Grange Fair Draft Horse Show exhibitors to show their skills

CENTRE HALL – The Grange Fair Equine Center is hosting its annual Draft Horse Show Aug. 24 through Aug. 26, with competitions scheduled at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day.

“We really encourage people to come,” said Patrick Cole, a member of the Draft Horse Committee of the Grange Fair Equine Program. “The Grange Fair is one of the largest shows on the East Coast for draft horses. In order to really appreciate it, you have to be there and see it.”

Fairgoers can watch exhibitors and their draft horses compete to win in skills classes ranging from working with a harnessed horse on the ground, without a cart or wagon, to the challenge of driving a wagon with a six-horse hitch — three carefully matched pairs of draft horses dressed up for the occasion with decorated, braided manes, tied tails and glossy leather bridles and lines, and pulling elegantly crafted wagons.

This year, the Grange Fair will have 20 six-horse hitches, a new record, said Darlene Confer, the fair’s general manager. When Russell Redding, the Pennsylvania secretary of agriculture, visited the fair earlier this month, he told Confer that it was probably a record for the state to have that many six-horse hitches in a competition.

Cole said that the six-horse hitch exhibitors make substantial financial investments in horses, harnesses, wagons and a semi-truck to transport them. “If you were top of the line, you could pay $600,000 to $900,000. Some guys try do it with a pickup and six-horse trailer.”

He said people are coming from up and down the East Coast and from the west. This year the two judges are from Utah and Ontario, Canada.

Cole’s wife, Kelli Cole, is also a member of the Draft Horse Committee, along with Bobbi Eisenhuth. All three own draft horses and have competed. The Coles have also bred and raised Percheron draft horses.

Kelli Cole said there will be about 250 draft horses in the show, with 36 farms participating and 23 four-horse hitches competing.

The Coles said most of the events are open to anyone who has a draft horse. However, the Classic Series events at the Grange Fair, and at fairs around the country, require membership or a temporary membership, and participants earn points that can qualify them to compete in regional competitions or the Six-Horse Hitch Classic Series World Finals in Shipshewana, Indiana.

Classic Series events at the Grange Fair Draft Horse Show include Classic Cart, North American Classic Six-Horse Hitch and the James Cole Memorial North American Classic Six-Horse Hitch, named in honor of Patrick Cole’s father, who started the Classic Series at the fair more than 20 years ago. The Youth Cart class offers college scholarships to youth exhibitors.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

“Maybe you don’t have the money for the Six-Horse Hitch, but you want to be involved,” he said. The Draft Horse Show offers other competitions that are more affordable, including the Classic Cart and the Cart Classes, which only require one horse and cart.

He said the committee works all year to prepare for the next competition, planning exhibitor meals, an ice cream social and, this year, two cornhole tournaments. “We try to make the people feel that the Grange Fair is home. They love it here, with the wide-open spaces, and it’s safe here.”

“In total, there will be 25 youth participating throughout the show in one or more classes,” said Kelli Cole. “Come on Saturday morning to see our youth go from start to finish to get their horses ready for Cart Class.”

She said the first step is the Decorating Class, in which the youth will have 30 minutes to braid the horse’s mane and tie its tail. Next is the Showmanship Class, in which the youth present their horses to the judge, walk and trot the horse and show they can handle the horse. During the Judging Class, they judge four horses alongside the judge to learn how the judge assesses the horses. Then in the Cart Class, they hitch their own horse to their cart and drive the cart.  

The Grange Fair Draft Horse Show has an official photographer, Ashleigh Brown of AE Photography, to record the event and make professional photos of the competitions available to the exhibitors.

Patrick Cole encouraged people to attend the competitions to see the exhibitors and their horses. “Come and reward them for all they put into the shows. They like to talk about what they do, with the people who come to see them.”