Pullin’ Ponies

I’ve made brief mention of this “sport” before, but had never actually seen it for myself until today.  I was driving through town on my way home from picking up feed when I noticed a bunch of horse trailers down at the Fairgrounds.  Enquiring minds want to know, so of course I had to go see what was going on.

After rescuing Ellie, who was used as a pulling pony, what I found today was pleasantly surprising:  impeccably groomed, fit, shiny, HEALTHY ponies who seemed very happy!

 

From what I saw, none of the horses seemed afraid of their handlers, and not once did I see a horse pin an ear back at anyone.

 

They were all incredibly excited when it was their turn to be hitched to the cement block-filled wagon.   Some of them were difficult to control and the handlers had to drop the hook into the wagon hitch then jump out of the way because as soon as the horses heard that “thunk” of the hook, they were off!  But during their down time, they all stood quietly along the outside rail and were friendly to anyone passing by that wanted to pet them.

 

This pair was particularly high strung when they got close to the sled and there was one time when they knocked that poor kid in the purple shirt on his butt because he didn’t move out of the way of the sled in time.

 

There were times when I wondered how these horses are trained… to have that level of fear/excitement/anticipation when being hooked to the sled could mean that they’re training involved something that may have been unpleasant.  I hear that Ellie’s previous owner used to take his pocket knife and stick his ponies in the rump.  How nice.

I’m not saying all competitor’s use harsh methods, but it does make me wonder what methods are used.  Either way, some of these ponies actually looked like they were having fun. 

 

And some of them were just way too cute!

I only stayed for about 15 minutes… long enough to see what all the fuss was about.  I’m just glad it was a good experience instead of what I was expecting!