This Glen Ellen teen drives Clydesdales, welds, spins wool

At just 14 years old, Daylin Llanes is a modern renaissance woman – she can weld wagons, spin wool and drive a horse-drawn carriage like a pro. She’ll be helping take the reins with her “Uncle” Neil Shepard for Caroling with the Clydesdales on Saturday in Glen Ellen.

Daylin gives a lot of credit to her parents, Modesto and Stacey Llanes, for helping to make so many opportunities available to her. “They're extremely supportive of me,” she said. “My mom and dad both love to help make these things work.”

Her mom says she’s got fingers in a lot of pies. “She's just one of those kids that puts her heart and soul into whatever she tries,” Stacey Llanes said. “And she loves it, you know. She's a great fun kid.”

Daylin had the good fortune of growing up near Beauty Ranch in Jack London State Historic Park. Her mother has known horseman Shepard since she was in high school. “He and his ex-wife had been great about always letting me come up there,” Stacey Llanes said. “Then when I had kids, he's like, you know, the ranch is a great place for the kids. So now he’s ‘Uncle Neil’ to my kids.”

Daylin is grateful for the experiences she’s had at the ranch. “I grew up around the horses,” she said. “So now, anytime I see a normal riding horse I think, ‘Wow, I'm so lucky to work with the big giant horses because it's always so much fun.’ When I was younger, I remember always walking through the vineyard and thinking, ‘This is great. I'm free.’”

Shepard is more than an “uncle” to Daylin. He’s also taken the time to teach her many of the skills needed on the ranch. “He taught me how to drive horses,” she said. “He's taught me welding. He's helped me with woodwork and he's teaching me how to drive a stick shift. He's let me help him work on his 1945 Willys Jeep.”

Shepard is impressed with the young teen’s determination. “So, she started welding and it couldn't have been maybe a half-dozen practice runs with the welding, and she put down a weld that was certifiable,” he said. “It was unbelievable. She's quite amazing.”

Daylin used welding to repair wagon wheels for her project to get into Technology High School. Next she’ll tackle repairing a two-wheeled governess cart. “I haven't really gotten to the body of it, but the wheels are done,” she said. “It's the same cart that my uncle learned to drive on. He's letting me fix it up so that way I can drive it around his property.”

“She's kind of just learning everything there is about the ranch,” Shepard said. “I asked her one day if she’d like to drive the team and she started driving and she's a natural.”

Since the beginning, Shepard has been driving the horses during the popular Glen Ellen Clydesdale event. His great-grandmother was Jack London’s step-sister and he lives and works at Beauty Ranch. London raised draft horses as well and Shepard is carrying on the tradition. He’s been working with Clydesdales for 36 years and enjoys the fact that both he and the Clydesdales have distant roots in Scotland.

The Clydesdales have become local celebrities in their own right. “My main horse that I drive is Willie, and he’s 28 years old,” Shepard said. “He was an orphan, so I hand-raised him. He and I have been partners for 28 years. He's got quite a fan club.”

Willie stands out not just for his size, but a unique trait. “He's a blue-eyed horse, and so he's real striking when he looks at you,” Shepard said. “It took me a while to get a good read on a blue eye because it looks like he's startled, but he's not. He's a real relaxed horse and he enjoys his job.”

Shepard has three Clydesdales, each with their own personality. “They’re really honest and have a big heart,” he said. “They enjoy working, so it makes it real fun to work with them.”

Shepard also has a French Percheron draft horse that will accompany Willie during the caroling event, a gift from a friend.

“He didn't know a whole lot about the horse, didn't know his name,” Shepard said. “The only name he kind of responded to was Andy and I didn't want to name him Andy, so I called him Angus. He's just a little bit smaller than the Clydesdales but I've been using him now for almost four years, and he does really well.”

Daylin likened the Clydesdales to giant puppies. “They're super friendly,” she said. “They don't spook too terribly easily. And even when they do spook, it's not like a riding horse where they throw a giant temper tantrum. It's like a couple of minutes. Just let them, like, calm down a little bit and then you can get back to whatever you were doing.”

She and her family often accompany Shepard to draft horse events. Last September they attended the Scottish Games in Pleasanton with Clydesdales Willie and Minnie.

“Minnie was just having a really good day and was not having any trouble with anything,” Shepard said. “So I gave the lines to Daylin and she drove the whole rest of the weekend. She'd bring the chief in for the opening ceremony and closing ceremony and drive them on the racetrack.”

Daylin worked with Shepard at last year’s caroling event. “I hope that more people will get to experience these things, like getting to ride wagons, hayrides and just getting to see the bigger horses,” she said.

Daylin has plenty of interests outside of horses. In the past she’s been in 4H and the Juniper Junior Naturalist Program. She’s a member of the Boy Scouts where she does a lot of volunteer work. She’s played the flute and piccolo for five years and has recently started playing the trumpet because her high school band needed more brass. She’s also recently taken up spinning wool.

“I finished my first skein of yarn not too terribly long ago,” she said.