Bucyrus, OH — After a month-long spell of inclement weather that has gripped the area the Harness Horse Youth Foundation/Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association’s Ohio Grand Tour 2019 was greeted by pristine skies and temperatures in the low 70s at the Crawford County Fairgrounds on Monday (June 3) as they began their 10-day trek through Ohio.

The well-mannered Trottingbreds were great to work with. OHHA photo.

Fair Official David Staats welcomed the small entourage with their six Trottingbreds and did a fine job of hosting HHYF director Ellen Taylor’s crew and their guests as he had the stalls and track ready and in tip-top shape.

The morning’s activities included hands-on demonstrations with question and answer sessions about horse anatomy, temperament, care, and equipment which was all very informative and entertaining.

As one older observer said: “I’ve been around horses for 50 years and I didn’t know that!”

With a break for lunch the kids and their instructors then got the animals ready to jog. As they shared the specially-built two seat jog cart with a licensed Standardbred trainer, they took a five-minute lap around the half-mile track, and really enjoyed being out in the fresh air.

When they finished rubbing the horses down and put away with a well-earned flake of hay and fresh water, the youngsters were treated to a virtual reality headset experience of driving in a race. It was just like being behind a fast pacer in the middle of eight other horses as they went a mile in 1:55.

The only thing was that you can’t say “oh my,” “wow,” or “oh boy” when you’re in a real race as that kind of “distracts” the other drivers especially if one yells “there’s a horse right behind me!”

Everyone had a good laugh.

Before anyone realized it, the day was over and we started packing up.

Plaudits to Bucyrus and the Crawford County Fairgrounds and an appreciative “thank you” for having us and we’re already looking forward to next year. Now on to more of “The Ohio Country!”