Gentle giants take over the Tuscarawas County Fair
The most important things the judge looks for at a competition are if the horse keeps its head held high and how it picks up its feet.
Thursday is the day Felice Dunn of Hideout Valley Farm in Carroll County always attends the Tuscarawas County Fair. She along with many others filled the grandstand to see the power and majesty that is the Draft Horse Hitch Show.
The show began at 10 a.m. and worked through 19 classes of competition from single-cart horse to six-horse hitch. Other classes included tandem, two-horse hitch, unicorn (three horses) and four-horse hitch.
For Dunn, who was wearing a T-shirt from a draft-horse hitch show, it’s a day to relax from the work she usually does on the farm. She knows many of the drivers and estimates she has worked with draft horses since about 1975 when her children first entered 4-H.
“Now I have great-grandchildren, so you know that’s a long time,” she said with a laugh.
Draft horses have a reputation as being gentle giants, but it depends on the animal. “Horses are individuals just like people. Some pick up and do things for you, and some are buggers,” Dunn said.
The most important things the judge looks for at a competition are if the horse keeps its head held high and how it picks up its feet. According to Dunn, training and shoes have a lot to do with how the horse picks up its feet.
“They have special shoes and ways to shape their hooves. They are allowed a certain amount of weight in the front shoes, and they can’t go over,” she said.
Competing in Draft Horse Hitch is not for everyone. “It’s something you have to have in your heart,” show announcer Steve McQueen said. “There is a lot behind the scenes you don’t know.”
McQueen is of McQueen’s Belgians in New Philadelphia and the winner of many past draft-horse competitions at the Tuscarawas County Fair.
Many competitors start their day very early to travel to a show. Winnings do not begin to cover the cost of expenses to participate. Premiums range from $40 for a first place in the single-cart pony to $100 for first place in six-horse hitch.
As far as equipment, the price of the large wagons begins at $12,000 with some ranging up to $40,000. Draft horses sell for $5,000-$40,000 each, and it can cost $120 each time a horse needs shoes.
“This does not include the hay, straw and time spent over the year to care for the horses,” McQueen said.
The winner of the six-horse hitch, Megan Ewell of Hobby Hill Belgians of Oberlin, was in complete control of her team, using loud vocal commands to put the horses through their paces.
“I was taught you have to be loud. I watch at lot of the hitchers, and you learn. I learned from my mother Linda Ewell. She used to drive. I just took over driving last year in the competitions,” Ewell said.
Horse action at the grandstand continues with harness racing on Friday and Saturday at noon and Sunday at 1 p.m.