Draft Horse Show at the National Western Stock Show, Denver, Colorado

Last week I showed you a little about my husband and my visit to the National Western Stock Show that takes place every January in Denver, Colorado, and some scenes from a Pro Rodeo that took place at the show--click here to read that post. This week I'd like to follow up to show you some photos and video from a Draft Horse Show at the stock show that my husband and I attended the same day. It was so exciting to see these large, magnificent horses display their beauty and horsepower!

There are multiple shows during the last weekend of the National Western Stock Show that features draft horses, and the one we attended featured the Feed Team Race, 6 Horse Hitch and Ladies Team.  The show began with a very inspirational rendition of our National Anthem, with the colors being held by men and women sheriffs on horseback.

The Feed Team Race shows the power and strength of both man and beast. Teams of two draft horses or draft mules, along with two men, competed to pick up and haul hay blocks, each weighing close to 50 pounds, from one point of the arena and then re-stack them at another point and then race back to the finish line.  Draft horses were the working horses of yesteryear, and this is a demonstration that shows their powerful strength. Unfortunately, with the rise of modern machinery, the jobs of many draft horses have been eliminated and it was not for horse shows such as this many of these wonderful horses would no longer be breed.

Next up were the 6 Horse Draft Horse Hitch Demonstrations. There were 24 teams of horses in total in the show. The three most common breeds of Draft Horse: the Percheron, Clydesdale and Belgium Draft Horse were all well represented in the show.

Percheron Horses are a breed of draft horse that originated in the Huisne River Valley in Northern France, part of the former Perche Province from which the breed takes its name. Usually gray or black in color, Percherons are well muscled and known for their intelligence and willingness to work.

Clydesdale Draft Horses are a breed of draft horse derived from farm horses breed in an area along the River Clyde in Scotland, and named after that region. They were bred from the great Flemish Horse. I think most Americans are familiar with this breed of draft horse from the popular TV beer commercials of a certain brand.

The third most common breed of Draft Horse is the Belgian. Belgian Draft Horses, also known as Belgian Heavy Horse, is a draft horse from the Brabant region of modern Belgium, where it is called Cheval de Trait Belge. It is one of the strongest of the heavy breeds, but also one of the most gentle, and is the most commonly found of all draft horses and prized because they also the best horse to breed to produce draft mules.

It was wonderful to watch the 24 different draft horse teams come out to the arena and circle around and show their beauty, form, and discipline, all the while being judged.




This video, taken by my husband, shows you how the 6 horse hitch teams come out in teams of 6, and parade around the arena as the judges observe them.



In this video that my husband took during the event, shows the final horse team round up of all 24 teams, which filled the entire arena!  As the announcer stated, it gave us all "goosebumps" to see it!

They were all winners in my book but the official results of the show we saw can be viewed on this link.

One of the last events was the Ladies Teams who drove two draft horse hitches.....

...and there was also a Draft Mule demonstration.

There were a few scary moments when this draft mule hitch team, carrying a woman in an antique sled, ran wild and ejected the woman from the sled!  Something frightened the mules leading her hitch and they ran wild around the arena dragging the sled behind them.   It just goes to show that anything can happen during a live show and that controlling the horses and mules can take quite a bit of effort and skill. Happily, the woman appeared OK, but the entire audience held its breath for a few moments!

We really enjoyed attending our first Draft Horse show! It was so interesting to learn so much about the different draft horses that contributed so much to the history of farming and heavy duty work in the past, and that now are magnificent show horses to be cherished and admired.  If you ever have the opportunity to attend the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado, I don't think you'll be disappointed. If you can also attend one of the special events during the show you will add to your excitement and have memories that will last a lifetime!