Sandpoint, ID

Back in the old times, loggers used their teams of draft horses to fell massive Idaho trees and haul them, often in winter, to timber markets. These days, you’re more likely to see draft horses on beer commercials than in rural areas, helping people make a hardscrabble living.
Here’s your chance to see some of the most majestic creatures on earth, in the flesh, up close.

The draft horse show is an event many locals attend every September and look forward to all year. It’s also an international event, attracting draft horse breeders from Canada and all over the United States. The show was held at the Bonner County Fair Grounds in October for many years, but now takes place in September, which is a boon to those huddled in the bleachers with coffee and a cold rear.

If you can, sit at the bottom of the bleachers so you can feel the earth shake as the teams and wagons rumble by. Check out their foot feathers and they pass and see their fur glisten and start to foam during the pulling contests.

If you ask owners, they just may let you pet the velvety noses of some of the most gentle giants around. Just visit the barns between shows and be polite.
Bring a blanket, embrace the slow pace and get ready to experience a vanishing aspect of Americana.