Sunday - Our last day with the horses. We ran out to McDonalds for breakfast, and I finally got a photo of the draft horse icon for this fairgrounds -- which is pretty impressive. I think this would look good in our front yard!
Then we wandered back over to the grounds, walking through the horse area on the way. They were getting the horses ready for their competitions, but we did get to watch them hooking up one pair.
Just a few minutes later, the announcer came over the loudspeaker and asked that all visitors vacate this area so the owners could get their horses ready (without us bothering them, but they didn't say that). We walked over to one of the California Highway Patrol equine riders who was cleaning up their area, very friendly guy. They patrol the State Capitol in Sacramento, where we visited last week. Here is their trailer.
The morning sessions started with Four-Up Amateur Reinsmanship, driving through an obstacle course and backing them up between 2 pylons. This was a little different that what we had seen before. The entertainment fill-in was chariot races, always fun to watch.
Next came the sledding event, the Lightweight/Heavyweight Pull Challenge. There were only four teams in this, and they all made several pulls. This took a long time, and it was HOT. The winning heavyweight team pulled 6500 lbs plus 2 1/2 people (1 fell off the sled) after he clinched the win. The pretty blonde Belgium teams won both classes.
Then we had the acrobats again, and the sidesaddle Suffolk, then the final event, the Farm Implement class where they pull some kind of farm equipment. Joe was interested in the different pieces of equipment displayed -- some antique, I'm sure.
At the conclusion of this, we worked our way back to the RV, and decided to run out to KFC for some lunch (we are tired of fair fare). Then we got back in time to rest and cool off to get ready for the final sessions at 4:00, which we assume will go from hot to cold.
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We headed back over about 3:45, no long lines for this performance so last night's must have been the big one. The opening always includes horse and wagons delivering dignataries to the grandstand, and this session's "delivery" horses were my favorites Rosebud and Angel. Their owner received an award -- the equivalent of Miss Congeniality in the horse barn, I didn't catch what it was called, but it is voted on by all the exhibitors, for the most helpful person. She didn't know she was receiving the award, so that was nice (she cried).
The first event was Singles, Ladies Hitch, similar to some of the other ladies events we had seen. That was followed by Americana, Farm, which was the horses pulling an antique type farm, agricultural or historical wagon or carriage representing early America. Some of these got pretty creative. The first was a really nice chuck wagon. This won first place in this class.
This was the most creative, and my favorite. It had a guy in the back taking a bath, and a lady sitting in the toilet holding her nose.
Next was Pairs, Gentlemen, Hitch -- not much different that what we had seen before, but the horses are so beautiful I keep taking pictures.
Next was Log Skidding Finals, this surprised us. We expected another pulling event, with logs instead of grain sacks. Instead, the horse pulled two logs through an obstacle course without touching the pylons. They use draft horses still to haul logs out of some forests where there are no roads, so this was a representation of that kind of work the horses do. It was interesting.
Because we attended all the sessions, we saw the entertainment between the competitions multiple times. Some of it was changed up, some was the same. But I hadn't gotten a good picture of Bobby Kerr's finale to his mustang act because it was always too dark, so I was able to get one this afternoon.
The same with the California Cowgirls Drill Team. I didn't get a good picture in the dark in previous shows. These ladies really put on a show -- very impressive.
The final act was the Six-Up Ultimate Hitch Championship. It's awesome to see these 6-horse teams trotting in unison. There were only 4 teams in this competition, but they were all beautiful.
So the show is over. It was a really busy 4 days and those bleachers got pretty uncomfortable. But the competitions were great, it is a really nice venue, but the best part was being able to get up close to the horses. We will cherish these memories forever. The show was over about 6:30, before it started to get really cold. We wore shorts and took sweatshirts, which we put on as the sun set. It was hot in the bleachers this morning, when we were in the direct sun. The afternoon session was much more comfortable. All in all, it was a nice day, a good end to this Excellent Adventure.
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