‘An animal is just like an athlete’: Fraser’s County Clydesdales celebrated for their performance at Royal Agricultural Winter Fair
MILLBROOK, N.S. — Following an exceptional performance at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto in November, the Municipality of Pictou County (MOPC) celebrated Fraser’s County Clydesdale for their hard work during the Jan. 8 council meeting.
Warden Robert Parker gave the award to Leonard and Donna Fraser, the owners of Fraser’s County Clydesdale, for their achievements.
“The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair is the pinnacle of competitions for the agricultural community, and the team from Fraser’s Country Clydesdales showed they have what it takes to compete with the best and win,” Parker said. “Our community is proud of their accomplishments.”
Fraser County Clydesdale won first place in nine categories at the fair:
- Ladies Cart, Clydesdales
- Ladies Cart, All Breeds
- Men’s Cart, Clydesdales
- Team Class, Clydesdales
- Unicorn Class, Clydesdales
- 4 Horse Hitch, Clydesdales
- 6 Horse Hitch, Clydesdales
- Classic Cart, All Breeds
- 1st Tack Room Competition – overall horse exhibitors
Looking back on success
After receiving the award at council, Leonard said the result was many years of dedicated work with their team training the horses.
“An animal is just like an athlete. You have to work them to build their muscles and build their lung capacity,” Leonard said. “If you treat the animal right, the animal is going to look after you.”
Leonard and Donna began their series of successes after hauling their horses to Ontario in July to train and then show at several events. The horses did well at the events, achieving high honours, something that would continue when they showed at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.
“We couldn’t believe it ourselves,” Leonard said before he laughed. “If we had paid the judges, we couldn’t have done any better.”
Donna echoed her husband’s shock and excitement in an interview on Jan. 15.
“We were shocked. We didn’t expect to get everything that we did,” she said. “We went in with no expectations, and it just gained momentum.”
Onwards to Indiana
As a result of their success, the Frasers’ and their horses’ hard work and dedication qualified them to compete in the North American Championships in Indiana in September this year.
“You’d have to be a member of that to participate, and it’s based on points simply at your placings, and then you get invited to the top depending on the division – the top ones go to the finals. We already qualified for the finals at the end of September (in Indiana),” she continued.
To prepare, the horses will be sent back to Ontario to their trainer in May to get back into tip-top athletic shape before they start showing in August, and then they will make the trip down to Indiana.
“I think we deserved it because our horses were consistent. They looked great. They consistently went in and did their job, and that’s probably the key factor, the program they were on. We’re very proud of these boys; they’re amazing,” Donna added.
