked hay. Dan remembers cultivating corn at the age of seven. He and his brother worked together—one riding the horse to direct it and the other handling the cultivator. Dan was plowing by the age of fourteen.
Dan purchased his first team when he was sixteen years old. Over the years he has owned just about every breed of draft horse and has farmed and logged with them. Late in the 1960’s he was logging with a single horse and grew the business from there. Competitions are nothing new to him as he has competed in plowing contests and pulling competitions.
This last fall Dan sold his last draft team, as he no longer had work for them. He still keeps a saddle horse—seems he just can’t be without horses in his life.
According to Dan, “Every country boy needs a good horse and a good dog and is entitled to one good woman.” He succeeded on all counts.
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