Eight Horse Hitch

On Sunday, we attended the Richmond Fair horse show. They had a wonderful event, with 3 rings running concurrently. In one ring were the light horse English and Western classes. In a second ring was a miniature horse show, and in the third ring were draft classes. One of the highlights of the afternoon was the 8-horse miniature hitch. Putting together a hitch of eight horses, even miniature ones, is quite an undertaking. We watched as the teams were assembled.

Here is the first pair, the wheelers, being hitched in position. They were a well-behaved pair who stood quietly as the other teams were assembled.

The third mini gets a pat and some encouraging words.

The fourth mini is brought around into position.

Numbers five and six are added to the hitch.

Here is mini number seven.

Finally, number eight is brought out.

Many hands help with holding the horses and work on the harnessing.

Everyone is ready and they head for the show ring.

The team works both ways in the ring and then stands in the centre of the ring for inspection by the judge. The little horses fan to the right and back, just like the Budweiser Clydesdales do! After a wonderful display, they make their triumphant exit from the ring. What a great showing.

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Minis!

Nicholas and Flash

On Sunday, the Merrickville Fair was the scene of a Miniature Horse Show. Miniature horses are a fairly recent addition to the horse scene. It was only in 1978 that the American Miniature Horse Association (AMHA) was founded to establish minis as a seperate breed of horse. The American Miniature Horse Registry (AMHR) was established a bit earlier, in 1972, as a division of the American Shetland Pony Club. In the AMHA, Miniatures cannot exceed 34 inches at the withers, the point at which the mane ends at the back. In the AMHR, there are A and B divisions, for Miniatures under 34 inches and 34 to 38 inches, respectively. Are Minatures really small horses or ponies? Some certainly are more horse-like than others. Wherever you might stand on that issue, one thing can be agreed upon: they sure are cute!

I met Nicholas and Flash not long before their class. Nicholas made his show ring debut in the Junior Showmanship 10-years-old and Under class at the Merrickville show. Nicholas did a fine job! He and Flash won fourth place in their first outing.

It’s easy to see the appeal of Miniatures. Many horse owners have limited interest in riding. They just love horses! A full-sized horse requires a significant amount of space for proper maintenance. Of course, everything else is proportionally large as well: a large amount of hay, a large horse trailer for transport, a large amount of cleanup! With minis, everything is more easily managed. Take transportation, for instance. A medium-sized truck can easily transport a whole herd of minis. This gives a whole new meaning to the term “minivan”.

You don’t have to be a child to enjoy a Miniature horse, as was demonstrated by the turnout for the Miniature Single Cart class. Here is one contestant being harnessed up.

It was clear that the owners of minis derived a lot of pleasure from their charges. Look at the smiles on the faces of these competitors.

There were twelve entries in the class. Here they are lined up for the judge.

The winner of the class was the white mini, Minibrook’s Native Dancer, with Golddust placing second.

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