Montana State Fair 2008

Longears and Short Ones at Montana State Fair
By Kristi Kingma

The Pacific Northwest fair that continues to showcase draft mule hitches is alive and kickin’ up excitement every July and August. Without the stress of show competition there’s noticeably a fun, relaxed atmosphere through out the Draft Horse Barns at the Montana State Fair, honored as the number one tourism event by the governor. These invited teams make an enormous commitment for ten full days of showing off their hitches plus an extra two to four days set aside for the exhibitor’s travel time.

Russ Anderson’s family, gorgeous red Belgium mules, wagons and carts from Lava Hot Springs located in the south eastern corner of Idaho rolled into Great Falls for their first taste of the Montana State Fair. Bob Tomaskie of Helena and Jack Eden of Hamilton, Montana feature dark brown and black seventeen hand plus Percheron mules and have been favorites of this fair for many years. All these teams can be seen at numerous events throughout the year at additional fairs, mule shows and various parades. If you’re lucky you may even catch them working in their own hay fields mowing and putting up winter feed.

It is a Kodak moment to witness these delightful hitches as they take turns pulling a ten foot tall skillfully hand carved and painted circus wagon decorated with a life size tiger, gargoyles, cobras and more. Four well known wood carvers of Missoula, MT spent 10 years working on this awesome sight and the only place to see it is at this State Fair. Let me tell you it’s even more fun to sit in the driver’s seat of the circus wagon and look down at these magnificent mules in their decorative harness while ducking tree limbs and high flying colorful flags as the outfit makes it’s way around the fair goers.

Each morning the teams go out at regular intervals while it’s still cool then break for lunch. This is what a Montana State Fair traffic jam often looks like with the Tomaskie and Eden hitches effectively blocking traffic.

Not to be outdone by the guys, the women celebrated fair days with Fancy Dress-Up Drives throughout the venders, the food court, the rodeo grounds and out to the race track. Bev Tomaskie, of Helena, drove an outstanding Percheron draft mule. She extended an invitation to friends to dress up and ride with the other drivers making it even more enjoyable for the gals and fair goers.

Kristi Kingma and Fjord owner Carol Tripp enjoy an warm afternoon of dress up driving with Large Standard Spotted Donkey RMS Lippyluver Luc, even the donkey got some fanciing up.

The stunning Norwegian Fjord Draft Horses were represented on these drives plus driven as a team several times a day. For years Dan and Carol Tripp of Victor, Montana have brought their quality registered light draft mares that ride and drive plus a colt to Great Falls. It’s never too early to get a future driving star started and it’s always amusing to have a youngster in the barn to keep us well entertained.

Calling all teamsters, each evening everyone gathered to assemble three 6- up mule hitches. The art of putting these hitches together is a show within itself and always brought a crowd of people to watch. For instance; the Eden’s build their hitch from the wheelers forward smoothly transitioning from a team into six striking molly mules pulling their Mulish on America authentic freight wagon decorated with both the American and Canadian flags.

When it’s show time these three mule hutches with their spotted harness and wagons loaded with people take several controlled spins around the Big Sky ProRodeo Roundup arena. During five nights of fast paced rodeo action the teams carry sponsors and dignitaries while the announcer informs the audience how important these people are to bringing this event to the area. Even the teamsters get their due from the announcer, who has a wonderful appreciation for the spectacular view everyone is enjoying. The PRCA Rodeo Tough Enough To Wear Pink Night distributes a portion of the gate proceeds to Women Against Breast Cancer. Each team is driven in a four abreast hitch in honor of the event while everyone is dressed in sporting pink shirts. In an exploding maze of the color pink the audience and the grandstands show their love of this worth while cause and the fight against cancer reaps the benefits.

Following the rodeo action it’s the exhibitors turn to kick back to visit with the Draft Horse Barn guests and enjoy the sights and sounds of the carnival until 11 pm. The wide eyed wonder of the kids and the animal’s reactions makes this time particularly fun.

The 2008 featured hitch was an $80,000.00 authentic overland Wells Fargo Stagecoach pulled by four dazzling black standard bred horses. The ladies in the fair office, who keep it all running smoothly, devised a prank for stagecoach driver Dan Cramer by awarding him an extra special ribbon; no one is safe from a little harassment and Dan’s not telling what that ribbon was for either!

At times the Draft Horse Barn isle ways were a sea of people. Hundreds, if not more, came to see the exquisite draft mules, Fjords, Standard breds and to talk about the mammoth donkeys. Adjoining us were the ever popular Longhorn Cattle with their huge spans. One of the steers, with the longest horns most folks have ever witnessed, spent the night bedded down in front of the donkeys. What a pleasant surprise to walk into the barn at 6 am to find everyone extremely comfortable with each other.

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"... do you remember the Beatles singing this popular 60's tune then revised in the 70’s by Elton John? Here is Jim and Kristi Kingma’s, American Jackstock Mammoth Donkey, Mas Ass Acres Liberty pictured skyward with Rosemary on board, somehow the title of this song came to mind when this photo came to life. Rosemary took charge of Liberty’s riding during their fair stay and made tremendous training progress. One afternoon after a fast paced session on the race track, whell fast for a donkey, they took time for a photo break. Helen Eden captured both of these tall and lanky characters in a delightful Big Sky Montana pose.

The exhibitors set up large display posters to further educate and entertain the public regarding their particular breeds; there were flyers, website cards and candy, which delighted the kids, available at the donkey stalls.

Barn visitors love to know the animal’s names so wooden signs were posted with name and breed descriptions. Luc’s signs soon became a game as to how fast Kristi could put them up after he tore them down. This is how that game ended.

The Mammoth Donkey’s and Kristi Kingma spent their second season having a terrific time at this State Fair. Young Mr. Liberty was ridden as well as driven, making huge strides in both categories. The venders treated all the animals like royalty with carrots, sugar donuts, apples and the like stashed at their booths. Liberty's whoa improved immensely as he had a knack for sniffing out the goodies. He had no trouble stopping for long visits involving petting and photo sessions.Even the sand carver, Bill Dow, placed a happy laid-back smiling donkey enjoying a basket full of apples as part of this year’s massive sand sculpture. A colored photo was featured in the local newspaper. Now that is some great Donk publicity!

Fair executive, Sue joined Kristi and Luc in a fun filled dress your pet costume class. They were the "Dancing Donkey Diva's" with Luc dressed as their date. Sue held a stuffed donkey that threw his body madly around as it played funky music. The first time Luc saw this toy he was being driven thru the fair venders and stopped dead in his tracks, he was totally fascinated by this grey and white 15 inch moving critter that kinda looked like him and knew how to boogie-on. He looked back at Kristi as if to say... "Mom, may I please have one... that is way too kewell!!!" Luc side passed while Sue and Kristi were "gettin' down" to the music and the crowd loved it! They picked up a gorgeous red ribbon that proudly hung near Luc’s stall but safely out of his grasp.

Luc saw his first pigs in the livestock barn that night and let me tell you that donkey boy was not impressed with swine! Maybe he should have seen the racing pigs which were unbelievably fast or taken a stroll to the petting zoo with everything from a baby camel, a Mediterranean donkey, kangaroos, tiny highland cattle, a zebra baby, unique birds and so much more. This fair offers something for everyone from nightly star studded concerts to displays of time consuming hobbies, lumberjacks showing off their skills, antique tractors and automobiles of days gone by and so much more.Helen Eden, one of Luc’s early instructors, had an opportunity to take the lines of this smooth driving donkey who has earned his fair share of awards in the past few years. She was impressed with what a soft sweet mouth he has developed and how responsive he has become. Once again Luc is proof that donkeys are highly trainable, have amazing flexibility and agility, besides that they love to please if given an opportunity. Luc, who has logged over one hundred hours of driving time, is a true joy to drive and has now acquired a youth driver of his own to train. As Liberty matures he will be in his own outstanding driving and riding category. The donkeys were hitched several times at the fair as a team, they definitely enjoyed those outings.

When it came to feeding time Luc loudly entertained the crowds by Hee-Hawing, which he was sure made the feed appear quicker. He purposely was fed very small portions several times a day which delighted the kids and their parents. He also sang to Liberty when he was out playing and Luc was left behind. Luc, who is soft spoken at home, could be heard singing the blues all over the fair grounds.

Back in Grangeville, Id Liberty immediately went into attention withdrawals missing hands of all sizes caressing his face, ears and body. He was seldom out of reach of fair goers as he can never seem to get enough; this was his third consecutive year at this fair.

Fairs are a wonderful opportunity to show the public that donkeys, mules and draft horses are still in use in our modern world. For many seeing these animals is a first time experience, for others it’s a chance to remember that Granddad had a splendid ole’ team or donkeys that we rode as kids.

Interested in an exceptional opportunity to view draft animals and spend quality time at a family friendly event? Join us next year for the 78th Montana State Fair at Great Falls.
http://www.montanastatefair.com
Photo credits to Helen Eden, Carol Tripp and Kristi Kingma


Luc and Kristi adding their speed demon time to the track records. GPS reading was over 10 mph.	Rosemary putting Liberty thru his paces on the race track, you go girl!	Hang out the sign; Rosemary and Kristi are gone ridin’.

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