Along with chickens, rabbits, goats and the Pennsylvania High School Rodeo Association Championship, the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show hosts two of the top horse pulling contests of the year.
A horse pulling contest is designed to see who has the strongest team of pulling horses. The Pennsylvania Farm Show contest consists of two weight classes. The Lightweight Class is for horses < 3,325 pounds (combined weight of both horses) and the Heavyweight Class is for horses ≥ 3,325 pounds (combined weight of both horses).
These horses are ready to try pulling a weight 8800 pounds.
1. One horse on a team weighs 1630 lb. The other weighs 1665 lb., in which class will this team compete?
2. One horse on a team weighs 1645 lb. The other weighs 1685 lb., in which class will this team compete?
Teams are hitched (called “hooked”) to either a boat or a dynamometer. The boat is a big flat-bottomed sled without runners which can be loaded with weight (usually in the form of concrete blocks.) Teams pull the boat back and forth on the pulling track.
Science Talk – dynamometer: a machine that adjusts the amount of weight resistance according to the strength of the team and then measures the force or power of the team.
Teams must pull the sled a full required distance of 27½ feet. The weight is gradually increased until the team that can pull the heaviest load the farthest wins.
Click to enlarge
The concrete blocks in the image at the left are 100 pounds. The total weight pulled is shown in the lower right corner.
3. What is the weight of the sled?
At one show, all the lightweight teams easily pulled 4,250 pounds. From there the load increased to 5,450 pounds, 6,650 pounds and 7,850 pounds. Things got tougher when the weight reached 8,450, 9,050 and 9,650 pounds.
4. Weight was increased by what increment from 4,250 lb until the total weight reached 7,850 lb?
5. Weight was increased by what increment from 7,850 lb until the total weight reached 9,650 lb?
Math Talk – increment: The process of increasing in number, size, or quantity through a series of regular consecutive additions. In this case, the weight the horses pull in each round.
In the end, Bobby Howard, with his horses Rex and Dick, captured first place when they pulled 9,650 lb a distance of 27’06”. Bobby also captured second place with his brother’s team of horses, Rock & Ben, pulling 9050 lb over a distance of 27’06”.
6. Did Bobby and his teams pull their loads the full required distance?
Heavy horse pull at the 2011 Stirling Agricultural Society Fair.
7. How much more weight did the first place team of Rex and Dick pull than the second place team, Rock and Ben?
The Heavyweight Class followed, starting with a weight of 5,450 pounds in the first round. The weight increased until the sled held 10,850 pounds by the eighth round.
8. Assuming the same amount of weight was added each round, weight was added by what increment?
One owner, Scott Enslin decided to withdraw from the contest when the weight hit 9,650 pounds. “I’ll let my team think they are winners so they want to do this again,” he said. “You’ve got to know when to quit.” He said that Dick, his eight-year-old Belgian, has been blind in his left eye since birth.
In the end, they could do no more. Their brute strength and teamwork wasn’t enough to pull a sled loaded with 10,850 pounds of concrete blocks the required 27½ feet. Enslin wasn’t upset with Dick, Mike, Bud and Jimmy because all four of the Belgians were new to horse pulling at the Farm Show.
“These teams barely got their last loads across the line,” said Enslin. “It was hard for them.”
So who did win theHeavyweight Class?
First place went to Scott Brown whose team Boomer & Otis pulled 10,850 lb the full distance in three tries. Charlie Brown, Scott’s brother, placed second with his team of horses, Charlie & Chip. They pulled the same amount of weight, but only 25′ 8″.
9. How close did Charlie and Chip come to pulling the 10,850 lb load the full distance?
Bobby Howard and his horses Curt & Chart pulled the 10,850 lb 6 feet 8 inches to take third place. “Competition was tough tonight,” Bobby said, “There’s a lot of good teams in this class.”
10. How much farther did the winning team pull their sled than Bobby’s horses Curt & Chart?
The Calgary Stampede heavy horse pull is the biggest in Canada and the richest pull in North America.
The heaviest weight ever pulled at the Calgary Stampede heavy horse pull was 13,400 pounds. The record was set in 2012 by Jesse and Sam, teamstered by Dennis Weinberger of Cochrane, Alta. The horses weighed a combined 5,475 pounds.
11. How much more weight did Jesse and Sam pull than Boomer & Otis when they set the Calgary Stampede record?
Here’s a video from a previous Farm show. Watch these horses go to work!
1. One horse on a team weighs 1630 lb. The other weighs 1665 lb., in which class will this team compete in?
Answer: 1630 lb + 1665 lb = 3295 lb. This team would compete in the Lightweight Class.
2. One horse on a team weighs 1645 lb. The other weighs 1685 lb., in which class will this team compete in?
Answer: 1645 lb + 1685 lb = 3330 lb. This team would compete in the Heavyweight Class.
3. What is the weight of the sled?
Answer: 4000 lb − (17 blocks × 100 lb) = 4000 lb (total weight) − 1700 lb (weight of blocks) = 2300 lb. The sled weighs 2300 lb.
4. Weight was increased by what increment from 4,250 lb until the total weight reached 7,850 lb?
Answer:
5,450 lb − 4,250 lb = 1,200 lb.
6,650 lb − 5,450 lb = 1,200 lb.
7,850 lb − 5,450 lb = 1,200 lb.
Weight was increased by 1,200 lb in these rounds.
5. Weight was increased by what increment from 7,850 lb until the total weight reached 9,650 lb?Answer: 8,450 lb − 7,850 lb = 600 lb. Weight was increased by 600 lb.
6. Did Bobby and his team pull the heaviest load the full required distance?
Answer: The full required distance is 27½ feet. One foot is twelve inches. Six is half of twelve. Therefore, 27’ 06” (27½ feet) is the full required distance.
7. How much more weight did the first place team of Rex and Dick pull than the second place team, Rock and Ben?
Answer: 9,650 lb − 9,050 lb = 600 lb. Rex and Dick pulled 600 more pounds. Note: This relates back to question ‘5’. You could also arrive at the answer by referring back to the answer to this question.
8. Assuming the same amount of weight was added each round, weight was added by what increment?
Answer:
Step 1: 10,850 lb − 5,450 lb = 5,400 lb. A total amount of 5,400 lb was added over the course of eight rounds.
Step 2: 5,400 lb ÷ 8 = 675 lb. 675 lb was added each round.
9. How close did Charlie and Chip come to pulling the 10,850 lb load the full distance?
Answer: The full distance is 27’6”. Charlie and Chip pulled the load 25’8”. Counting on is a good strategy to use to find this answer.
Step 1: 25’8” + 4” = 26’; 26’ + 1’6” = 27’6”.
Step 2: 4” + 1’6” = 1’10”. Charlie and Chip needed to pull the sled one foot ten inches further to make the full required distance. That was close!
10. How much farther did the winning team pull their sled than Curt & Chart?
Answer:
Step 1: Using the counting on strategy: 6’8” + 4” = 7’; 7’ + 20’ = 27’; 27’ + 6” = 27’6”.
Step 2: 4” + 20’ + 6” = 20’10”
Boomer & Otis pulled the sled twenty feet ten inches further than Curt and Chart.
11. How much more weight did Jesse and Sam pull than Boomer & Otis when they set the Calgary Stampede record?
Answer: 13,400 lb − 10,850 = 2550 lb. Jesse and Sam pulled 2550 lb more than Boomer & Otis.
Common Core:
4.OA.A.2 – Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division word problems
4.OA.A.3 – Multi-step word problems
5.OA.A – Write and interpret numerical expressions
5.MD.A.1 – Compare and convert customary units of length
Photos:
Horse Pull,,,Git-R-Done by LadyDragonflyCC; CC BY 2.0
The Driver is Working Harder than the Horses by Dennis Jarvis; CC BY-SA 2.0
Horses pulling 4000 lb; YouTube screen shot
Horse Pull by Jassen; CC BY 2.0
