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The Eastern Kentucky Draft Horse and Mule Association held
it's annual horse pull on Saturday, July 20, 2024 at the Owingsville Lions Club Park in conjuction with the Bath County Fair.
There were 4 teams that showed up to compete. Witt and Sons from Lucasville, OH brought a team and the Hillard Family from Jackson OH
also brought a team. Troy Witt handled the driving chores for both teams. The other 2 teams were from Mt Sterling Ky, about 10 miles down the road
and belonged to the Orme Family. Charles Orme is a well known local Belgian horse breeder. Charles' son Mike Orme drove one tean and his grandson
Clint Orme drove the other. For once, it was a beautiful day with temps in the mid 80's. There was no rain, although it got a little cloudy right
about the time the pull was to start, but the sun soon came back out and we finished under beautiful skies.
The rules for the pull require the sled to be pulled 20 feet in order to be called a "Full Pull." Each team is given 3 attempts to complete a full pull.
The team must have a full pull in order to move on to the next weight class. Anything less than a full pull results in the team being eliminated. On the 3rd
attempt, the teamster is permitted to designate where he wants the sled positioned for his final attempt. Because it has been rather dry, the pulling track
which is covered with a mixture of pea gravel and sand, was extremely dry and as the weight was added to the sled it became progressively harder to get the
sled moving. As a result, the teams were only able to pull a maximum weight of 6,545 pounds instead of the 8,000 to 10,000+ pounds that has been pulled in the
past. Check out the photos that I took of this event. Click below!
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