After watching the parade, we continued on to the fair grounds. It was a beautiful weekend, with sunny, pleasant weather. Nothing spoils a fair like a rainy day, but this September has been exceptionally nice. The Spencerville Fair was quite a big event and featured all the usual fair attractions, including a lively midway. Above, weighing in at 304 pounds, is the winner of the biggest pumpkin contest.
The poultry exhibit hall was a noisy place, with a cluck-cluck here, a quack-quack there! The walls were lined with cages and their occupants had plenty to say for themselves. Many different varieties of ducks and chickens and geese were on display. Below is a prizewinning Best-in-Show Pekin Duck.
There were a few rabbits on exhibit as well. This litter of rabbits won first prize.
In the Handicraft Exhibit Hall, there was a fine display of handwork of all kinds, from knitting and crocheting to quilting. I especially enjoyed the quilts.
Over in the “Barn of Learning”, a booth displaying information about raising alpacas included a threesome of sample subjects, cozily dozing in the sun.
A very large porcine fellow appeared to be very content as he lounged blissfully in his pen, ignoring all passers-by.
An antique steam tractor was hooked up to heat water for freshly-cooked corn-on-the-cob sales.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “But where are the horses?” Here they are.
A light and heavy horse show was ongoing over much of the day. Classes were a mix of everything from draft to hackneys to miniatures. I suspect that mixing the classes in this manner might depress entry numbers because if you have long waits between your classes, it makes for a very tiring day. However, it is fun for the audience to see such a variety of horses. Shown above is an American Saddlebred entry in Western Pleasure, while below is a beautifully turned out Hackney.
The open Western Pleasure was one of the larger classes.
One of the more interesting events was the Tandem Hitch class. In this event, two draft horses are hitched with one in front of the other rather than side-by-side. It was impressive to see the five entries. They were all beautiful. So much effort goes into preparing horses and equipment for such an event, it always seems a shame to me that they can’t all be awarded first place. In this case, a lovely pair of grey Percherons were the winners.
Willow House Chronicles 