I’ve never been to the Chuck Wagon Races before and neither has Daryl so that’s sure sounds like a good reason to go doesn’t it?
OK I first need to tell you the history behind the Chuck Races. I need to do this only because I had no clue so I thought I better share it in case you didn’t know either.
So here it goes – when the West was young and just getting started the cattle were driven to market or from one range to the other. So it was necessary to have the chuckwagons hurry from one camp to the next to get the next meal ready for the cowboys. Makes sense right?
When the morning breakfast was done, the chuckwagon crew had to clean up, pack up, and then go at a fast pace to have enough time to unload the wagon, collect firewood, start fires, get water and prepare the evening meal. Whew!
And since they traveled through hostile territory, it was necessary for part of the crew to ride next to the wagon in case of an attack. The chuckwagons, food and equipment was hard to replace in the west at the time.
The rules of the Chuckwagon races that we went to says that the wagons need to be weighing at least 1325 lbs. with the driver in the seat. The wagon has a canvas cover and a flap which extends at least 8 feet from the rear of the wagon with poles attached to form a tent. They also have this stove that’s smoking on the ground that needs to be picked up and put into the wagon at the beginning of the race.
And rules? There sure seemed to be a lot of them. If you bumped the barrel or didn’t get on your horse, or even if you were one of the riders and wasn’t in the correct placement when you went over the finish line you were deducted points! Holy Smokes! I guess these guys (and gals) knew all the rules and we were there just to have fun and watch.
OK, now that you know why and how the races are done here are some pictures of the races on Monday in Nashua at the Big Four Fair.
Cowboys getting the wagons and horses set up for the race. The horses would do the jump up and try to run thing that would have scared the dickens out of me!
And they are off! They have their smoking stove in the wagon and now to do a tour around the barrels. It looks like all the cowboys are on their horses which is good!
Here is a picture of two of the contestants coming down the finish line. I’m not sure where all their riders are? Looks like some points will be given for that 🙂
A big crowd in the grand stands watching the races today
And once the races were over what did we do? Well you can’t go to a fair and not enjoy an Elephant Ear can you? These Elephant Ears are deep fried batter topped with sugar. Now maybe not the most healthy but honestly probably one of the best things that you can eat at a fair.
One of the most colorful ferris wheels that I’ve ever seen!
The picture of the day is that of one of the riders. I think the announcer said that this guy had to ride beside the front wheel of the wagon. And since a storm went through last night, well the track was kinda muddy which in turn made him pretty muddy! 