this made me cry

After the small-cart competition was over, they brought in teams of four, pulling wagons. These are the best of some really bad pics. I was standing on the ground. There was plywood, and then above that, there was chain link. I tried to avoid the chain link, but you can see it anyway..... A couple of these pics are considerably bigger if you click on them.


These big guys, pulling the wagons, made me cry. You can see how beautiful they are. How carefully prepared and decorated for the competition. How lovingly painted the wagons, how particularly dressed the drivers.




















Observing this competition was a whole-body experience. You saw them flash past, ribbons streaming, huge hooves snapping up into the air. You felt the ground tremble, you felt the breeze they generated. You heard them, oh yes, heard their feet hit the earth hard enough that you could feel it move, heard their harnesses ringing in time with those hoofbeats.

I happened to be standing near a corner of the ring. When they did figure-eights to demonstrate how well they responded to the drivers, they came straight toward me, then turned as they nearly reached me. All that power, all that finesse, all that beauty, all that labor to bring them to this point............

And I got to be there.

I hope you can imagine a fraction of the experience from this pic. You can see the flash. You can see the ribbons. You can see their feet, planted and then crisply up in the air.... Imagine the hoofbeats. Imagine the chiming of the harness in time with the beat......


















Imagine raising them, teaching them, practicing; thin leather reins and hours of work making a team of four enormous horses and one person. Imagine loading all that horseflesh and all their necessities, and the wagon and harness into trailers, and hauling it all to the state fair. Imagine washing the horses, one by one. Walking them dry. Brushing them. Combing out their manes, then braiding them and adding the decorations. Polishing their feet. Imagine giving a final shine to the harness, and then harnessing up. Imagine waiting for your turn in the arena. Imagine your team flying around the ring, moving the hearts of random people standing at the corner of the ring.........

Imagine getting to be there to witness it.


It never crossed my mind to switch the camera to video. Alas.............