From: hannah@pomponio.ai.sri.com (Marsha Jo Hannah)
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: Re: Pulling contests
Date: 6 Oct 92 20:15:04 GMT
Organization: SRI International, Menlo Park, CA
In-reply-to: jespah@carson.u.washington.edu's message of 5 Oct 92 21:13:49 GMT

In article <1992Oct5.211349.3368@u.washington.edu> jespah@carson.u.washington.edu (Kathleen Hunt) writes:

   woit@qucis.queensu.ca (Denise Woit) writes:
   >They are percheron horses. They were used, as apparently most percherons are
   >in Newfoundland, to compete in pulling contests. Some believe these contests
   >are cruel, because the horse is hitched to heavier and heavier weights, and
   >whipped until they're so exhausted that they can't pull anymore. They win 
   >based on weight pulled per pound of horse; thus, it is supposed to be a 
   >common practice for people to try to starve weight off a horse before a 
   >competition (I know this sounds stupid, but that's what they said.) 
   >
   >This man thought the contests cruel, so he bought three of the top prize 
   >winners himself, so that they would never have to endure these contests again. 

   I was very interested to see this description of pulling as a cruel sporti,
   as literally a fate worse than death.  I've seen a lot of pulling contests
   in small county fairs in Maine, and for the most part the horses seemed
   to be treated well -- though they did work hard (but I don't think hard
   work per se is cruel).  Have any of you seen cruelty at pulling contests,
   and is it maybe more common in some areas or at some levels of the sport
   than in others?

   There were two types of contests.  One was a short drag, where a team
   would pull a sled loaded with weights for a short distance, maybe 30 feet.
   All the teams would go in succession, and then more weight would be added
   and the teams would start another round of pulling.  More and more teams
   would be eliminated (unable to pull the weight the distance) until just
   one team was left, and that was the winner.

This is the only type of pulling contest that I've seen, at Fjord
shows.  The rules were published in one of the newsletters before a
show, and while I don't remember all of the rules, I do recall that
whips were prohibited.  One could "ripple" the lines on the horses'
sides/rumps to encourage them, but not slap them with the lines.  One
could verbally encourage them, but profanity was banned.  I don't know
if these rules represent an attempt to clean up the sport, or whether
the rules vary by region, level, etc.

   The horses all seemed very excited about pulling.  ...  As the horses
   were backed up to attach the, whatcha call it, the big metal piece that
   the traces were attached to (sorry, I don't know anything about harnesses)
   to the sled, they would just be dancing in place, ....
   The *instant* the horses heard the "clang!" of the metal thing 
   dropping onto the cart pin, they would *LUNGE* forward to start pulling.
   Sometimes the pin didn't connect, and the horses would launch themselves
   practically out of the arena in one jump, dragging all their men 
   behind them.  Some horses seemed to be too hyper to be able to coordinate
   their efforts, while other teams were very smooth and efficient.  ...
   A lot of the horses were used for farmwork or logging, outside of the fairs.

   Kathleen

I'll bet that, if you talked to the various drivers, you would find
that the hyper horses were usually "professionals", used ONLY for
pulling contests, while the smooth, efficient ones were mostly farming
or logging horses whose owners did a little pulling for the fun of it.
(One sees the same things at rodeos or gymkhanas---many horses that do
nothing but run barrels almost have to be ponied into the starting
box, whereas the ones that do a mixture of "everyday" things like
trail-riding, dressage, schooling, etc, with a little gaming on the
side, are more inclined to wait for the rider to tell them what to do
and when.)  Farm horses know that they need to pace themselves because
plowing lasts all day, and pulling a stuck wagon or log is easier if
the horses "ease" into their collars together, rather than blasting
into them (usually unevenly) the instant that the doubletree is hooked
to the load.

The pulling matches that I've seen haven't included anything that I
would regard as cruelty.  I've seen some cases where ego got ahead of
good sense, but that happens in every sport (equine or otherwise).
Like you said, the jerk-em-around types don't usually win.  

It was interesting to attend a sequence of shows, as one father and
son would always come, but would swap teams each year.  The father
usually won the contest, and was clearly the superior horseman.  The
one year that I saw him lose, his Fjords hadn't worked much that year,
so weren't in shape.  The rules gave him 3 tries at pulling each
weight; after the second try at the top weight, it was obvious to him
that they weren't going to budge it, so he reached down, unhooked
them, and drove away.  It was pretty clear that the crowd thought he
was a real winner!

Marsha Jo Hannah		Murphy must have been a horseman--
La Honda, CA			anything that can go wrong, will!