In a show of good old-fashioned horsepower on Tuesday night, teams and their draft horses kept fairgoers entertained at the 48th Annual Shippensburg Community Fair. Nineteen teams from around the state and Maryland competed in the horse pull contest.

While the event is a tradition at the fair, competing on that particular track was new. Rain prevented its use for the competition during each of the last three fairs.

After a couple of optional loads, weighing 1,000 and 2,000 pounds respectively, the real competition began. With dust flying and horses plowing ahead between the two white lines demarcating the boundaries of the battle, the competition kicked off with 3,000-pound loads.

Soon, the teams were pulling loads weighing more than they do. The field narrowed as the loads hit the 4,000-, 4,500-, 5,000- and 5,500-pound marks. By that point, the eight lightweight teams (weighing 3,200 pounds or less) had already placed.

All that was left were the heavyweights (with no official weigh-in, their weights were approximate). The competition ended at 6,000 pounds, with the Warrick Brothers of Bittinger, Md., making a distance of 26 feet 4 inches — just 1 foot 2 inches short of a full pull.

Bobby Howard of Acme, with horses Bill and King, had placed first in the lightweight division, making a full pull at the 5,000-pound level.

Donna Zinn, chairperson of the fair's equine events, said that the turnout and the participation level for this year's competition was reminiscent of days gone by. "This is the way it used to be," Zinn said.

Full results of the pull will be available at www.horsepullresults.com

Article Courtesy of Public Opinion