Tuesday, August 26, 2014

More Horses at the Fair

I can't resist sharing a few more of my pictures of the heavy draught horse teams at the Fair.  There were three different teams of two each, entered in the Heavy Horse Pull.

 This is the pair in yesterday's post.  If I caught the names correctly, these are Riley and Louie.

 This was ultimately the winning pair, Kevin and Hank.

These are Pat and Dave.  I swear the closer one turned and looked at me as they were going by, getting ready to line up again.

Here are Riley and Louie on their way back from pulling.  Notice how all the weight of pulling is harnessed to the shoulders.
 
Pat and Dave in one of the early pulls.  All these horses were high spirited, and didn't really want to stop even pulling this weight.

And Kevin and Hank in one of the final pulls.  At this point this pair were pulling over 7000 lbs., and using all their strength to do so!

Can't resist a couple more of the cattle either.  Raising heavy horses is a pretty specialized enterprise now; there are far more farms with beef cattle than with horses around the valley.  Raising beef is the backbone of Grey County farms.

And there were quite a few smaller calves too, though by this time of year, they're growing fast.


11 comments:

  1. The horses are magnificent, and yes, they're looking at you.

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  2. Beautiful horses. They are so big and strong. Our neighbours up the road used a pair of horses on the farm for years until about 15 years ago. The younger generation are using 'horses' of a different kind. :)

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  3. Superb series, big horses, and a small calf to end the story, what a great event for everyone. Cheers,Jean

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  4. Have to love horses who sense the satisfaction of pulling and succeeding. They are beautiful.

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  5. I just love the beauty of the big horses. The word "majestic" comes to mind!

    Greetings from Minneapolis!

    Pearl

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  6. Those big horses are beautiful. They are my favorite kind of horses and the kind I would love to have. I love them. Enjoyed seeing all the pictures on this post and the previous one.

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  7. This is a beauty of a post. I love seeing horses!

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  8. We don't get the big draft horses at our fairs in Texas, but used to always enjoy seeing them in Illinois at the State Fair. My dad farmed with Percheron horses as a kid.

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  9. Aren't fairs just so much fun??? You captured some great photos of the animals --especially all of the horses... Maybe one pair should be named "Betsy and George"... ha
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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