The oxen pull is my favorite event. Every County Fair has one and I love them all. The animals are all dressed in their finery, with brass and red tassels. The men, some young and some old, are not dressed up, but wear the work clothes of a farmer. I wonder why the men do not wear fancy duds too? We left before the end, but the best pair and the highest weight was 5200 pounds, led by a young man named Matt. It was so impressive to watch their effort, both man and oxen. The team followed Matt into the ring as he led them around the outer circle and when they were in place in front of the sled, they stopped at his call. No flick of the whip, no yelling or pushing. They just looked at Matt the whole time. And they kept pushing or rather pulling with every extra weight, until 5200 pounds, when he said it was enough. What he really said was "they are done". And off they went out of the ring. Now I am sure no one could beat him because the next heaviest weight was 4800 pounds, so we just left the Fair, knowing that we watched the best team of oxen compete.
North Queens Fair is held every year in Caledonia in September, but this is the first time we have been able to attend. Lots of horses, lots of oxen, lots of rabbits and many many examples of competitions for the best of everything. 4H is alive and well in North Queens County. This Fair is the same as every other Fair, only smaller. And of course, everyone speaks like a country Nova Scotian, which is hard to understand. We have attended the Montgomery County Fair, The Bedford County Fair, The Cumberland Fair, The Bridgewater Fair and many more besides these. We enjoy them all, as long as I am not required to stay too long. As an added bonus, we won an owl, carved at a demonstration by Chain saw artists. We watched with our own eyes as these men, using a small chain saw, out of a block of wood, carved an owl. They donated the owl to the person who came the furthest. Ken said "Texas", and the owl was ours. Was this cheating do you think? Anyway, we enjoyed the Fair and we will enjoy the owl too. You can find it by the pond.
Actually, to be accurate, oxen are pushing against the wooden yoke in front or their shoulders, that is then attached to the sled. So the animals are pushing the yoke that pulls the sled that carries the weight. This is all true.
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