A Peek Into The Past: Hanover Shoe Farms

Have you ever taken the time to go to the Hanover Shoe Farms? Maybe it could be an activity for you to do with your family this summer. The Hanover Shoe Farms is the most popular and recognized breeding nursery in North America. There have been many articles and books written on the farm. A good book that was written in celebration of the Hanover Shoe Farms’ 75^th anniversary in 2001 titled, “The Quest for Excellence”, talks about the farm’s history.

This popular farm’s story starts in 1899, with a floundering shoe business. Harper D. Sheppard and Clinton N. Myers had bought the shoe business and named it the “Hanover Shoe”. In 1901 the Hanover Shoe opened their first store in downtown York. Throughout the week, Sheppard and Myers worked in their manufacturing building in Hanover. On Saturday afternoons they had to travel York to work in their store for the rest of the day. They found “horse power” to be their preferred means of transportation to travel back and forth between the two towns. Thus started their first stable of horses, which led to racing those horses at fairs and other events.

Lawrence B. Sheppard joined his father and Myers in the shoe business while finishing up school. He soon developed an interest in the horse stable and became very involved with its operation. A story of particular interest recounts when Harper Sheppard and Clinton Myers went off on a business trip and left the stable in Lawrence’s care. When they came back Lawrence had sold all the horses in the stable. However, all wasn’t lost; Lawrence talked the men into getting a better stock of horses. In 1926, Lawrence Sheppard purchased an entire herd from A. B. Coxe who at the time was a very popular breeder. He bought the herd for $150,000. These horses would become the foundation of the Hanover Shoe Farms. Two of the horses from the Coxe herd was a stallion named Dillion Axworthy who was known for his speed, and a mare out of 27 named Miss Bertha Dillion. Most of Hanover Shoe Farms’ horses today and the champions you see in harness racing from the Hanover Shoe Farms all have bloodlines that tie back to the horses that were bought from the Coxe herd.

In 1964, Lawrence Sheppard had to step down from managing the Hanover Shoe Farms and let John Simpson takeover because Lawrence’s health was failing. On February 26, 1968, Lawrence Sheppard died at Hanover-General Hospital of congestive heart failure and emphysema. He was 70 years old.

Today, the Hanover Shoe Farms is still well-known for producing champion trotters but more recently has made headlines for helping others. An April article published in the Evening Sun talks about the Hanover Shoe Farms taking in 23 horses that were seized from a Mount Airy, Maryland farm. The owner had called the Hanover Shoe Farms, because she thought her horses had value, but they did not…at all. The horses were covered in dirt, their ribs were showing, their feet were not trimmed, and it seemed like they had never been out of their stalls. Hanover Shoe Farms doesn’t normally get involved in rescues, but they didn’t want to turn their backs on these horses that needed help. So, they brought all the horses back to Hanover Shoe Farms and gave them veterinary care and food. The Hanover Shoe Farms are trying to give these horses a new home, but nothing has come up yet. However, they are not giving up hope on these horses.

So, next time your parents are trying to find something to do with the whole family, take a trip to the Hanover Shoe Farms to see the mares and foals. You’ll get to see some beautiful animals, and just maybe, one of them will grow up to be the next Triple Crown winner!