Today’s participant in our weekly interview series is Henry Sester, whose printing company does a brilliant job with our magazine, The Carriage Journal.
Where do you live? Southwestern Ohio, near Miami University
How long have you been driving and how did you become interested in this sport/world? I started driving at the age of 49; my brother-in-law was a driver and got me interested as well
Do you come from a driving/horsy family? I remember my dad plowing the garden with a mule when I was small child, but my first real experience was a pony that I had for a short time as a young teenager. After that, we moved to the city and I had no contact with horses again until near the age of fifty
If you have children, do they ride or drive? We have two adult children, neither of whom ride or drive, but we have two granddaughters who love horses and are always ready for riding. They haven’t taken much interest in driving yet
Are you a CAA member? Yes, for approximately 5 years
What do you drive? Because of my brother-in-law’s influence, we have Haflingers for driving. We have also driven our Quarter Horse occasionally
What types of carriage(s) do you drive/collect? I have three vehicles: a rarely used fore cart for miscellaneous rough work (I need to sell), a Robert Carriages Trail Buggy with pneumatic tires, and a Jagdwagen (hunting wagon) made by Andrzejewski Carriages in Poland
Do you own/collect any antique vehicles? Do you have a favorite vehicle among your own collection? I have no antique vehicles, but I enjoy the Andrzejewski carriage very much
Do you compete? If so, what’s your favorite type of competition / class / CDE phase? I don’t compete (yet), but if time and money were of no consideration, I would enjoy marathons and cones competitions
Do/did you ride or participate in other horse sports? I enjoy pleasure riding at home or at a nearby state park
What do you like best about driving as a hobby/sport? I like driving because it is an unusual hobby, because I enjoy horses, and because of the wonderful people I have met through carriage driving and related organizations
What car do you drive? Do you have a “dream” car you wish you could drive? What was your first car? My first car was a ’57 Chevrolet, my present car is a Cadillac CTS-V (6-speed, 400 horses). I could enjoy any one of several German vehicles with lots of horsepower
Do you have any other pets? An Akita
What is your favorite food/cuisine? Whatever my wife cooks
What is your favorite holiday? Memorial Day. It’s a day to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, and it is the beginning of the summer season
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