Rural Heritage June/July 2025

collection of horse drawn equipment they have. In the past, that has included loose haymaking with a beaverslide and an overshot stacker as well as demonstrating how roadbeds were built using dump wagons, graders and a water wagon. “The demonstration lasts for about an hour, a little over an hour. And then they take questions, and I think they invite people into the horse barn so they can see the horses and some of the machinery,” Show Chairman Wade Thornley said. “I think the neat thing about this year is that they're bringing in — the draft horse folks from up there by Hamilton, the Bitterroot Club — are going to set up a PTO-driven mechanism and show how that all works.” The power source is a sweep where horses travel in a circle and turn a shaft that, after going through a gear box, provides power to a sawmill, threshing machine or other equipment. The show itself starts at noon Friday and runs through the Grand Finale at 1:20 pm Sunday. “The finale is usually our fancy hitch,” Co-Manager Sue Shockley said. “So we promote that and so people will stick around for that. Last year was the 10-horse hitch. “I think, Bob Tomaskie was talking about doing a pyramid hitch where he's going to have, four, three, two and one, if I remember right. Those are with

mules. So that'll be a fun one. Exciting. We haven't had a fancy hitch with mules before.” Sunday is also when they award the Master Teamster Award, given to the entry with the highest point total from four open classes: Precision Driving/ Obstacle Course; Driving with Speed/Canadian Maze; Driving for Work; Log Skidding; Precision Driving with Controlled Speed. By alternating between open and hitch classes, the Big Sky Show Committee is able to keep the event on schedule. “I think we do a good job in our scheduling, interspersing these open classes with hitch classes,” Board Member Nancy Bare said. “And that happens every day, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So you aren't going to come and miss your neighbor that drives in an open class, because all you're going to see is hitch classes that day. That's not how we schedule the show. So it really is entertaining for everybody. And we have every day a game and activities for kids and that type of thing, too.” While in Deer Lodge, visitors may also spend more time in Grant-Kohrs Ranch, the Old Montana Prison, the Frontier Museum, Montana Auto Museum, and the Powell County Museum. The Expo also includes rodeo clowns, a mounted drill team, steak barbecue on Friday and Saturday nights and free evening entertainment. www.drafthorseexpo.com

Carson Steel competes in the Precision Driving class, one of the four designated as a Master Teamster class.

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