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Draft horses a highlight at Great Geauga County Fair

Whether competing under saddle or pulling a carriage, one thing is certain, the draft horses of the Great Geauga County Fair are hard to miss.

While many different breeds fall into the category of draft horse, they are generally over 16-hands, or 5-feet 4-inches, at the withers, the highest point of their shoulder blade. These horses also range between 1,400 to 2,000 pounds, and are quite muscular, making them ideal for pulling carts or farm equipment.

A stroll around the draft horse barns at the Great Geauga County Fair, which was held Sept. 2-6 in Burton Township, got you up close to the large, usually docile animals and their devoted owners, who compete with them year after year in a variety of different classes.

Kelly Varner, of Majesty Stables located in Rome, Ohio, brings her Clydesdales to the Great Geauga County Fair every year to compete. She said that she grew up in Geauga County, so the fair is familiar turf for her.

Varner explained she was drawn to Clydesdales, a breed many might recognize from their appearances in Budweiser advertising, because she wanted to show that draft horses weren’t just for pulling carts.

“People say draft horses can’t do the things that lighter horses can do, so I wanted to prove them wrong and show that they could do everything,” Varner said.

She said that not only do they ride their Clydesdales, but they have even jumped them over 4-foot poles.

Majestic Harbor, a farm in Middlefield owned by the Ward family, is also a common name at the Great Geauga County Fair. The Wards bring their team of Percheron horses to compete in cart and team wagon-pulling classes annually.

Alan Ward said that they had a pretty successful fair with all the classes they were able to enter.

“The kids got several ribbons of assorted colors,” Ward said.

He explained that they landed on Percherons as their chosen breed because some of his family members originally purchased a wagon that needed some sprucing up, which led to several of the large horses being added to the family.

“We had some friends rebuild it. It was one of those big show wagons, and after that was built and we got it moving, my wife said to me ‘y’know, one horse can’t pull that big of a wagon, we’ve got to get two,’ ” he recalled. “And that’s how it all started.”

Another Percheron-focused barn that came to the Great Geauga County Fair, Hemlock Grove Farm, actually raises the breed at their stables in Moreland Hills.  Run by Derek, Rebecca and Lizzie Smith, Hemlock Grove’s mission is to preserve the Percheron breed, which at one time was essentially endangered, Rebecca Smith explained.

She said they also come to the fair every year, and it’s a venture the entire family enjoys. Lizzie, Rebecca’s daughter, was even crowned 2020 fair queen. They enter their horses in several different classes.

“They do both in-hand, so they’re judged on their confirmation and quality as a Percheron, and then they also do all the driving competitions,” Rebecca Smith said. “Some riding too, but mostly driving, and we drive hitch wagons, two-wheel carts, all kinds of stuff.”

Smith said that she and her husband both grew up around horses, and she had always held a love for draft horses. In particular, their rich history as working horses.

She explained that after the invention of automobiles and tractors, many of the jobs that Percherons and other draft horses used to lay sole claim to were taken from them with the rise of technology.

“They used to pull all the taxis in the major cities, they did the milk wagon, they did all the farming, they did the circuses and all of those things. But with the industrial revolution, everything started changing and then they were out of a job,” she said. “So, they really became an endangered breed. We like to call ourselves preservation breeders, because we’re helping keep this breed alive.”

As far as their temperaments, Smith said they truly are “gentle giants,” which is certainly a good thing given their size.

“Really, they would sleep on our beds at night if they could,” she said, “they’re truly our pets as well.”