It is always a highlight of the fall season for me to attend the annual Harvest Showdown in Yorkton.
In many ways it takes me back to my roots. I spent my youth on the summer fair circuit showing stock, and was at the first eight or 10 years of Canadian Western Agribition. They are among my fondest memories in the sense they were my summer camps.
Harvest Showdown still gives me a nice taste of those well-remembered days. There are cattle and heavy horses and grain displays, and more important there are cattle people and grain farmers. I grew up on a farm, and it was my background in agriculture which helped me get my first job at a newspaper here in Yorkton. I did not go to journalism school, but knowing a Hereford from a Charolais, and wheat from oats, opened the door to a writing career.
Among the displays and events at Harvest Showdown that draws my interest most are the heavy horse pulls. Watching the big horses pull thousands of pounds still astounds me even after watching the event for years. I can’t help but think about how not so long ago in terms of our country it was horses which powered practically everything, hauling goods, plowing fields, powering the lumber sector, and more.
Those days are gone, but should not be forgotten, which is why I very much appreciated the efforts of writer Merlin Ford in writing Horses, Harness & Homesteads: The History of Draft Horses in Saskatchewan. It’s a book most farmers should read just to better understand their industry’s past.
This year there was a new feature at the Showdown, the first presentation of the Clydesdale Breeders Cup.
The Cup was a new initiative, explained Delvin Szumutku one of the event’s organizers, and a Clydesdale producer himself from Stockholm, SK. He explained four shows were held over the summer, Nipawin, Swift Current, North Battleford and Austin, MB. At each of the events horses could be entered in the Cup qualifier, with the top two animals eligible to go before the judge Calvin Martin in Yorkton for the ultimate prize.
From the perspective of show judge Martin, a long-time Clydesdale breeder from Strathclair, MB., the quality of animal in the ring Thursday evening was outstanding.
“All these horses are very worthy winners,” said Martin. “They were all brought out in outstanding condition. They were all excellent examples of the Clydesdale breed.”
Looking at the seven animals Martin said “they all have certain good qualities.”
In terms of his final selection Martin said the mare moved well, with good feet, and nice hocks. In terms of a draft horse he said feet and legs are critical.
“The saying is no feet, no horse,” he said. “They need the feet to grip the ground.”
That point really tied the show into the realty of the horse pulls and the history of the big horses which is something that will stick with me for a long time.
