Name: Trippcrest Farm
Address: P.O. Box 535
Harrison, Maine 04040
Phone: 207-583-2835
Website: www.trippcrestfarm.com
Email: scotchbottom@gmail.com
Products and Services:
-registered Percheron horses
-horses for sale
-breeding stock - world-class champions
-stud service
-horse-drawn carriage or wagon rides for
special events
Why is Trippcrest Farm Unique?
If you have ever had the opportunity to view a Percheron up close you probably still can remember how impressionable the experience can be. Percherons appear massive in size. Their coats are rich and lustrous. They are well-muscled and they radiate a sense of power and majesty in their movements and stride.
The origins of the Percheron date back to the seventeenth century in France. They were bred for use as war horses. Later they were used to pull carriages and then they were incorporated in various farming operations. They were first imported to the United States in 1839. Registered Percherons trace their lines to the
LaPerche area of France. The introduction of the tractor after World War II almost made the breed extinct. Several Amish farmers were dedicated to breeding and using the Percherons
on their farms so they were instrumental in their survival. The modern Percheron often averages 17 to 18 hands and weighs around 2000 pounds!
The regal black Percheron horses from Trippcrest Farm have represented Maine in Percheron competitions throughout the United States and Canada. It is truly impressive to see the photos from their various horse shows that have been posted on their Trippcrest Farm website and which appear on one of the webpages on Unique Maine Farms thanks to their permission .
Trippcrest Farm was established by Dwight “Pete” Tripp. He ran a registered Holstein dairy farm from 1963 through 1987. He was president of the Pine Tree Dairy Herd Improvement Association and a national director of the National Dairy Herd Improvement Association. He was also a member of the Agway Council and he served as chairman of the Auburn Agway Committee.
Pete raised three daughters while he operated his dairy farm. He began raising Percheron horses in the 1970’s. Jane Gray joined his efforts and they were married in 2004. Pete aspired to be able to develop a line of champion Percheron horses. He reached his dream before he died in 2012.
Many individuals from all different locations were saddened by Pete’s passing. He had served as a selectman and tax assessor for the town of Minot for 29 years as well as volunteering on the budget committee and the building committee for the first addition to Minot Consolidated School. He was the director and chairman of the board for Springfield (Mass.) Bank of Cooperatives.
Pete was well known in agricultural circles. He had been appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the Federal Farm Credit Board, representing New England, New Jersey and New York. He served as past master of the Minot Center Grange and Androscoggin Pomona Grange. His farm auctioneer skills brought him all over New England. His willingness to provide sleigh rides with the Percherons at his farm and horse-drawn hay rides at the Auburn Mall during the holidays brought a great deal of enjoyment to many individuals.
In 2010, Trippcrest Farm entered their hitch of mares in the Supreme Percheron Six Mare Hitch at the World Percheron Congress in Des Moines, Iowa. They proudly returned to Harrison, Maine, as world champions in the event!
Pete and Jane raised a number of home-bred All American nominee Percherons. In 2011, they had a reserve All American three-year-old mare. In January of 2012, Trippcrest Farm’s six mares earned the honor of Reserve Champions in the North American Six Horse Hitch Classic Series at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado. For three years, one of their six-point hitches was undefeated in the Canadian National Exhibition Horse Show.
Pictures and the pedigrees of each of the Percherons owned by Trippcrest Farm can be seen on their website: www.trippcrestfarm.com There are several photos accompanying each horse. The pictures are stunning and it is interesting to note the number of All American Nominees.
If you have the opportunity to see the amount of awards that the Trippcrest Farm Percherons have earned over the years you probably will find it rather incredulous. There are ribbons, trophies, plaques, world champion chairs, bowls, and every sort of recognition that can be imagined in just about every conceivable place in the Trippcrest farmhouse. They are attached to walls, positioned on counters, covering chairs, and squirreled away in various nooks and cabinets. Two pages of photographs of the awards appear on the Unique Maine Farms’ website and they don’t even illustrate all of the awards that have been presented to the farm!
Over the years, Trippcrest Farm’s Percherons have participated in various fairs. Pete was president of the Oxford County Fair for ten years and a past president of the Maine Association of Agricultural Fairs. Some of the fairs at which horse lovers have enjoyed watching the Tripp Farm Percherons include the Topsfield Fair, Ossipee Fair, Waterford Fair, Addison Fair in Vermont, Skowhegan Fair, Litchfield Fair, and Oxford Fair. The Trippcrest Percherons compete in about a half-dozen horse shows a year.
Jane Gray has carried on the work of her late husband as she manages the farm. Jane started her work life as the owner of a fabric shop while her daughter and two sons were young. After selling the fabric business, she went back to college to complete a BS degree in accounting. She started her own accounting practice, receiving her CPA license in 1984. She has continued to offer tax return & payroll preparation services since then. In addition she runs Gray’s Forestry Supply from her office and on the Internet. At the time she & Pete got together, she was raising top quality Belgians and winning ribbons with them around the Northeast. She has specialized in driving the mare cart class.
Chad and Rhonda Cole of Penwoods Percherons of Centre Hall, Pensylvania, are trainers that drive the Trippcrest Percherons on the show circuit. Ben Shupe helps around the farm. Keith Worth and Sheena Glover assist, as well. Chad and Rhonda Cole also work with the breeding operation. Artificial breeding has allowed Trippcrest mares to be bred to champion stallions including Pleasant View King, Skyview Count On It, Eyebright Fury, BP Prestige and Crawford Farms Hunter, Blue Ribbon Farms Hercules, Ironwood Beauregard, and Lola’s Cracker Jack.
When Unique Maine Farms visited Trippcrest Farm this past fall there were twenty-five Percherons in residence. It was quite a busy day. Roger Thoms of Ro-Lin On Clydes from Aaronsburg, Pennsylvania, had driven a large horse trailer and dropped off two Percherons and left with three Percherons.
A farrier who specialized in Scotch Bottom shoes for draft horses, Mark Hochstettlar, from Northern Indiana, was visiting that same morning to fix one of the shoes. He also works with Justin Hussey’s hitch and drives them in the Big E (Eastern States Exhibition) in West Springfield, Massachusetts, and at the Topsfield Fair.
There were several chores that needed to be addressed around the farm such as feeding the horses; cleaning the stalls; moving horses to different pastures; spreading manure on the pastures; and getting acquainted with the newly delivered horses.
Raising award-winning Percherons involves a great deal in regard to the investment of time and money. Transporting the Percherons to the various events is always a considerable expense. The price of diesel has skyrocketed. The premiums awarded at the fairs have decreased. Participants in the competitions are truly committed.
Jane Gray has exhibited an extraordinary dedication to the Percheron business that her late husband founded over forty years ago. It is quite remarkable that Harrison, Maine, a beautiful small town with a population of just around three thousand residents, is home to a group of Percherons that have earned world-wide recognition for their pedigrees, confirmation and their outstanding show performance.
photo courtesy of the Trippcrest Farm’s website.
photo courtesy of the Trippcrest Farm’s website.
photo courtesy of the Trippcrest Farm’s website.
photo courtesy of the Trippcrest Farm’s website.
