harvest moon

If I never again smell the fragrance of "Leather New" it will be too soon! We polished that harness with Brasso and Leather New between each event, which was a total of 8, including the parades!

We helped out this weekend as grooms for Major at the Harvest Moon Carriage Classic at Living History Farms in Des Moines. It was actually a little disappointing that more folks did not come out, since the days were exceedingly lovely, and the event was really something to see.

The premise of the event, and I'm assuming most American Driving Society Events (though I could be wrong), is to create an appreciation for a lost art. Driving itself is extremely tricky, and while it seems that anyone can grab the reins, cluck to the horse, pull to the left or to the right, scream a gee or a haw, and pull back and yell whoa, that is not the case at all. And of course, like most competitive events, takes the basic task to a whole new level.

The driver must be in period costume, and have a horse that is suitable for him or her, as well as their cart. Harnesses and carts are matched in their hardware-- a brass-trimmed cart will require a harness trimmed in brass (and polished to a brassy shine!). This weekend, the competitions included "turnout", which is a judgement of how put together the ensemble is, how well the horse moves, and how pleasureable he or she appears to drive. Major and M got first place!! Cross-country is an obstacle course created to reflect situations that may appear as you travel through the countryside-- they had some fake geese set out, leaves scattered, a railroad crossing. Major balked at the railroad crossing, and actually came to a screeching halt. Well, he TRIED to come to a halt-- the grass was wet and he fell to his stomach! It could have been a terrible, terrible situation. But he got up and went across, and finished the course. The event was judged on the overall time, with penalties added for refusals or skipped events. He got 4th! Town and Country is another obstacle course setup, but he did not compete in that event. There were two cones courses, where drivers had to weave between sets of cones with tennis balls on them, making sure not to knock the balls off of the cones as they went through. In one set, drivers needed to follow the pre-set course. The second set, they could choose their own route through the cones. The cones seemed to be quite tight, an M and Major knocked two cones off in one of the events. But he must have been fast, as he got fourth again! We did not yet hear how he did in the other course, as that was late this afternoon. Another event he competed in was Working Pleasure, where they had to demonstrate their driving capabilities while executing various gaits and directions. He came in third, which was not as good as we had hoped, but he was being a handfull at that point, so the award was fair. Today was "Designer Reinsmanship" which was an event where the driver needed to demonstrate various levels of skill at gaits and also the ability to drive one-handed. M did well, and they got a 2nd place!

Those six events had to be completed by every driver competing in a division. Major was entered in the Open Horse division, and he competed against all of the other horses in that Open Horse. Major's mom, Topaz, also competed in the very same events, but she was entered in the novice division. There are 5 divisions total. In each division, the show organizer picks the top representative, and asks them to compete in the "Concours d'Elegance." We had practically expected them to ask M and Major, since they got first in turnout and did so well in the other events. However, they did not get asked, and we were sad about that.

If you want to know more about Living History Farms and the Harvest Moon Carriage Classic, click here or here.

I've uploaded a slideshow of the days' events. Click on the photo below to see it! (if you want to know more about the photos, click on the photos in the slideshow when you have finished watching.)

I'm off to 4H and then to BED! We're pooped!