Showing horses is a bit of a stretch for nine-year-old Danielle Lewis.
But as a sixth generation Clydesdale showperson, every event is an adventure.
“I love it,” she said after finishing the junior showmanship class at the Calgary Stampede.
Lewis has been showing the gentle giants since she was six years old and has travelled with her parents Glenn and Shelley Lewis across eastern North America on the heavy horse show circuit.
She has shown horses in Texas, Michigan, Colorado and at the Stampede for the first time this year.
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The Grade 5 student enjoys showmanship classes where she must lead her horse before a judge, pay attention to instructions and follow set courses.
In Ontario, juniors must be at least seven while the American standard is 10 years old.
“We kind of lied about her age a few times,” admits her father.
Lewis learned to show from her parents and by participating.
The Lewis family has been raising Clydesdales on their farm in Sunderland, Ont., since horses were still hitched to the plow.
“My great-grandfather wouldn’t have anything on his farm but Clydes,” said Glenn Lewis.
Today their vacation time is spent at horse shows in Texas, up the eastern seaboard and over to Colorado.
This year’s trip to the Stampede was the family’s first and farthest trip. It took about 50 hours of travel time.
They have about 25 horses as well as Hackney ponies and assorted pets.
They keep seven Clydesdale stallions for breeding and also show for an American partner, Soaring Eagle Farms in Springfield, Missouri, to earn extra income to show their own steeds.
Soaring Eagle Farms had the champion Clydesdale stallion at the Stampede show.
“We know people from coast to coast. People in the draft horse business are the best in the world,” he said.
Later this summer, they will appear in shows in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Indianapolis, Indiana, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
