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After the Kosciusko County Community Fair parade, the weighted horse pull helped kick off the fair Sunday evening.
Abbi Richcreek, Kosciusko County resident who helps organize the heavyweight horse pull at the fair, said the horse pull is much like a tractor pull or truck pull, but instead they’re using draft horses to pull weight. Whichever horses can pull the heaviest weight the farthest wins, Richcreek said. At Sunday’s event, there were 10 teams that came from all over Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.
Richcreek said she believed it was the fourth or fifth year the pull has been part of the Kosciusko County Community Fair and “we’ve always had a good turnout.”
The event’s winner was Tom Brown, whose horses were able to pull 8,500 pounds for a full pull, which was 27-1/2 feet.
The prizes are structured. The winner received $500 and the least amount received is $200. Richcreek said fuel prices are very expensive and “we want these pullers to come here and put on a show for our community so we want to make sure they’re at least squared up with their gas. They have a lot of hours in working these horses, so we just want to make sure they’re well taken care of.”
Kevin Harris Sr., Kosciusko County Fair Board president, said the board tries to put on events like the horse pull to draw people to the fair because the grandstand events are free with general admissions.
“So this is just one of the things that we found we can do on a Sunday afternoon that people can come and watch ...,” he said.
Rich Montgomery, Richcreek’s father who also helps by bringing the boat, the structure that holds the weight the horses pull during the event, said he’s been participating in horse pulling events “probably forever.” His dad pulled horses for years and worked and farmed horses and Montgomery just continued that.
Part of the prep for the horse-pulling event is working the horses every day by putting them on an exercise sled for three or four hours a day, weather permitting, he said.
“It’s got to be in your blood or you can’t do it,” Montgomery said. “It’s just something you want to do and feel like you want to do.”
Rockie Beres said he’s been participating in horse pulls for about seven years.
“I’ve had horses all my life and I worked for a horse puller when I was about 12 years old, 13 years old,” he said.
His horses get steady work to prep them for pull events, lugging weight 3 to 5 miles a day, stating the more they work out at home, the better they fair in the events.
People used to farm and plow with the horses used in the pull events. The draw to the horse pull is people get to see the horses during the event, Beres said.
