Victory in This Sport Calls for Fine-Tuning Raw Horsepower

VENTURA — To the casual observer, the Ventura County Fair’s draft horse showmanship competition is about as exciting as watching cement harden.

But once the subtleties of this dignified sport are understood, with the various braiding styles, the fancy finger work required to weave colored ribbons through manes and the careful attention paid to the fine silky hoof hairs, it all becomes a little more interesting.

“Look, he’s French-braiding the Belgian,” one woman remarked as a young competitor carefully divided the hairs of a 4-foot-long tail into three even shocks. She and a number of others thought that a bold move, considering the weight and coarseness of the massive animal’s hair.

More than 50 competitors from around Southern California, accompanied by their Clydesdales, Shires and Belgian steeds, have been competing in the fair’s draft horse competition for the past three days.

In addition to Saturday’s showmanship contest, the competition, which concludes today, featured dozens of contests including carriage pulling, bareback riding and paired reinsmanship.

While that may not sound like a particularly competitive sport, draft horse enthusiasts said it is the animals that make it such a contest.

“It takes a lot to be able to compete with these horses,” said 49-year-old judge Al Sears of Ceres. “To do this at home is one thing, but in front of a lot of people, with all the pressure, is another.”

The horses used in the competition generally come from four different, but equally massive breeds: pompom-hoofed Clydesdales that gained worldwide fame from Budweiser beer commercials; 8-foot-tall, 2,000-pound Belgians known for their good-natured demeanor, caramel-colored coats and silky blond manes; coal-black and ash-colored Percherons, whose massive heads measure half the height of a man; and shires, who after hundreds of years of selective breeding have achieved such strength and musculature that one by itself could probably out-tug a tractor.

*

“I’ve worked with them for so long that I forget how awe-inspiring they are,” said Barbi Wilmert of Orange as her 5-year-old Belgian, Grant, nibbled on her hair clip. “People are always coming up and saying how big they are and I just have to stand back and remind myself.”

All draft horses are the products of countless years of careful breeding to produce a steed with enough horsepower to perform tasks that are today accomplished by heavy machinery.

Early on, they were used as mounts to carry armored knights into battle. Later their strength was used to haul timber from forests, coal from mines and to pull wagons loaded with various sundries to far-off townships in Europe and early America.

While today these four-legged Samsons are still used to perform tasks beyond the reach of men, they are increasingly used in competitions.

Perhaps the horses make it look too easy. From the grandstand, four Belgians pulling a 3,200-pound tanker wagon around does not appear to be a sport that demands much mastery.

*

But it is the grace and ease of the horses, as they turn or shift between walks and trots, that make the competition so intricate, competitors say. Participants must have an intuitive knowledge of each horse and be able to communicate through a gentle tug on the reins.

“With these big horses, you have to have a lot of skill,” said Sears, who has spent more than three-quarters of his life competing with and judging them. “There’s a lot that riders have to be aware of when they’ve got a team out in front of them, and they have to coordinate everything perfectly or it’ll be ruined.”

As an example of the difficulties involved in commanding a four-horse team, Wilmert said that each horse plays an equally vital role in the success of the team and must be constantly watched through sight and touch.

The two at the front, called the swing horses, lead the rear two, called the wheels, that actually pull the wagons.

While the wheel horses are harnessed onto the wagon, the swing horses are attached only by bridles and an inch-wide leather rein.

“You’ve really got to be aware of what’s going on with the team and compensate whenever something’s not going right,” Wilmert said. “But it all has to be done quietly. You never yell and scream at the horses. You’ve got to talk to them and kind of coax them into doing what you want.”

While tacking to the left, she said, the left swing horse has to guide the other three while they all maintain a mirrored cadence. Meanwhile, the wheel horses must continue to pull with the same force or the wagon will veer.

*

And such orchestrated turns, Sears said, is where most of the problems occur.

“What I’m looking for is horses that have a lot of energy, presence and seem to move freely while all moving together,” he said. “When they have to turn or slow from a trot, that’s usually where things start to go wrong. The horses sometimes don’t seem to want to slow down, which they have to do going into a turn.”

While competitors said the horses constitute a tremendous investment of both time and money--they cost as much as $10,000 and require three to four days of training each week--the awards they win generally amount to little more than just a ribbon and a few hundred dollars.

But according to Keith Brandt of Paso Robles, the opportunity to spend time with the animals and those who love them are rewards enough.

“These horses are some of the finest creatures on Earth and as I keep saying, there’s draft horse people and then there’s everyone else,” he said. “These are some of the finest bunch of people you’d ever want to meet.”

* FAIR SCHEDULE: B8

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Getting to the Fair

Departure and arrival times for Metrolink trains to the Ventura County Fair on today and Sunday.Fares are $8 round trip from Chatsworth, $6 round-trip from Simi Valley and Moorpark, and $4 round-trip from Camarillo and Oxnard. One-way fares are half that. Children 5 and younger as well as monthly pass holders ride free. Tickets may be purchased the day of travel at train stations. All stations and trains are wheelchair-accessible. For information, call 808-LINK.

Northbound

*--*

Chatsworth 10:30 a.m. 11:45 a.m. 2:45 p.m. Simi Valley 10:45 a.m. 12:01 p.m. 3:00 p.m. Moorpark 11:05 a.m. 12:17 p.m. 3:20 p.m. Camarillo 11:18 a.m. 12:30 p.m. 3:33 p.m. Oxnard 11:35 a.m. 12:45 p.m. 3:50 p.m. Ventura 11:50 a.m. 1:00 p.m. 4:10 p.m.

*--*

Southbound

*--*

Ventura 12:45 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 7:15 p.m. 10:25 p.m. Oxnard 1:15 p.m. 5:45 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 10:40 p.m. Camarillo 1:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 7:53 p.m. 10:55 p.m. Moorpark 1:43 p.m. 6:13 p.m. 8:05 p.m. 11:07 p.m. Simi Valley 2:00 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 8:35 p.m. 11:25 p.m. Chatsworth 2:20 p.m. 6:45 p.m. 8:55 p.m. 11:45 p.m.

*--*

Source: Metrolink