After preparing for the World Percheron Congress for a year,
Nebraskan Brenda Grant wasn’t about to let a rash on her horse’s rear end or record rainfall in Calgary dampen her spirits.
Grant traveled more than 1,900 kilometres with four horses from North Platte, Nebraska, to get to the congress held June 27-July 4. The event overlapped the Calgary Stampede, which gave Percheron enthusiasts a chance to show off an ancient breed of draft horse to the world.
A fourth generation horse dealer, Grant buys and sells horses all over North America and sees the shows as a good way to promote her business, BG Stables.
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“It’s good publicity for me,” she said.
Last year during a five-week period, she and her crew traveled to six state fairs. In the last two years she has put 116,000 km on her truck going to Percheron shows.
For someone like Grant who didn’t know many people when she got to Calgary, the congress was a good way to put a face to the names of other horse people whom she knew by reputation or by reading about them in horse publications. It was also an opportunity to see top notch horse flesh.
The number of entries at this eighth congress was down from the last show in Kansas City, Missouri in 1995, but the quality was excellent, she said.
“People that came this far are serious about the Percheron breed so they brought their best,” she said.
For Don Swanston, assistant co-ordinator of the congress, part of his job included welcoming guests from as far away as the eastern seaboard states, the Maritimes, the United Kingdom and France. More than 300 horses were displayed this year. The next congress will be held in France in 2001.
Swanston, who lives at High River, Alta., has 17 mares and when he shows his horses in large events like the Stampede, getting ready for the arena means rising at 4 a.m. to prepare the animals, harnesses and carts.
Manes must be groomed to show the curve of the neck and the tail is done up in a fancy knot to make driving easier.
Percherons are a versatile breed that come in medium to large-frame sizes. Most of them are black, with some grey and an occasional white or sorrel.
The head is medium-sized with eyes set far apart. The weight ranges from 1,600 to 2,400 pounds and the average horse stands 17 to 18 hands high, although some may be taller.
Originally from Normandy, Percherons are a cross between Arabians and Flemish horses. They were first imported to the United States in 1839. Canada imported its Percherons from the U.S.
