Draft Horse Driving: Obstacle Class

Instead of spending my Valentine’s Day with my (nonexistent) valentine, I went to Bozeman’s Winterfest and drove/watched the Working Horse and Driver Contest. I competed as a team from my school, Montana State. We had two teams of three driving the school’s Belgian/halflinger mares Brandy and Star. There were four events so each of us drove one event and one person drove a second.

I wish I was a performance shower after watching some of the competitions! I have so many cool harness ideas now! The three main events at the contest were obstacle, log skid, and cultivating. In addition, they had a fun class in honor of Valentine’s Day where you drove a heart-shaped pattern.

I drove the obstacle class with Brandy and Star and did pretty well (I placed fourth)! It was a very narrow course filled with tight turns. The goal was to complete the course with as few faults as possible. Completion time was used as a tie breaker.

We entered through a “gate,” which was a set of two pylons a foot wider than our wagon. Then, we wove through a pattern of three cones. A circle 3ft. in diameter was drawn around each cone. Your wheels had to cut through that circle, meaning that you had to be very careful to stay as close to the cones as possible without knocking them over. Also, the distance between the cones was slightly less than the length of a team, so you had to turn your team to avoid the next cone while navigating the first cone. Here, me (in the hat) and my team steer around a cone.

Next, we had to pick up and deliver the mail!! First, we stopped at the mailbox on the right to pick up our mail. Then, we dropped it off at a second mailbox about ten feet farther on the left to deliver it. In this picture, our instructor drops off her mail in the second mailbox driving a borrowed team of gray percherons.

After the mailboxes, we made a sharp turn and entered a keyhole. The keyhole is set up with a narrow gate (again, 1ft. wider than our wagon) and a large box marked by string with a cone in the middle. We had to enter through the gate, go to the left of the cone, turn the team within the box, and exit through the gate. This part knocked me down in the placings. My left horse, Brandy, stepped out of the box.

Through the gate.

Watch that cone!!

Get ready to turn. I learned today that if you stand up in the wagon, you can see so much better! Also, in this picture I’m trying to use as much of the box as I possibly can to avoid hitting the cone in the middle.

Brandy!!!! This is what got me. You can see in this picture that her right foot is on the string. When she steps down with her left foot she’ll be out of the box. It was my fault; I was sloppy.

Around the cone (still standing up)…

…and out the gate!!

The next element was the most difficult part of the course. After exiting the gate for the keyhole, we had to hang a sharp right and enter a backing area along the wall. Because of the sharp turn and the presence of the wall, it was incredibly difficult to straighten the teams out and back them. Also, short wagons are very difficult to maneuver. It took me a bit, but I finally got my wagon straight and backed straight to the set of poles that my back wheels had to rest against.

Straightening the team.

No one got a picture of me against the poles, so here’s my instructor and her team executing the obstacle perfectly.

From the dock we went straight forward and made a sharp L-turn. Here’s my instructor again with her beautiful gray team, Blue and Belle.

The final obstacle before the exit was one that I had never seen until last weekend during a practice run (and didn’t fully understand until today). It’s called a manhole and consists simply of a round piece of plastic (like a Frisbee) on the ground. To properly perform this maneuver, you drive your wagon within a foot of the manhole. Once your front wheels are past it, you cut a sharp left (when the manhole is on your left) to swing your wagon so that the manhole passes between the front left and rear left wheels. While still turning sharply, you move forward so that the back wheels straddle the manhole. After that, you’re clear!

I situate myself alongside the manhole.

Turn! Turn! Turn! You can just see the manhole behind my left wheel.

This bay team (Belgian/percheron crosses) did a nice job over the manhole. I colored the manhole in red so you can see where it is in relation to the wheels. Here it is between the front and rear left wheels.

The left wheels have cleared the manhole. The back wheels are on course to straddle it.

Having straddled the manhole, the back wheels now clear it. Done!

Finally, we exit the ring. After all of those complex obstacles, you would think an exit would be simple. However, there one more obstacle to get through. As a final test of your control of the team, you must stop your team on a chalk line, making sure that your left front wheel (if you are coming in crooked) stops in the line. Like this!

That's it for the obstacle class. I have plenty of other pictures from cultivating, log skid, and the fun class that I'll post either later tonight or tomorrow. I have larger versions of all of these photos. If you would like to use any of my pictures as references for performance classes, just leave a comment or contact me through Blab and I can hook you up!