Nancy Hilty-Brunson first picked up the lines at age 6. That started a life-long passion for driving horses of all shapes and sizes. Growing up, her family used horses to put up all the hay, which consisted of mowing with a team, raking, and finally picking up loads of bales with a four-up. Nancy also competed in driving classes all over the state of Washington until the age of 15 when her family moved to Kansas and took up work on a Belgian horse ranch full-time. Always up for a challenge when someone was needed to train and drive a six-up of miniature horses on a stagecoach, Nancy jumped at the chance. Having driven everything from a single to a 9-horse hitch on a plow, Nancy is no stranger to driving of all styles.

Driving lead to harness repairs and finding that harness building and repair were not readily available in her area, so Nancy started working and building harnesses. Some 30 years ago harness making and driving became a full-time job, beginning what is now Hilty Harness.