The Rural Voice, 1992-10, Page 35judging is the Grand Parade on the
afternoon of the second day with the
champions in each breed being led
before the stands and in a circle
around the main show ring. This
event fills the whole ring and presents
a spectacular scene.
An interesting part of the draft
horse show is the parade of horse-
drawn vehicles up the "Horse Walk"
from the hitching and stabling area to
the main ring in front of the stands.
The roofed horse boxes seem to be of
a temporary nature and the hitching
has to be done in the outdoors. In a
year such as 1992 this may not be a
hardship but in average English
weather it puts the Royal in a worse
position than our Ontario small town
fair. It's usually a family effort as
shown by Mrs. John Peacock as she
wiped the brass hardware of the
"Courage" Shires' harness and
informed us that her husband was to
be the judge at the Canadian National
Exhibition in Toronto in August. The
prominent breed was the Shire and
we learned that they always wore
brass while the Clydesdales were
arrayed in chrome accessories. There
was only one Suffolk in that day's
parade, and a few Percherons.
Under threatening skies horses
were hurriedly hitched to their
vehicles — high stages, brewery
wagons, antique farm wagons —
even a "bull cart" which tilted on its
axle to load the bull then was levelled
A team of Shires pulls a coach on the
Horse Walk at the Royal British
Show this past summer.
and pinned horizontal, having an
opening at the front so when the
horse was unhitched the bull could be
led from the, then forward tilting,
cart.
In preparation for the 15 or 20
hitches varying from single through
unicorns, three abreast and four horse
hitches, the pedestrians who had been
using the Walk were informed that
this was a walk for horses not for
people. The sharp clip clop ring of
the shoes on the pavement soon
attracted a large crowd on each side
of the walk as the participants
travelled about a quarter mile through
the grounds.
When we move from the livestock
area, one is reminded of the scenario
of the International Ploughing Match
— farm equipment exhibits including
stabling, feeding, cultivating and
harvesting items. There are vendors'
tents and eating stands stretching for
what seems miles, and angling in all
directions.
Youth is given a prominent place
in the Royal programme, for the most
part sponsored by the individual
breeds. The scene is much more
formal than we usually see in Canada
as each participant in the judging
competitions is dressed in white shirt
or blouse, the boys with ties, and
each in black trousers or skirts.
There is a multitude of white -cloaked
officialdom in every show ring,
which makes for an extremely
attractive setting on the green grass,
with the breed offices with their name
in bold letters as a background.
Another area where youth
predominated was at the farriers'
competitions in which the farrier and
his assistant fought the heat of the
day (for it was quite warm at about
25 degrees C) and of the forge, and
the time limit to prepare the hooves,
shape the shoes and nail them in
place on the horse. If one longs to
hear the ring of the hammer on steel
and relive the day of the blacksmith
shop this is the competition to attend.
There were six competitors in each
round and from the effort put forth
and the amount of sweat dripping
from foreheads, they deserved the
large group of spectators which they
attracted.
It was surprising to see about eight
artificial insemination units for the
bovine species advertising their sires
and services. Several of them had
progeny of their sires — apparently
the Holstein and Friesian are by far
the most popular dairy breeds in the
United Kingdom. Visitors were
ushered to small tables in the tent and
offered tea, coffee or juices and
overall given royal treatment —
maybe because our badges read
World Jersey Bureau Conference
with our names, and "Canada" in
bold letters.
A prominent topic of display was
the European Economic Community
now almost accepted as the "EC" —
European Community — its
parliament included.
The Women's Institute display
featured items and projects from all
EC members while highlighting
Ireland. The Milk Marketing Board
had bottles of milk mapping the
countries, with posters giving quota
and production for each country.
To not forget our fellow
Ontarians, it was a pleasant surprise
to meet the Knapps along with
another couple manning the Canada
exhibit encouraging Europeans to
come to the Royal and the Agribition
in Canada, and John McDougall
being his usual friendly self, busily
informing people in the Semex tent.
When you're in a foreign country
it does one's spirits good to meet
fellow Canadians.0
Ron Skinner and his wife Verlyn are
dairy farmers from the Mitchell area.
They attended the Royal Show as part
of a tour in connection with the
World Jersey Cattle Bureau
Conference which they attended in
June and July.
OCTOBER 1992 31