MOUNT VERNON — The Draft Horse and Pony Show was held Sunday at the horse show arena.
The show was organized by the Knox County Draft Horse and Pony Club. Jill and Byron Rock are advisors to the club.
“This is an event sponsored by the Knox County Draft Horse and Pony Club,” Byron said. “It’s the harness class that is going on tonight. It’s a combination. Hitch classes are hitch classes and they will participate in some of the harness classes that we sponsor. There will be sulky-type carts and different weights and harness classes.”
There were 16 events planned in the Draft Horse & Pony Show where club members could showcase a variety of skills.
Judging the evening’s events was Laura Clark Miller, a former club member who has been judging now for eight years. Each event was judged on its own, with no overall show award or winner.
“They will be judged on their handling of the horse and how the horse moves in the arena,” Byron said.
What Miller looks for when in the arena is the synergy between horse and rider.
“What I’m looking for when they’re driving in the arena is how they control their horse,” she said. “And how they keep it under control at all times. I look at how they handle the horse — how they are a team. It’s really pretty simple but it takes a lot of work on their part.”
Maria DiFrancesco, 10, of the Rails and Barrels Club was tending her horse Skips Truly Soxy before the race.
“I’m going to win tonight,” she said and truly she did by winning the very first competition, Pony Cart, Light Harness.
“It was a lot of fun,” she said after the race.
