The Amazing Six-Horse Hitch at Paris Fair

Labour Day weekend in rural Ontario gives lots of opportunities to get out and enjoy the weather and my husband and I visited the horse show at Paris Fair for yet another look at the absolutely gorgeous six-horse hitch class. The day was hot but the sky was blue so we headed for the grandstand to better view this class. Now we really know nothing about the whole thing, just that we like seeing it so we have no idea who is a good driver or whose horses are better specimens. This first shot is of a team waiting to go into the 'ring' in front of the grandstand. Notice the people calming and watching the horses. Usually someone is on the sidelines or the rider jumps down from the wagon when they are stopped to keep the lead horses still. I loved this team of black Percherons all decked out in silver and blue to match their wagon. Very beautiful.

Here is a team of Clydesdales trotting by our seats in the grandstand. The Clydesdales can easily be distinguished from the Belgians by their long white hairs on each of their feet. These are a real struggle to keep clean.

This shot below is my favorite because of the wonderful action of the horses. These are all heavy horses and when a team of six go running by, you almost feel the ground shake.

Here is another hitch of Clydes followed by the white and maroon wagon.

The judge has the teams line up diagonally in front of the grandstand where he (or she) walks around each team checking them all out.

Here is the same team heading off after the judging.

There were ten teams in the six-horse-hitch class that day and they were shown in two heats of five as there just isn't room for all of them to be on the track at once. (My Belgian pictures weren't as good so I've added this link so you can see another breed of heavy horses.)

We learned first hand how dangerous this sport can be as there was a collision of two wagons as they were rounding the bend to the left of the grandstand. I heard the crack of wood breaking and others saw one of the drivers fall right off the wagon, leaving the horses to run wild.

The team was stopped very quickly by people running and forcing it into the side of a truck parked alongside the track. Then someone was able to jump up and get hold of the reins. The hapless driver, reportedly one of the most experienced out there, suffered no great damage from his long fall and, after a tense wait, the ambulances drove off the track and the announcer told the good news.

There are lots more fall fairs coming up, one almost every weekend, so feel free to go out and check out the horse shows and if they have a 'six' class, check it out.