27th Annual Big Sky Draft Horse Expo

June

June 28 - July 12, Booker Auction, Cascade Farms Inc Retirement, Online .... A4

July 8, Kevin Hill Auction, Prongua Ranch Sale, Hot Springs, MT ..............

July 8, RK Statewide Auctions, Metzger Estate, Glendive MT

July 8, Barnes Auction Service, Ken Grose Construction Estate, Dillon

Aug 5, Flying D Auction, Jim Hawkins, Cut Bank MT ................................. A16

Grazing and cover crops tours

By Todd Whitney, UNL

The Nebraska No-Till on the Plains Whirlwind Annual statewide educational tours on June 14th and 20th in 2023 will honor the legacy of Jody Saathoff, former soil health enthusiast, from Southcentral, NE. Participants will be: NoTill farmers and ranchers, youth and Agri-business.

By Pat Hansen

Wagonloads of fun await visitors of all ages during the 27th Annual Big Sky Draft Horse Expo at the fairgrounds, on the north end of Main Street, in Deer Lodge, Montana on June 23-25.

Each day’s performances are different and feature classes and events for both the Classic Six and Open exhibitors. Performances are at 3 p.m. Friday, June 23; 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, June 24 and 10 a.m. Sunday, June 25.

After each show the public is invited to visit the barns to see the horses up close and to meet the owners. Friday and Saturday evenings enjoy a BBQ dinner and music by Montana musicians Dan Henry on Friday and the band “Whiskey Ditch” on Saturday. Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. is Cowboy Church with Katy and Clay Law.

Open class teamsters, with their farm style horses, mules, Fjords, crossbreeds and light horse breeds will demonstrate log skidding, precision obstacle course driving, antique vehicles, pleasure carts, feed team races and other working skills used during the late 1800s and early 1900s; skills that are enjoying a revival of interest today.

Youth will also be competing during the show driving teams and single horses on wagons and carts.

Kids from the grandstand get to participate in the fun, too, by participating in a stick horse race, boot race and pole bending!

Throughout the weekend vendors at the fairgrounds will offer food and beverages, draft horse equipment, leatherwork, art and more.

On Wednesday, June 14, the daytime event will begin at 11:00 a.m. on the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Franklin, Nebraska with a lunch and keynote speaker, Jay Fuhrer, Soil Health – Menoken Farms No-Tiller, from Bismarck, North Dakota. Other speakers will be Ray Ward of Ward Labs and Paul Jasa, UNL Extension Engineering Specialist. Featured topics and demonstrations will include: “Using diversified No-Till crop rotations with livestock grazing;” “Drilling cereals and beans into heavy residue with livestock grazing,” and “Improving Forage Biomass. The 5:30 pm social and 6:30 p.m. meal topics will center around cover crops, diversification and livestock grazing followed by a fundraising auction.

The Expo is part of the Classic Six Series, a U.S.A. and Canadian competition. This year 11 Classic Six hitches from throughout the Northwest and Canada will demonstrate their driving skills of draft breeds - Percherons, Belgians, Shires, and Clydesdales. Decked out in gleaming show harness the horses will be pulling classic carts and show wagons – in classes that include four and six-horse hitches, unicorn, team, cart and more. Feel the immense horsepower of the “gentle giants” as the magnificent hitches thunder past the grandstand. The finale on Sunday will include a 10-horse hitch demonstration!

For more information and tickets: www. drafthorseexpo.com; call 406-490-1305 or email: drafthorseexpo@gmail.com. Tickets can be purchased on line or at the gate for one day; three day adult or family pass (two adults and children under 17); children10 and under are free. Group rates are also available at the gate.

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