TISDALE, Sask. – Evelyn and Larry Keyowski stand chin to chest with their Percheron heavy horses.
The horses’ ears are up, their eyes strain to see past their blinders and wide feet flatten the straw and mud covering the hockey rink floor in Tisdale.
It’s the first competition of the year for the Saskatchewan Draft Horse Pulling Association and the bleachers hum with full rows of spectators.
The Keyowskis stand ready to compete, soothing the restless beasts with their voice and touch.
They have three teams entered, one in each weight class, including some new to competition.
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“They’re a little rammy, they’re pretty anxious,” said Evelyn.
The Keyowskis admit to a few butterflies too, especially as the two-hour competition drags on and teams are eliminated as they reach their pulling limits.
Among the toughest to beat will be the heavyweight team of Belgians owned by Larry’s brother Dennis and his wife, Theresa, who took home first prize at Canadian Western Agribition in Regina last fall. They left that competition with about $400 after expenses, a banner and a very proud family, said Theresa.
More valued than the money is the chance for the two couples to travel together, help with each others’ animals and enjoy time as a family.
The horses, some decked out in metal-studded harnesses, pull a sled of roofing shingles that is increased in increments of 500 pounds as the competition progresses.
They get three cracks at each 14-foot pull, but are disqualified if they go out of bounds.
Following a successful pull, the sweating horses, some coughing and snorting from the dust, are released from the sled and trotted back to their corner of the rink to await their next pull.
The early rounds of competition are like “watching paint dry,” conceded Evelyn, who is responsible for hooking the eveners trailing the horses onto the sled. Larry uses the horses’ reins and his voice to lead the team through a pull.
The couple’s four children once actively participated but have since moved on to jobs and lives off farm.
The Keyowskis keep busy with off-farm jobs and sit on the Saskatchewan Draft Horse Pull Association board, with Larry serving as president and Evelyn as secretary-treasurer. Membership remains stable at 19, she said.
The Keyowski horses train by doing daily chores on their mixed livestock farm at Shellbrook, Sask. They haul bales and manure but also pull family in inner tubes in the winter.
“Like any athlete, they strive to do their best,” Larry beamed. “They’re a beautiful, graceful animal to work with.”
A longtime horse lover, he said he gets a thrill from taking them from training to the podium.
Evelyn said a good pulling horse has strength, a good manner and is responsive to commands.
“They need to know when to set up and when to pull, need to work together as a team, pull together and work together,” Evelyn said, noting how teams tend to hang out together even in the fields.
Larry’s favourites are his light team he has raised from colts and that pull well beyond their own weight.
“They’ll pull their little hearts out,” Larry said.
All horse teams are weighed (this day at an area seed farm) and grouped accordingly, with lightweights up to 2,800 lb., middleweights up to 3,400 lb. and heavy horses over 4,000 lb.
One pull follows another until the only pair remaining becomes the winner in the heavy horse group. The light and medium horse winners have already been decided at lesser weights.
Competitors remain alert to dangers from unruly horses, breaking harnesses or accidental trodding by the horses. Sometimes just getting to events can be challenging as was the case at this competition where heavy spring snowfall kept some away.
This day, the Keyowski family sweeps the event, with Larry and Evelyn’s horses winning the lightweight event with a pull of 5,500 lb. and the middleweight class with a pull of 6,500 lb.
Dennis’s team takes the heavyweight class by pulling 7,000 lb.
The chance to compete and renew acquaintances will come again in Kelliher, Sask., in June, but for now, the horses are loaded into trailers and the families head back to the farm for spring chores and seeding.
