Draft horses weigh in
Contest lures big teams from afar.

 

Don’t try to tell Gail Hembry his trip to the 2004 Boone County Fair wasn’t worth it.

 

The resident of Osceola, Iowa, drove to the Boone County Fairgrounds to compete in last night’s draft-horse pull. When the 2½-hour competition was all said and done, Hembry was sixth out of 10 competitors, taking home $80.

That was good news to Hembry, even though he still faced a 266-mile trip home. That’s about the equivalent of 93,000 horse pulls measuring 15 feet each, but it’s a little easier on his horses.

"I’ll be tired before I get back home," Hembry joked.

Hembry didn’t come to the fair for the glory, fame or big prizes.

 

In fact, he’ll be the first to tell you his finish in last night’s competition is normal for him. "I haven’t won a pull yet this year," he said. "The best I ever got was second, but you just keep trying."

Hembry loves training his two 10-year-old Belgians, Duke and Jerry, on his 120-acre farm. He says it’s hard work to train the tandem every day, loading weights on a practice sled or a wagon. He compares the regimen to that of a weightlifter, starting with light loads and gradually increasing the weight to build the horses’ muscles.

It’s something he’s been doing for 15 years. He grew up around horses and draft-horse pulling - his father and uncle were also interested in the hobby.

 

If the field at the Boone County Fair draft-horse competition was any indication, horse pulling is a family matter.

Last night’s first- and second-place finishers, Justin and Joey Garrett, respectively, are brothers from the Texas County town of Success. They said their grandfather taught them what they know about draft-horse pulling.

"Some people are interested in cars, pickups and the tractor pulls," Hembry said. "I like the horses."

Walter and Rebecca Minner of Columbia said they started attending the draft-horse contests five or six years ago and have attended every year since then.

Each year, they pick their favorite competitors and cheer them on to victory.

Even though large tractors have taken the place of most draft horses on farms, the draft-horse contests don’t seem to be dying off.

The Minners said they have never paid to watch one of the fair’s tractor pulls; they’re horse people.

And Hembry said he won’t stop driving to horse pulls anytime soon. He likes to compete in competitions across north Missouri and south Iowa, including the Missouri and Iowa state fairs.

"There’s probably two or three pulls a week, if a guy wanted to go to them all," he said.