The day dawned bright and pleasant in Rama on May 20, which matched the mood at the PALS (Performing Arts and Leisure Society) Draft Horse Field Days, presented by PALS and Rama Recreation Board.
Organizer Ron Mocyk of Rama, who is also the executive committee second vice- president, said not only is the two-day event a fun time for everyone, it also serves a very important historical purpose.
“Before this region was opened by farmers, it was all bush,” said Mocyk. “Our grandfathers and great-grandfathers put in hundreds of hours of hard work to clear this land and then grow crops on it.”
Most of that clearing and early farm work was done with horses, he said. During the PALS Draft Horse Field Days, teams of horses demonstrate a variety of types of early farm equipment in action. Included in the event were discing, plowing, cultivating, harrowing and seeding. The equipment was all provided by the organizing group.
Providing teams of horses for the May 20-21 event were Lloyd Smith of Pelly, Nelson Brantley of Ebenezer, Ryden and Val Crone of Humboldt, Ken Crush of Langham, Michelle Newton of Moosomin; as well as Ivan and Sandy Pollock, Twylla Newton, Kristina Just and Glen Zulyniak, all from Yorkton.
Smith said he considers it a privilege to take part in this type of event. He brought his four black Percheron horses, all siblings, including sister Daisy and brothers Star, Tom and Jiggs. Tom and Jiggs are 10 and 11 years old, which means they are right in the prime of their working years. Star and Daisy are four and five years old, just approaching their physical maturity. Smith likes to team the younger two with the older horses whenever possible to help them learn.
Not only does Smith enjoy working with horses, he likes to teach the general public all he can about how farm work was done before tractors came along. During the Draft Horse Field Days he operated a walking plow, with the help of Niall Campbell of Bjorkdale, who is also the president of the Saskatchewan Working Teamsters Association. Since horses work in teams, those driving the teams are referred to as teamsters.
During the demonstration, Campbell guided the 14-inch plow while Smith drove his two-horse team, Tom and Jiggs. Campbell said this was one of the earlier plows, built sometime between the 1890s and the late 1920s.
Campbell said in order for this type of plow to work well, it’s important to have a good shear and the right eveners for the plow, all of which usually require considerable manual labour and good old fashioned trial and error, quite different from today’s highly automated farm equipment. He said demonstrations such as the Rama event are very important for older and younger generations alike.
“We need to preserve this part of our heritage and pass it on to younger people,” said Campbell. “There are very few people left any more who did their farm work with horses before tractors took over.”
Later on in the event, Smith hooked up all four of his black Percherons to a 20-run, 10-foot Cockshutt seed drill, which he estimates is at least 70 years old. He gladly gave rides to any spectators who wanted to get a closer view of the operation. Smith said horses generally have a comfortable working speed of about three miles per hour, which is also a good working speed for this type of ground driven drill.
Ryden and Val Crone from Humboldt brought their horses to the Field Days, and were appreciative of the opportunity. Ryden used their two black nine-year-old Clydesdales, Bob and Pete, to operate an eight-foot set of discs.
Crone finds that it’s important to be patient when working with horse, and give them time to think. He says it usually doesn’t take them long to figure out when to turn and when to go straight ahead.
Crone has experience using farm tractors, but says he much prefers working with horses.
“Oats are a lot cheaper than diesel fuel these days,” said Crone. “And I find working with horses a lot quieter and more relaxing than listening to a tractor engine and radio all day.”
The Crones also brought a younger horse to the Draft Horse Field Days, a bottle fed three-week-old orphan Clydesdale named Anna, who is a popular attraction wherever she goes. But Crone expects she could easily end up being an active participant in the event when she reaches her mature weight of just under 2,000 pounds several years down the road.
Twylla Newton of Yorkton has been a teamster for about six years, and has really grown to enjoy working with horses. She brought her team of six-year-old Clydesdales, Lassie and Peaches to the Rama event, and used the two mares to pull a vintage spring-tooth harrow.
Newton was grateful for the opportunity to get her young horses some more working experience, but admits she has a lot to learn as well.
“This is such a great chance to talk to people with so much experience with horses and learn from them,” said Newton. “It’s like a clinic and you don’t even have to pay tuition.”
Newton and her sister-in-law Michelle both brought their horses to Rama, and both are excited to learn about working with horses from those with more experience. Michelle has only about two years of experience in working with horses, and is eager to learn.
She lives in Moosomin, about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Rama. Another motivation for her to bring her two Clydesdales, Anne and Grace, to the Field Days is that there simply aren’t any events like this in the Moosomin area.
During the Rama event, Newton learned about operating a set of discs in the field.
“I didn’t know what to do at first,” she said, “but the guys showed me how to use the levers to control the working depth of the discs.”
Later in the event, Newton took advantage of the opportunity to test her skills by driving her team through an obstacle course, as did the other teamsters. The horses were hooked up to a bale wagon, and they had to drive them through the twists and turns of the course, and also back up the wagon.
The land seeded as part of the Draft Horse Field Days covers about two acres, said Ron Mocyk. Those acres will be harvested during their next event, planned for August 19-20, weather permitting. About two more acres will be left fallow for field work demonstrations at that time. At the same event, they plan to cut and rake all the hay they can find around the Rama sports grounds, all with horse-drawn equipment.
The PALS Draft Horse Field Days had some well-received musical entertainment. One group consisted of Shelden Lanstad and his sister Nancy Genoway, both of Rama; Judy Johnson of Preeceville, Ross Baldwin of Yorkton and Don Kolchur of Ebenezer. The second group came from Wynyard, and included Marilyn Fredsburg, Gene McKenzie, and Darlene and Bill Storoz.
