Bé - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 28, 2002 + m Artist at work IT'S NOT a masterpiece yet, but this three-month-old colt's talented tongue is just getting started on this salt lick. Over time salt licks can take on bizarre shapes, and they'll be on display in one of the new competitions at the Skeena Valley Fall Fair this weekend. This Andalusian quarterhorse, named Pagos Para Vida (Spanish for “payments for life’) is owned by Joce- lyn Benoit at the Alwyn Creek Ranch in Old Remo. JEFF NAGEL PHOTO WEBSITES TO SEE: hitp://www.gardenshed.perennials.com § hitp://www.mapchannel.com/gardenshed | f hitp: f wn www, snorthwestgardener.net THE GAANDIM SHCO: Tonka and Pear! returning to the fair WHEN the big horses dig in to try to pull well over their their own weight, spectators suck in their breath. Bul competitor Dean Sturko knows the heavy horse pull is just as big a thrill for his horses as it is for the audience, As the weight piles up on the steel sled, horses get antsier each time they come around for a pull. Sometimes they’re so eager they | race away before they can be hooked up. “They're hyper,” Sturko says from his farm in New Remo. “They want to pull and they. get all excited about it.” Sturko and his team - a Belgian named Tonka and a 1,300-pound Percheron-quarter- horse mare named Pearl — will be back in the ting at the Skeena Valley Fall Fair this week- end. They and the other teams competing will lake turns pulling the sled, called a stoneboat, until it can no longer be pulled a set distance in a continuaus pull. The pulling starts out at 1,000 pounds, and 500 more pounds of concrete blacks are added with each new round. The weight builds up quickly and soon the massive horses are snorting and labouring to move the stoneboat. “The best I've done is 4,600 pounds,” Sturko says. "A good team does 8,000 or 9,000, The best do 10,000 or over.” Tonka and Pearl are no slouches the rest of (he year. They’ve had plenty of work horse-log- ging for the Kitsumkalum band this year, and Sturko uses them for harrowing fields in the spring and hauling hay in the fall. At Kitsumkalum, he said, Pearl has been skidding out 40-foot long logs that are two-feet in diameter, “She works really super hard to get the wood ut,” Sturko says. “When I work my horses it’s an incredible feeling.” he adds. “These horses are bred to work and it really shows.” Organizer Jacquie Strachan said the heavy horse pul! will have a new twist this year. A new award ~ the Charlie Houlden Memor- ial Trophy — will honour Houlden, a longtime heavy horse enthusiast who died last year. “It's going to be given to the team that the audience chooses,” Strachan said. “It’s like a people’s choice award.” The single horse pull starts at 6 p.m. Saturday night, she said, The team pull begins at noon on Sunday. Strachan says it’s always a delight to see. “T really like watching those horses,” she said. “You don’t see: the ‘big drafts around a lot. To go and see them you're seeing part of your past, your history.” The event will be judged by Larry Wiwchar- FALL BULBS & SEEDS ARRIVING IN EARLY SEPTEMBER re YOU WANT A ARTICULAR TREE OR SHRUB PLACE ORDERS uck, of Telkwa. The heavy horse pull is just part of an exten- sive lineup. of horse action at the fall fair grounds. The Skeena Valley Fall Fair Horse Show gets started Friday at 8 a.m., featuring English and western riding and jumping. It’s judged by Karen Ritchie and wraps up on Saturday. Gymkhana competition takes place on Sun- day. Logger sports set to thrill LOGGERS SPORTS organizers are preparing for a full siate of events this year. Crowd favourites include the log burling ‘competition, in which two loggers stand on the same floating log and spin it until one ends up in the drink. Loggers also race to the top of a high pole in the pole climbing competition, In the pole. falling competition, competitors try to drop a standing log on a small target in the fastest time. The events get underway Sun- day at the fair grounds at 10 a.m, There’s sea- ting for about 400 people. Many events pit competitors against each other in a race to cut through large blocks of wood in the best time. There are variants using power saws, axes, and two-person crosscut saws. Organizer Dave Maroney said the Double Hand Bucking event will be a sanctioned Can- Log provincial championship event, meaning the winner will hold the provincial title in that Gun Boot IV Mount * Palyelhylene cansiructed * Four times more contract area with Gun Boot * Mounts on left or right side * Quick release of the Gun Boot camouna . 8 ‘Selected Exterior PAINT & STAIN ANCE SALE * Fits most Kawasaki ATVs and most other ATVs with steel racks Camouflage Body & Fender Covers © Makes your ary fully Fits over the oe body and fender Attaches with snaps & clips for quick & easy installation/removal « Weather-resistant Machine washable | event for the year. In the crosscut, women compete either with other women or as mixed doubles in the Jack and Jill or Jill and Jill crosscut events. Also open to women is the Ladies Nail Driving event. Most events cost $5 to enter, and, thanks to sponsors, the top three finishers in each cate- . gory will take away substantial cash prizes. Maroney said a tolal of $6,000 to $7,000 in prize money will be distributed. At least 30-competitors are expected overall. Some will come from Vancouver Island: and parts of the interior. There are 15 open events and seven events for novice skill levels, . - The Terrace Downtown Lions have organized the event almost every year since 1960. Although logging has become highly mech- anized over the years, organizers and partici- pants see logger sports as a way to keep alive some of the traditions of the bush, Great Sale Prices with MAIL-IN REBATES while supplies last. Best Prices of the Year on selected exterior products eNerav PAINT] “Gun Boot IV Camoutlage Cover © Mossy Oak® or Reallree® Xtr Gun Boot lV Mount * Securely fastens your Gun Boot IV to your ATY © Mounts on the right side of the ATV * Mounts inside the perimeter of the ATV . Powder-coated in ack [= et oe en eraen ces, Fax 635-5050