FAIRBURN - Some people are into speedboats. Others collect stamps.

Members of the Sunday Drivers Club prefer hitching a team of horses to old-time farm equipment and taking a relaxing plow through the north 40.

Rob Hunsaker, club president, said during Saturday's annual plow day and spring meeting at his ranch near Fairburn that the club's goal is to preserve knowledge of horse-drawn carriages, wagons and farm equipment.

"One of these days, nobody's going to know how to harness a horse. We're trying to carry on that tradition a little bit," he said.

Hunsaker also likes to collect older machinery and save it from the scrap heap. Too much of that farming history is being lost too fast, he said.

"They chop so much of it up for scrap; pretty soon there's not going to be any left of it, either," he said.

Ken Barker of Edgemont doesn't have a team anymore but he still enjoys coming out to watch and think about how things used to be.

"There's a lot of that equipment that our younger generation don't know what it is or why it was built, and we'd like to keep that heritage alive just to give the younger generation an idea of the good old days," he said.

Margaret McDowell, a past club president from Fairburn, brought a team of ponies, a team of Percheron cross draft horses and a 3-year-old Percheron cross gelding to Saturday's gathering.

"It's fun," she said. "And it's good people, too."

McDowell, a teacher who is also co-owner of a carriage business, has been in the club about 12 years. She said she used to have a ranch near Deerfield Lake and hosted some trail rides there before becoming interested in driving teams.

"I like it not being fast," she said. "I also like that you can hear the birds and smell the earth. I like the fact that it's a cooperative effort between you and your animals, and it also creates a better horse. Most horses, they need a job."

McDowell said opportunities to work with her "chubbies," the affectionate name she uses for her Percheron cross team, helps the animals work better as a team.

The club has between 70 and 80 dues-paying members and about 70 auxiliary members who come to various events. Members are drawn from all over the region, including Wyoming and Nebraska.

Hunsaker said the club has three to four events each year including trail rides, wagon trains and demonstrations at county fairs. Each spring, they hold a plow day and potluck open to the public.

Hunsaker said riding horses is just recreation for some people, but he still uses horses to do various jobs on his ranch, like hauling hay and feed in the winter.

That's the best time, for Hunsaker, out alone on the land. It's quiet. No motors. Just him and his horses.

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com