One of the new events at the recent Grain Millers Harvest Showdown this year was the chore horse competition. Yorkton Exhibition Board president, Penny Sandercock, says several local farmers brought in their chore teams. The competition shows how the farmers use chore teams around the farm. "They use them to clean out the barn. They use them to bring the bales in and move things around things around like corralling, penning, that kind of thing. It shows how these horses are still used day-today around the farm," Sandercock explains.
The competition shows that the horses are not only attractive and used for entertainment, but also that they're massive and they can be used as a tool on the farm today.
The show featured heavy horse breeds such as Belgians, Percherons and Clydesdales. The chore horses may seem a little less massive that the show horses because they of the work they do on a daily basis, Sandercock notes.
A lot of work goes into training and working chore teams. As well a lot of effort went into staging the competition. The work of the local farmers involved is appreciated by the Yorkton Exhibition Board and the Harvest Showdown committee, states Sander-cock. "It's a lot of work to bring the horses in. They load them up, bring them in, truck them back and bring them in the next day, so we thank you to all of those guys," Sandercock closes.
Winners of the chore horse competitions were Roy Tucker of Melville and Jack Grad of Vibank.
