Horse Show Fun

[dominiquer60]

August was a fun but busy month, I worked quite a bit, but I was also able to take some time off to have fun. Not only did I use horses to plant some oats and peas, but I also participated in draft horse shows at 3 different fairs.

The first was the fun show at my home town fair, an older man that didn’t know me from Eve let me use his Fjord for our riding and driving games, good old fashioned fun was had by all. The next fair had cart, hitch, obstacle and log skid classes. I made some good farrier money in the cart and team classes, and didn’t place last in the skill contests, so I was thrilled. The third fair was all ground driving/log skid type classes, I placed last in only one class and not last in the other 3, all of the teamsters, even the 14 year old, are veterans of these event, so I was again pleased with my efforts.

I used to show saddle horses, it has been 10 years, but I still find showing fun. Socializing with other teamsters and earning a little cash are certainly worth the effort for many, but the real benefit was delayed for me.

While in the middle of the first log skidding class (team) I realized that was doing something that I never had done before, skidding wood with horses, and to make things more of a challenge, with only 2″ of clearance on each side of the evener. My first class was rough, but improving every step of the way was rewarding. At the last show, all of the obstacles were tight and the teamsters well seasoned, we drew numbers to see who would go first, since I was hoping to watch the veterans go to pick up any pointers, I drew #1. I made sure to walk the course with the designer and crossed my fingers. The courses certainly were challenging enough to make all of us think long and hard about strategy. This was perhaps the most fun of all. I pulled off some amazing maneuvers and saves, and I made a couple foolish mistakes. I can proudly say that I was the only competitor to have their horse step on/ straddle the same cone several times without knocking it over, I laughed so hard I had to take a time fault to regain my composure. Laughter is often hand in hand with fun.

So back to the delayed benefits. After leaving the last draft show for work at a less exciting horse show, I then made my way back to VT, I had been away for 3 weeks. I took my steers out to try out a couple of yokes that I am borrowing. They were very good to begin with, but after all that precision driving with the horses, I felt like I was really on my game as their leader. I was clear with my commands, I didn’t accept the fact that they could be rusty, I just drove them with a knowledge of what they are capable of and slowed them down and made them move step by step if that is what it took to succeed at a certain maneuver. I think that some of that contest driving really helped me learn what I am capable of and pushed me to be a better teamster and that spilled over to driving my cattle as well.

I know that there are plenty of challenges presented by working draft animals period, and that nothing beats doing real work as far as training. However there is something to be said about a little friendly competition and some obstacles that you would more than likely not attempt if they were anything more rugged than a collection of traffic cones.

Shows are not for everyone, but if you are a beginner like me, it is good to challenge yourself now and then in a safe situation, looking back, that is what these shows were for me. I originally went along to help, but I got a lot more out of a couple trips to the fair than I had anticipated.

Be well, challenge yourself, and have fun once in a while, you might like it 🙂

[dominiquer60]

Those horse shows are certainly paying off this week. I used my team to drag some reclaimed ground that will be pasture someday and they went well. The footing was challenging at times, but all the more reason to take it slow and easy.

Carl gave me the challenge of loading my cart with compost and bringing it to a field off the property. This provided many opportunities to make some tight turns and to pull a load up a steep grade and to hold it back going downhill for some distance. I try to limit our time on the gravel road, but I have been making the trip down to the church yard where there are a few square feet of level ground where we do a little cart work. The field where the compost is needed is at the turn to the church. The last 4 days we have brought a load to the field and visited the churchyard. Turns are slower, more planned out and over all better. We still rub the pole now and then but less than we used to. My off steer likes to rush but he seems a little more settled now and more willing to be patient. Just to mix things up we went down the hill from the church to the main road which is more dirt and quite smooth. We practiced some turns in a neighbors driveway, the off steer had a lot to look at and wanted to rush, but I was able to regain his focus after a moment. A neighbor whos bridge is finally being constructed, after last years hurricane, has an excavator working on the job. My steers are good, they may look at strange things, perhaps slow down or shy a little, but they stay on course and seem to like an opportunity to observe. We stood for a while watching the big equipment, way above their heads, dropping buckets of stone and rubble onto a pile maybe 30 feet from us, stones tumbling to the base. Only their heads moved back and forth at first and then to me when they had had their fill. Then it was back up the hill with an empty cart and a good climb.

Every trip down the hill gets a little smoother and every turn a hair steadier, I knew what they were capable of, I just had to learn that I was capable of showing them.

If anyone is up for it Deerfield Fair is a couple weekends off, I am going to try to make it, if anyone happens to be there it would be great to connect.

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