May 7th 2014: Clydesdale!

[Gravdigr]

It's hard for me to associate an animal as big as a Clydesdale with the word 'frolic'.

[Griff]

Gorgeous picture Carruthers!

[xoxoxoBruce]

No matter how many I've seen, and between pictures and in person that's a lot, any Clydesdales not red and white give me pause. I guess Budweiser imprinted me at an early age, before I was old enough to realize some of the other color ones I saw at fairs were also Clydesdales.

The PA State Fair, called the Farm Show, has a bunch of competitions using the heavy horses. They televise on cable the draft (weight pulling) and hitch (pulling various vehicles) competitions every year. In one contest they have to back the team up to a sledge, hook it to the harnesses already on the horses, maneuver around the ring stopping to load bales of hay on the sledge at several stations, then race back to the start. They're a lot of fun to watch as in the heat of competition the drivers screw up as much or more than the horses.

Most of these horses at the Farm Show are kept and trained for competitions at the county fairs during the summer/fall. Much of the work they do on the farm is for exercise and is usually done with a tractor or the regular working teams. It will cost the farmer thousands of dollars a year to keep and train his show team. Like owning a sports team, talent casts money, and big talent costs big money.

Oh, when they step on your foot, hopefully on very soft ground where your foot can sink a little, what can you do? Same thing war is good for, absolutely nothin'.
You can't pull it out, you can't get away, you're trapped until the old gray mare decides to move. You can beg, plead, swear, holler, and punch, but do you really want to startle or worse piss off, a 2000 lb animal that you currently can't get away from?

[SPUCK]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

It's hard for me to associate an animal as big as a Clydesdale with the word 'frolic'.

Like: See that frolicking Abrams tank?

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Oh, when they step on your foot, hopefully on very soft ground where your foot can sink a little, what can you do? Same thing war is good for, absolutely nothin'.
You can't pull it out, you can't get away, you're trapped until the old gray mare decides to move. You can beg, plead, swear, holler, and punch, but do you really want to startle or worse piss off, a 2000 lb animal that you currently can't get away from?

Yes and when you push on them they feel like you might imbalance them so they promptly lean into you putting even more weight on your foot. Very frustrating.

[Carruthers]

Yes and when you push on them they feel like you might imbalance them so they promptly lean into you...

And that's why you never see an older heavy horse farrier. Their backs give out before they're forty.

[Griff]

Pony pulling was a really big deal around here when I was a kid. The horses were lighter than these big boys though. There is a field behind a local bar where it was bbq and horse pulls all day long. My Dad's cousin has pulling horses a his place. He grew up with them and his Dad and uncle were very late in completely eliminating horses from their farm. I remember (or saw pictures of me) riding the last old work horse on their farm around 1970.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Griff

I remember (or saw pictures of me)

Few are so honest that they would phrase it like this.

[BardoXV]

Originally Posted by Griff

Pony pulling was a really big deal around here when I was a kid. The horses were lighter than these big boys though. There is a field behind a local bar where it was bbq and horse pulls all day long. My Dad's cousin has pulling horses a his place. He grew up with them and his Dad and uncle were very late in completely eliminating horses from their farm. I remember (or saw pictures of me) riding the last old work horse on their farm around 1970.

When I was growing up my neighbor used a team of horses to farm. I remember helping to make hay. My older brother and the older son't of the farmer used pitch forks to throw the hay onto the wagon where the farmers youngest son and I would walk back and forth to pack it down. Then they used the horses and a set of forks and pulley system to lift the hay up into the mow.

[BardoXV]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

The PA State Fair, called the Farm Show, has a bunch of competitions using the heavy horses. They televise on cable the draft (weight pulling) and hitch (pulling various vehicles) competitions every year. In one contest they have to back the team up to a sledge, hook it to the harnesses already on the horses, maneuver around the ring stopping to load bales of hay on the sledge at several stations, then race back to the start. They're a lot of fun to watch as in the heat of competition the drivers screw up as much or more than the horses.

I haven't been to The farm Show for several years, but my daughter took the grandkids this year, they told me all about it. I know many people that go just for the food vendors that sell foods that you can't get any other time or place.