One of the highlights of fall is the annual Bar U Chore Horse competition.
This year’s competition went ahead as planned despite dicey weather and soggy ground. The arena at the Bar U (just south of Longview) looked like wet concrete with large puddles.
The organizers were able to make some changes and hold the event in one of the grassy corrals and all went well although it was a little cramped for these big horses.
There were 13 teams entered in the competition including one junior driver. The junior driver, Jodi Graham, did an excellent job with a very tall pair of Percherons. The competitors ranged in age from youth to silver-haired seniors, horse breeds included Belgian, Percheron, Spotted Draft, Clydesdale, Standardbred and various crosses. There was even a local entry from Cochrane.
The Chore Horse competition is a test of skill for driver and horses. There is a prescribed course of different tasks that must be attempted in the correct sequence. The tasks are all things that a working team would have to do in the course of their work. Teams are judged on disposition, power, versatility, precision and agility. Teams are driven at a walk or controlled trot through the course.
The competition begins with the teamster (driver) driving the team through an open gate, dropping the lines and leaving the team to stand quietly while the teamster goes back to close the gate. The teamster then takes up the lines and drives over to a large round bale on a skid. The teamster hitches the team to the skid and has to drag the load 14 feet. This proved a challenging task for some of the lighter, smaller teams but the “big boys” had no trouble at all. The teamster then unhitches the team and moves on to the next obstacle. The teamster has to drive the team into a keyhole painted with a white line without touching the line, hitch to a wagon unassisted, turn 180 degrees without stepping over the line then exit the keyhole with the wagon without touching anything. The next obstacle is a curved alleyway of cones just slightly wider than the wagon. The teamster is supposed to drive the alleyway without touching any cones but this obstacle proved to be a great challenge for all competitors. Once through the alley, the teamster must drive a Figure 8 pattern around cones without knocking any cones over. The next step is to back the wagon into a “dock” then fan the team 180 degrees to the right and park. This is a skill that was required by all teams delivering goods somewhere, you had to be able to swing the horses out of the way of additional traffic while goods were being loaded or unloaded from the wagons. Next, the teamster travels past a circle on the ground – the assistant on the wagon must toss a bale of hay into the marked circle and the bale must stay in the circle without bouncing out. The teamster then drives the wagon back into the keyhole (without touching the perimeter) and unhitch. Timing stops when the pole hits the ground.
This was a family affair — there was a father and daughter competing, a father and son competing and a mother competitor with her daughter as her assistant. At the end of the day, it was a first time competitor (Foss Irwin) who won the competition with a smooth, confident performance. It was a real pleasure to watch these big horses in action! If you have the chance, go and enjoy this activity next year at the Bar U.
