Fred and Jack are like any athletes - they know when it's time to compete and when it's time to mingle with their fans.
And the draft horse team of Belgian heavy horses didn't disappoint their hometown Prince George fans in three days of horse pulling at the Agriplex during the BCNE on the weekend.
Friday night in the heavyweight class, the pair, whose home barn is on Zane Pickering's farm in Pineview, pulled a loaded sled weighing 12,000 pounds.
Sunday afternoon in the three-abreast class, Fred and Jack teamed with another one of Pickering's big Belgians, Tom, and pulled 16,000 pounds over 101 inches to break the old record of 13,500 pounds and win the title.
"Friday night we left them in the competition and they shattered the old record of 10,500 pounds," said Pickering, who had his long-time teamster Delbert Dillman on the reins with both Fred and Jack and Tom and his partner, Andy, during the weekend. "Pound for pound, Fred and Jack pulled the heaviest weights of all.
"Our horses can feel the competition, they had their game faces on."
Fred (eight years old) and Jack (seven), each weigh close to 2,200 pounds and stand 20 hands high (six-foot-eight) and their powerful chests are 40 inches wide (twice that of a saddle horse).
The draft horse show, in front of a packed house at the Agriplex during all three days of competition, attracted 13 teams from Smithers (Curtis Adamson), Terrace (Dean Sturko) and Fort St. John (Gordie MacKenzie), Alberta and Washington State. They competed in light and heavyweight classes.
Other Prince George teams included Harold Mueller's pair of Bailey and Roy, Jennifer Dillman's team of Rowdy and Pat, and Ryan Dillman's team of Molly and Dan. At only 13, Ryan Dillman was the youngest competitor on the lines.
"Everybody came prepared to pull," said Pickering, who owns Falcon Contracting in Prince George. "It was an awesome competition and it was great to have so many teams here at the BCNE and we hope it will get bigger next year."
When they weren't harnessing their horsepower on the Agriplex's infield, the equine teams received plenty of attention outside in the adjacent corral.
"There were so many families who stopped by to see the teams," said Pickering. "Fred and Jack got more kisses this weekend than Elvis, from adults to children. The kids were touching them and laying on them."
Fred and Jack, who finished third in the heavyweight class with a pull of 10,500 pounds at the Calgary Stampede in July, have only competed together for five months.
They, along with Tom and Andy, will be at the Nechako Valley Fall Fair in Vanderhoof this weekend, competing in the horse pulls and plowing matches, and will also attend the Armstrong Exhibition and Stampede Aug. 27-31.
This fall, they'll be in Washington and Idaho to give them more experience against other competition in preparation for the 2015 Calgary Stampede.
