What is a Horse Pull?

Horse pulling was originally a competition for farmers to determine who had the strongest team.  Now it is more of a hobby for a lot of competitors although you will still find a few farm and logging teams participating.  It now costs thousands of dollars to purchase a good team of horses and it takes many hours of hard work to keep them fit enough to pull and compete.

There are many different forms of horse pulling found throughout the USA and Canada.  Here in New England most of it is done on a drag or stone boat.  On rare occasion you may find a sled pull or even a dynamometer like you see in the picture here.  

Most pulls are elimination contests where each contestant has five minutes and three hitches to pull the load the required distance in one continuous pull.  That success qualifies the team for the next heavier load.  The boat continues to be loaded with weight until one team qualifies the load or the winner is determined as the team that pulled the heaviest load the greatest distance.  The most common distances used for competitions in New England are six and twelve feet.  In the state of Maine you will find distance pulls where a team has five minutes to pull a predetermined weight as far as possible.  Regardless of what style pull you witness, you will find it takes a well conditioned pair of horses, a skilled teamster and precise teamwork between man and horse to compete.