Our evening of viewing began with the unicorn hitch of belgians. Unicorn meaning 3 horses and the front hitched horse is a single horse (versus double in other classes), followed by a double hitch of horses. Below is the winning hitch for this belgian unicorn wagon hitch class. (for more on unicorn hitch you can visit http://www.ruralheritage.com/reading_room/dictionary.htm, and click on the U)
Beautiful percheron in the unicorn position, waiting to enter the ring.
Here is the 6 horse hitch of Belgian horses that we saw when we went on the farm tours in Grass Lake in September. They ended up 5th in their class.
This is a 6 mule hitch. Not draft mules like B wants, just regular size mules.
B wanted to see the 6 and 8 horse hitching teams work. And he was NOT disappointed when the 8 horse teams entered the ring. Due to the length of the teams and wagons, they had to judge 3 teams, then they left the arena and the last 2 teams came in. This was a team of Clydesdales. This team won the 8 team class.
8 horse hitch of belgians.
Another 8 horse hitch of belgians.
3 of the 5 teams in the 8 horse hitch class.
All 5 of the teams in the 8 horse hitch class. It was pretty awesome to see all these teams together in one arena!!!! I, too, was not disappointed!!!
Earlier in the day they had outdoor plowing and field events. We didn't get an opportunity to watch these. But this team is the winning seated plowing team. And it's owner was named 2007 Plowman of the year (he is not pictured, but the lady standing with the team won 2nd in her class).
And the Pièce de résistance of the evening. PULLING!!!!
There were a total of 21 heavy weight teams. We're talking BIG teams. Most were between 4700 and 5800 pounds.
After the 2nd round of pulling, at 3800, about 10 teams were out. Unfortunately, it was 10:30 and we still needed to drive home. So we ended up not being able to see who won. But we were, again, amazed at the power of these horses. B has not waivered in his want to become a "teamster."
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