A Day at the Fair: Perth 2013

On the long weekend, we had some rain on Saturday and Monday, but Sunday was a beautiful day, and we took advantage of the good weather to attend the Perth Fair. Over the years, we have been to most of the fairs in the area, but this was the first time we made it out to the Perth Fair.

There’s always lots to see at a country fair. Most feature classes for various farm animals, sheep and cows and sometimes poultry and pets. There are classes for the best vegetables, the biggest pumpkin, the tallest sunflower, the best hay.

There are displays of handiwork and I like to look at the quilts. The skill and creativity always amazes me. All the quilts were beautiful, but I especially liked this fishy design, a bit out of the ordinary as patterns go.

And of course there is a midway, with rides and games and lots and lots of booths featuring hot dogs and cotton candy. I like to check out the horses on the merry-go-round. These were well-maintained and pretty, but rather unimaginatively painted, with all the horses white.

But it is the horse show that I enjoy the most. On Sunday, there were three separate events underway. The Team Penning is held in a pair of circular rings joined by a gate. A herd of eight cows waits in one of the pens and each cow is numbered. Pairs of riders wait at the gate and when the judge calls out the number of a cow, the team must separate that cow from its mates and move it into the empty pen.

Additional cows must then be cut out and moved, in successive order from the first number called, with the goal of moving as many cows as possible in the correct order in 60 seconds. If a cow with a wrong number slips into the second pen, the team is disqualified.

In another ring, an Obstacle Race attracted a lot of competitors. Each horse and rider is judged as they tackle a course of obstacles and tests. Above, a horse and rider walk through a screen of streamers.

Horses have a very sensible aversion to stepping into or onto surfaces that might be dangerous, so crossing a hollow bridge can be scary.

Horses had to back through a U-shaped pathway without dislodging the barriers.

The horse is required to stand still and wait while his rider moves a wheelbarrow between two points. It’s fun to watch each horse’s reaction to each of the tests. Many did very well. Others clearly thought that their riders showed a distinct lack of judgement.

And then there was the harness show, that featured heavy draft horses, lighter commercial drafts, and miniature horses! The mix of classes allows competitors time between events to harness their teams. Here is a four-horse team of heavy draft horses.

Here is an eye-catching four-horse entry in the commercial class for lighter draft horses.

And here are the four-horse minis!

It really was a pleasant day of horse-watching. I’ll leave you with a couple of photos of the six-horse hitches, a very impressive sight indeed.

Read Full Post »

Minis at Merrickville

On Sunday, I attended the horse show at the Merrickville Fair. Long-time readers may remember Nicholas and Flash, who I met at last year’s show. I wondered how they were doing a year later. When I arrived, the show was well underway. The morning classes, where I saw Nicholas and Flash last year, were finished and the afternoon driving classes were in progress. The lineup for the Lady-to-Drive class is shown in the photograph above.

I soon spotted Flash. He was being warmed up for his next event, the Junior Driver class. His young driver was Nicholas’s cousin, Jordan.

When their class was called, Jordan was accompanied by his Grandpa. Jordan and Flash did very well. So well, in fact, they won first place!

Here are the red ribbon winners and a very proud grandpa. Soon Flash was back at the trailer, enjoying some hay.

Grandpa returned to his own show entry, a team of Belgians. Heavy horse classes and Canadian classes were interspersed in the same ring with the miniature classes.

Meanwhile, back in the ring, the two-horse hitch class was in the ring. This pair of little blacks are Tom and Jerry.

This pair of pintos are mother and daughter. That’s Ellie-Mae on the driver’s right and her daughter Panda-Mae on the left.

Back at the trailer, a third generation was waiting for Mama and Grandma.

Here is one of the entries in the Canadian Horse historic carriage class.

About mid-afternoon, it began to rain and I decided to head for home. I’ll end with this clip of Reid Acres 6-horse percheron hitch in action.

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »