Animals at the fair

On my Sunday trip to the fair I saw some animals that I did not see last year. The FFA building has piglets that were easily touched by people. When I came in the little piggies were sleeping, as was their mother. Then a bunch of kids arrived, and each of them wanted to hold a little pig.

Because most of them did not know what they were doing, and there soon were a lot of squealing little piglets. And then they all sought comfort in the way that babies always seek comfort--sucking.

Poor piggies. And just think how unhappy they would be if they realized what their purpose in life was.

The other animals that I had not seen last year were draft horses in a pulling competition. They were not down in the horse arena (where on Sunday they were doing equestrian things) but behind the Retired Iron building. Each team pulled the sled about 30 feet, and as the rounds continued, the weight in the sled was increased. When the weight was small--three tons--the horses pulled it with ease.

But when the weight got over 9000 pounds, they no longer could do the full pulls. They were really straining.

The announcer said that these same teams had been competing Saturday at Winamac and the day before that at Hamlet. At Winamac the winning team pulled over 12,000 pounds, but the track was easier.

I read long ago that the number of horses in American cities peaked a century ago, in 1910, and then their numbers declined rapidly. The breeds of horses that were used as draft animals probably declined a lot more than some of the other breeds. If they would have had this competition a century ago, I bet there would have been a lot more contestants and they would have been better. What do you think?