On command, Prancer and Shuba step forward in well-practiced unison until a firm “whoa” brings them to a halt. Another single command sends them stepping backward to their original starting point.

Standing 15 feet away, owner Jim Dostal watches with pride as his 22-year-old draft horses complete the task. He isn’t even in the seat, or at the reins, of the manure spreader they are hitched to at his Hutchinson Township farm.

On Friday, Prancer, a Belgian and Shire cross, and Shuba, a Belgian, will find themselves in much more prestigious duty. They will join dozens of other draft horses taking part in the Minnesota State Sesquicentennial Wagon Train.

The event, one of the activities planned for this year’s observance of the state’s 150th birthday, will conclude Sunday at the State Capitol in St. Paul.

“We’ll pick it up Thursday, their rest day, at Hastings,” Dostal said. He’ll be joined by his wife, Marlene, in their 100-year-old green covered wagon. On Friday, the wagon train heads on a 20-mile trek to Inver Grove Heights, followed by a 12-mile ride to Fort Snelling, and an 11-mile journey to the State Capitol on Sunday.

For more about the wagon train or for other sesquicentennial activities, visit: www.ac-hs.org/wagontrainindex.htm or www.mn150years.org.

Read more of this story in the May 8 Leader.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)