We had several people tell us not to miss the Fryeburg Fair. Well here we are and it is called the Blue Ribbon Classic. If you are a “Big” horse fan this is where it’s at. We have been watching big Precherons and Belgins and a scattering of a few other draft horse breeds struttin’ their stuff and pulling for all their worth. They have show horses working as singles pulling carts up to four horses abreast, six horse hitches and eight horse hitches. (Think “Mac truck” with a team like that.) And many of the wagons are spit and polish till they knock your eyes out.

The real athletes, however, are the pulling teams. These are not all that different from the tractor pulls we watched earlier in Nova Scotia. Just like the tractors the dirt clods fly and they drag a sled down the arena. There the similarity ends. This is brute horsepower, and skilled teamsters getting all of the horses to pull in harmony. Invariably the best teams are the calmest teams and the drivers have the gentlest hands.

They have oxen pulling here also. We like to watch movies of the old west with the Conestoga wagons crossing the prairies. We have heard more than once, that horses didn’t have the stamina for the arduous trip. The best teams were oxen teams. They were more reliable, and able to get along on much poorer feed than horses. Some of the teams we have seen are huge and beautiful matched pairs. I find it interesting that you lead a team of oxen from the front, but you drive a team of horses from the rear.

If you are curious to see what Judy has been looking at for our next RV, take a look below. This one would take about a four horse hitch to get it down the road, Gypsy style.

We met up with fellow Alpine owners, Mary and George, here at the Fryeburg fair. We first met them last January in Quartzite Arizona. We have kept in touch by e-mail this summer and were able to meet here at the fairgrounds. Mary was entered in the Skillet Toss, so we had someone to root for in the big event. Guys you need to stay about 40 feet clear. These gals can pitch a skillet forty feet, and some of them can keep it right on the line. There were a couple of wild one’s however. With them you were safer on the line.

For now we bid you goodbye from friendly Maine and the Fryeburg fair.

With Love, Gary and Judy