Getting ready for Royal Manitoba Winter Fair

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/03/2024 (567 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair took shape on Sunday, with exhibitors getting their animals ready, vendors setting up their booths and workers assembling rides throughout the Keystone Centre ahead of opening day.

Heather Hart and her husband Rod of Meadowind Miniatures from Carman were busy trimming hair on the four miniature horses they brought for competition this year when the Sun visited the venue.

She said they arrived on Saturday and got set up in about three hours with the help of the Manitoba Miniature Horse Club.

“It becomes a whole community,” Hart said of attending the fair. “It’s like going to the cottage in the summer … we know all the people in the other breeds as well.”

They’ve been going to the fair for 25 to 30 years at this point.

The Harts were getting ready to sell raffle tickets for one of the horses they brought with them to Brandon, with the winner getting to take home a miniature horse this spring — as long as they can prove they can take good care of the animal.

But Sandman, who served as the horse for the costume class their grandchildren used when they were young, is going to stay with them as long and they’re in the horse business.

He’s scheduled to give some rides as part of the Royal Experience event on Tuesday, also being used as a demonstration horse by one of the members of the miniature horse club.

Elsewhere in the heated barns, Brittany Martin and fiancée Tyler Thevenot of Strathclair’s Boulder Bluff Clydesdales were bathing Nina and Patsy Cline in preparation for their competitions this week.

In 2018, they won world championships in three classes at the World Clydesdale Show in Madison, Wis. When that show came to Brandon last summer, they got some second-place ribbons but were unable to reach first place.

Despite previous success, Martin said they’re still looking for more victories.

“We do tend to drive a lot of young horses, so it is a little bit challenging but that’s what we strive for,” she said. “We love to see our horses grow and get better with every show.”

She said she likes the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair because it provides them with a good opportunity to work on skills with their young horses. On top of that, she said she loves seeing the excitement the Brandon crowd has for seeing the draft horses in action.

Over in the vendors’ section, Trevor, Melanie and Lauren Rempel of Waldheim, Sask. were setting up their booth to sell horse-themed gear under the name “Fire and Hope Equestrian.”

“It’s our first year,” Melanie told the Sun. “We literally just became a business in November. This is our first outing as ‘Fire and Hope.’”

They’ll be selling equestrian-themed T-shirts with messages on them like “I got off my horse to be here, this better be good,” grooming tools, cutting boards and saddle tassels.

Daughter Lauren competes in dressage and is looking to watch some of the competition this week.

Melanie said Lauren has a learning disability and starting equine therapy six years ago has been a big help. She’s developed her skills to the point where she is participating in para dressage competitions.

To try to give others a similar opportunity, she said 10 per cent of the proceeds from T-shirt sales are going to a fund helping pay for kids to access equine therapy.

In the Manitoba Room, Wakpa McKay and his coworkers from Wonder Rides were hard at work cleaning and polishing a pair of rides after setting them up.

He said it was his first time working with the company and thanked his colleagues for teaching him about rides and the carnival business.

“There’s a whole lot that needs to be done when it comes to ride prepping,” McKay said.

“First is to get the ride off of our trailers and hitches. We need to use a lot of wrenches, it’s very hands-on work. It’s tough when you don’t have a lot of people, but if you have a big crew, say a crew of five, then it’s a cinch.”

A lot of the work being done on Sunday was safety related. After a test run of the carousel, the crew heard a noise they were trying to eliminate with the careful application of grease. This morning, before the fair officially kicks off, they’ll do another round of checks.

Reached by phone last Friday, Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba general manager Mark Humphries said the physical set up for the winter fair starts around a week beforehand when staff and volunteers start to haul equipment from the Dome Building across the parking lot to the Keystone Centre.

“It’s one of the most exciting parts because obviously when you get to that stage, the fair is here,” Humphries said. “The winter fair takes a full year to plan, now coming to fruition.”

He said he was looking forward to seeing the first patrons enter the fair today and seeing the smiles on kids’ faces.

Events Humphries said he was looking forward to include the new show team competitions, opportunities for people to learn more about agriculture and performances from children’s entertainer Fred Penner.

The fair kicks off this morning with the annual Sunrise Breakfast event. Events start between 7 and 8 a.m. each day. The last event each day typically starts around 7 p.m. except for Friday, when the Grand Prix Calcutta event starts at 9 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased in advance online at provincialexhibition.com or at the entry gates to the Keystone Centre’s parking lots. A full schedule, list of events and map can also be found online at that address.

Ticket purchases for the fair’s 50-50 draw, which has a guaranteed minimum pot of $10,000, have already begun online at rafflebox.ca/raffle/provexofmb.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» X: @ColinSlark