Al6—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 8,1980
Ledyard drafts muscle their way to the top
BY SHEILA MILLER
HARRISBURG - Was it a
case of over-confidence’or
just a bad gamble for the
Benham. brothers of Osgood,
Indiana? That is one ques
tion that will probably never
be answered, but it’s a deci
sion that the Benham’s
would probably like to recon
sider.
In competition that literal
ly put the crowd at the se
cond annual horse pulling
contest at the Farm Equip
ment Exposition on the edge
of their seats, the Benham
Brothers team of Belgian
draft horses and their
teamster declined their se
cond and final pull m the
heavy weight contest.
With 9200 pounds on the
stone sled, the Benham team
had displayed pure horse
power in dragging their load
a distance of 13 feet, 4 in
ches.
The only other team still in
the contest out of the 31 that
started was a team of
Belgians owned and driven
by Max Ledyard, of
Waldron, Michigan.
In their first attempt to
out-distance the Benham
team, the muscle-bound
equmes drove in to their col
lars and pulled the sled 11
feet, 7 inches.
As the announcer pleaded
with the crowd of spectators
to “honor the pull” and not
make any noise to distract
the horses, the huge drafts
lurched against the load at
their teamster’s loud
“here”. But, despite their
valiant effort, they only suc
ceeded m dragging the
heavy load 7 feet, 11 mches
The teamster unhitched
his team and went back to
his Number 30 position
against the arena wall to
await the Benham’s final
pull.
The announcer blasted
through the loud speaker the
Benham’s decision to forfeit
their final pull, and in a mat
ter of minutes the Ledyard
team was on its way back to
the 9200 pound load.
Ledyard quieted his team
after the evener was hitched
to the sled. The horses danc
ed, with their sides heaving
and dripping with sweat
Suddenly, the crowd
witnessed a feat of strength
and stamina The Ledyard
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Max Ledyard, of Waldron, Michigan, accepts the heavyweight championship
trophy from Secretary Hallowed. His team of Belgians, Fred, left, and Jim, stun
ned the Expo crowd with their 24 foot, 3 inch pull with a load of 9200 pounds.
Robert Decker, of Garrett, was the high placing Pennsylvania team in the Fri
day evening heavyweight pulls. Making the presentation was Secretary of
Agriculture Penrose Hallowed, right, and Assistant Secretary Chet Heim.
team gathered for the final
effort and when the whistle
blew, the judge measured
the pull at 24 feet, 3 inches.
The crowd was on its feet
and the announcer had to
shout to be heard above the
cheers. The Ledyard team
had pulled off the champion
ship of the Expo’s
heavyweight horse pull
One of the factors that
may have influenced the
Benham’s decision to forfeit
their last pull was, in the ef
fort of.their team’s final pull,
one horse fell. Several men
aided the animal in its at
tempts to struggle to its feet
without entangling itself and
its teammate in harness and
hooves
The next three places m
the heavyweight over 3200
pound, were taken by teams
pulling 8600 pounds In third
place was George Duvall’s
team, from Beaver Dam,
Kentucky, with a pull of 20
f eet, 8 inches. Elhs Derry,
Zanesville, Ohio, came in
fourth with a pull of 18 feet, 1
inch. And, Bert Gilkmson, of
Versailles, Kentucky, was m
fifth place with 8 feet, 6 in
ches
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The top Pennsylvania
team was owned and driven
by Robert W. Decker, Gar
rett. Placing twelfth in the
over-all contest, Decker’s
Belgian’s dropped out of the
contest with a load of 7800
pounds and a pull of 6 feet 5
inches.
In both the heavyweight
and lightweight pulling con
tests, the teamster who
displayed the best
horsemanship was selected.
Winner m the heavy drafts
was Charles Winder, of
Durham, Connecticut, with
his team Tim and Rock
Winder has been driving
horses since he was small,
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