Bison Barbeque and Horse Pulling Contest

Saturday we went to Pioneer Park, by the river just east of town, to enjoy the annual Beef and Bison Cookout and Horse Pull.  There was quite a crowd, and more competitors than I'd thought would be there.

In a horse pull, a sled-type contraption is loaded up with concrete blocks, each weighing several hundred pounds, and two draft horses are hooked up to one end of the sled.  This hooking up process is definitely not as easy as it sounds--those horses love to pull and they understand that the game starts the second the hook at the end of their harness meets the iron hoop chained to the pulling sled.  They are off like a shot as without a microsecond's hesitation, and having witnessed this explosive start I can see why that iron hoop is so big (it's around 8 inches in diameter); a person could easily lose a hand while trying to thread a steel hook through a smaller space before 3000+ pounds of horse jerks against it!

Weight is added to the pulling sled, while one of the equine contestants looks on, unimpressed.

In the lightweight category (in which the teams weigh 3000 pounds or less), my favorite competitor won.  She was the only female in the category and was driving two unusual mares.

The mare on the left was on her way to the slaughterhouse when the woman saw her and bought her.  Someone had thought this horse wasn't worth keeping.  The mare on the right had had a growth in her sinus cavity and ended up with a tracheotomy--this horse breathes through a hole in her neck!  They both seemed to be fit and sassy, in their matching pink halters and personalized tack, and enjoyed beating the boys by at least 4 feet, pulling a full 2 tons on the last pull!

There were fewer teams entered in the middleweight division, but they were just as impressive-- the winning team pulled 6000+ pounds and loved every minute of it!

After the middleweights were done we had a half-hour break, during which we ate our bison burgers (ok, Mom ate the bison burger.  I had a hot dog.  But I did get brave enough to take a bite of hers, and it was really good!) along with potatoes, beans, sweet corn and ice cream.  Then the heavyweights started pulling.  These massive animals were magnificent!  I have to get me some of those!  And some more pasture, I guess.  And a job...  Anyhow, the heat and humidity got to me during the first heavyweight pull (that's the problem with fibromyalgia--when you're done for the day you're done, without any warning) so we ended up leaving.  But it was a great old-fashioned way to spend a Saturday.  We got to say howdy to our neighbors, the Kiltys, and meet a few new people.  We had a great main meal for the day for just a few dollars and I got to moon over horses.  A perfect day!

Meanwhile, Back at the Farm:



The grass needs cutting.



Actually, those were taken at the edge of the field at Janette's house, but as you can see below our grass is just as high in spots.  But we found hidden treasures in our tall grass--yellow primroses, just bursting into bloom there where no one can see them!

But we're working our way back there (behind the hen house) and will have these pretty little things free in no time.