Dixie Billings, of Fennville and Terry VanHaitsma, of Wayland wash and groom John, the Grand Champion Horse of the State Fair, Wednesday at the MSU Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education while preparing for the 31st annual Michigan Great Lakes International Draft Horse Show and Pull.
More than 1,000 draft horses from the United States and Canada trotted into East Lansing this week for the 31st annual Michigan Great Lakes International Draft Horse Show and Pull.
The Michigan Great Lakes International Draft Horse Show and Pull, or MGLI, which is being held at MSU’s Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education today through Sunday, features a series of competitions including hitching, plowing and other events.
The four-day draft horse show does not leave time for dull moments. Events begin at 7:30 a.m.
The show is the largest of its kind in 30 years, MGLI Board Member Carlene Davis said.
The many participants who compete annually were not the only ones looking forward to this year’s draft horse show — seven MSU students were given the chance to experience the competition first hand.
“I offered an advanced section of my draft horse class this opportunity … these are the seven students who were interested in it and ended up being able to fit it into their schedules,” MSU staff member Cara O’Connor-Robinson said.
Animal science senior Lindsay Wever is ready to take part in the competition.
“I’m nervous (and) excited. It’s not every day you get to show in a big draft horse show,” Wever said.
The seven students participating in MGLI have spent the semester thus far preparing for the draft horse show. Not only are they responsible to take part in their respective events, but they also must help to prepare the horses for the competition.
“(Students) will be responsible for bathing (the horses) ... decorating them, harnessing them, hitching them to the vehicle and driving them (in the pavilion),” O’Connor-Robinson said.
O’Connor-Robinson said a lot more goes into decorating the horses than one might think.
“(Students) will also have to braid the mane and the tail and put flowers around (the horse’s) mane. This year we are using rose buds so they’re green and white,” O’Connor-Robinson said.
While O’Connor-Robinson has faith in her students, she does not expect any of them to take home the first prize.
“We will not be able to win. They are not high-quality horses. It’s like taking your dad’s Neon and racing it against a Ferrari,” O’Connor-Robinson said.
O’Connor-Robinson does not stand alone with her lower expectations.
“I’m not expecting to place. It’s more of a learning experience,” Wever said. “I like to be competitive, but I’d rather just learn from this.”
O’Connor-Robinson and her students are excited to be a part of the draft horse show.
“(The students are) doing it for the experience of being out in the show ring,” O’Connor-Robinson said. “Hopefully one or two of them might get offered a summer job.”
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