Another event introduced to the 22nd Grain Millers Harvest Showdown was the horse pulling competition. Added to the heavy horse show with halter classes and wagon and cart classes, the horse pulling competition featured two horse teams of draft horses. The teams were broken down into lightweight, middle-weight and heavyweight classes.
All competitors at the event this year were members of the Qu'appelle Valley Horse Pull Club, says event coordinator Vern Vertefeuille.
Harking back to the time when heavy horses where the principal power source for transporting heavy loads, the object of the competition was to see who could pull the heaviest loaded sled the farthest. A full pull was measured at 14 feet. Each team was given three minutes to pull the load as far as it could or to complete a full pull.
The contest was held over two days with the total combined weight recorded. The team pulling the heaviest combined two day weight was declared the winning team.
The event began with a sled carrying 3,000 pounds. As all teams found the weight to be easy to pull, 1,000 pounds was added to the sled for the second pull. Subsequently 500 pounds was added to the existing load after each round. Winning teams pulled more than four times their own combined weight.
After two days of 'tough sledding', the winners were declared. Kim Hewalo's team from Balgonie was the winner in the lightweight class with a combined two day pull of 16,500 pounds. Middleweight division winner was the team driven by Kiley Topliss, also from Balgonie which pulled the heaviest load of 9,000 pounds a distance of 83 inches on the first day and 8,000 pounds on the second day for a combined total two day weight of 17,000 pounds.
Vern Vertefeuille of Lumsden steered his team to victory in the heavyweight class pulling a 9,000 pound load each day for a combined two day total load of 18,000 pounds.
