A herd of gentle giants will be taking over the playground at Yorkton Exhibition Grounds.
Twylla Newton is competing in a brand new event. She's qualified for the finals of the Saskatchewan Clydesdale Association Breeders' Cup Challenge.
"The horses that are here today qualified at four shows held throughout the province this summer. So our first and second place animals are here and they are competing for quite a prestigious top prize," said Twylla Newton, competitor and secretary at Saskatchewan Clydesdale Association.
First place horses are awarded $1,000 while the breeder receives $500.
Competitors competed in North Battleford, Nipawin, Swift Current, and Austin, Manitoba.
All Clydes had to be born in Saskatchewan but the association wanted to make sure they included the Manitoba event.
"Austin, Manitoba has the only recognized Clydesdale show in western Canada. So it is the biggest show for Clydesdales in western Canada,” said Newton.
"We felt it was very important to cover all four quadrants of our province. And Austin is the only Clyde show in that part of the country, and we chose that, and they were really happy to have us too,” said Delyin Szumutku, president of Saskatchewan Clydesdale Association.
The horses were brought into the harvest showdown in Yorkton for a parade of champions on Wednesday night. Horses remained in there stalls throughout the day so kids could come and learn.
"Our future is in our youth, and if we show the interest that we have in them to the youth, I feel the youth will share that interest with us. And you know it's something that is unique and anybody I think is drawn to something that is different,” said Szumutku.
The horses then stood in front of a judge on Thursday where they were evaluated on their confirmation, which is how they're built, put together and how they move.
"It takes probably about an hour and a half to two hours just to bath the animal. And then there is all kinds of techniques used to get those beautiful white feathers on their legs glowing in the dark, and flying through the air,” said Newton.
And it's not easy getting the feathers to look good.
"The soap that you use washes out the oil and with the oil goes all the dirt, and it takes away the stains. So that's how you get the white feathers, but it's months’ worth of work to get white feathers for one night,” said Newton.
But no matter the effort, these breeders are willing to put in the months of work in order to compete in the breeders' cup challenge. Organizers hope that the spirit continues as they plan to keep the event going on an annual basis.
