OLDS, Alta. — People who love mighty giants have been coming to Olds for the last 18 years to attend the Wild Rose Draft Horse Classic.
Organizer Bruce Roy of Cremona, Alta., said the idea began with a show but soon became a weekend sale event for people looking for well broke horses, tack and wagons.
They might want a matched pair of grey Percherons or unique mules for driving at shows, 4-H projects or working the farm, he said at the event held May 3-4.
“There are a lot of horses used in the recreation industry, but there are still a lot of farms who use them for feeding livestock, particularly during a bad winter,” he said.
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Some saddle broncs at rodeos are the result of infusing draft horse breeding, he added.
He said prices and demand have held steady for the draft sector, which includes Percherons, Belgians, Clydesdales and Shires.
Janice Rutherford made the 15 hour trip from her grain farm near Grosse Isle, Man., hoping to sell her matched set of grey Percherons and two Morgans.
The horses have been her special hobby for the last 10 years. She owns 10 but her children have grown up and moved away, and she needs to reduce her work load.
“Usually I’m the crowd pleaser,” she said of her grey geldings.
Greys start out black but change colour over time. They are considered a rare find because it is difficult to find a well matched pair.
Rutherford’s pair, Nash and Titan, sold for $3,100 each to Cathy Ollenberger of Saskatoon.
Levi Thompson of Breton, Alta., drove out a pair of mules whose dam was a Fjord horse and sire was a mammoth jack donkey born at Good Grief, Idaho.
Heads turn when people see their unique golden colouration and a wide black strip down their backs that continues to the tails.
“People are looking for teams of good broke mules,” said Denise Thompson.
The family was selling the pair for a friend from Nelson, B.C.
Seventy-one horses sold for an average of $1,707 May 4, with bidders from Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Colorado, Nebraska and Washington.
The high selling team at $4,300 each was a pair of nine-year-old Percheron geldings consigned by Miles Wowk of Beauvallon, Alta., and sold to Bill McFadden of Vulcan, Alta.
