SEPT. 1ST-6TH, 2010     ARMSTRONG  B.C.

 

Brian Jensen

 

     For 110 years the people of Armstrong have sponsored their agricultural country fair inviting spectators and entrants alike to partake in their annual fall event. In the early 80’s Orville Unrau competed with his famous Fjord gelding pulling team of George and Harvey winning many awards and cash prizes. The newly formed Pacific Fjord Promotional group had its first Fjord only classes one year before the inception of Fjords at Libby, Montana. Driving Entrants were Goudreau’s, Unreau’s, Maynard’s, Jensen’s, and the Boe’s from Creston. A bit later Gayle Ware with Dusty joined us for competition in the Western Classes. Orville returned over the years to drive in all multiple classes be side the heavy draft types until Fjords were dropped from that Division. I returned on occasion by request to do demos with our four-up of Fjords.

    The IPE Directors of the Light Horse and Heavy Horse Divisions for the past two years have been again extending invitations to Fjord Horse owners to return to the IPE and enter into newly developed classes and disciplines. Listed below is a short synopsis of the classes open to Fjords that our ongoing discussions have evolved into.

   In Division Four, the Heavy Horse Draft Division a newly created Group called Small Draft Breeds includes the Norwegian Fjord as well as the Canadian Horse and Draft type Haflingers. All entrants are to be driven in Collared Draft Harness on a wagon or a cart. These classes will all be driven in front of the main grandstand used as alternates between the Heavy Draft Classes. Entrant fee is 15.00 per class and prize monies of 50.00 to 100.00 is paid for the first five placings.

 

A-Classes-Small Draft Breeds.

1-Gentlemen’s Cart or Wagon                          9-Junior Team Cart or Wagon

2-Tandem Cart or Wagon                                10-Team Driving Pattern

3-Ladies Cart or Wagon                                   11-Team Obstacle Course

4-Pole Bending in Cart or Wagon                    12-Unicorn Hitch

5-Pole bending Team                                        13-Four-up Conformation

6-Open Team Driving                                       14-Four-up Hitch

7-Ladies Team Driving                                     15-Four-up Pattern

8-Junior Cart or Wagon                                     16-Team Log Skid

The 2010 Official Prize list will be available late spring with 115 pages of Divisions and Classes. Call 1-250-546-9406 to be placed on their mailing list. All of these classes are subject to small changes and tweaking.

 

B-Classes-Light Horse Driving Single. These Classes pay 50.00 prize money for regular classes and 250.00 t0 500.00 for the stakes classes. Entrant fee is 15.00 per class, and prize money is paid to fifth place. Pony size is considered at or under 14:3 hh.

1-Novice Pleasure Driving single

2-Single Open Pleasure Driving

3-Ride and Drive

4-Combined Driving Challenge—CDE.

5-Open Pleasure Driving Stake

6-Open Reinsmanship

 

C-English Riding Classes. These classes pay 50.00 prize money for regular classes and 250.00 to 500.00 for stakes classes. I cannot mention all the classes, but here are a few main headings. The entrant fee is 15.00 per class.

1-English Pleasure Open---Junior, Novice, Senior, and different levels of ability

2-Hunter Jumper Open-----Junior. Novice, Senior, and different levels of ability

3-Open Jumping-----------Junior, Novice, Senior, and different levels of ability

4-Road Hack Open--------Junior, Novice, Senior, and different levels of ability

5-Show Hack Open--------Junior, Novice, Senior, and different levels of ability

6-English Equitation-------Junior, Novice, Senior, and different levels of ability

 

D-Western Riding Classes-these Classes pay 50.00 prize money for regular classes to fifth place and 200.00 to 500.00 for stakes classes. I will not mention all the classes here, but some of the main headings.

1-Western Pleasure Open-----Junior, Novice, Senior, and different levels of ability

2-Western Reining Open------Junior, Novice, Senior, and different levels of ability

3-Western Horsemanship-----Junior, Novice, Senior, and different levels of ability

 

 At the IPE there are stalls for 500 horses so safety is always an issue. Unloading your horse and trailer is done in the AM or PM or before the show starts. All entrant trailers and campers, motor homes are parked offsite beside the fairgrounds. All harness driving entrants are given tack stalls beside their horses for harnessing. All driving vehicles are parked in a security enclosure beside the appropriate arenas. An entrant walks his or her harnessed horse to the vehicle in the secure area and hitches to go into the formal show ring. In comparison the IPE grounds and infrastructure is similar to the size of the Moses Lake Fairgrounds.

   Over the duration of the Fair about 150,000 spectators attend the five day event. As travel costs and economics are becoming more of an issue these days this Fall Fair is an option for you to possibly consider. Enter in as many classes as you can and possibly break even on your expenses. I would suggest interested Fjord owners come and join Trinity Fjords at the upcoming Fall Show and get a feel for the logistics and ambiance.