Windermere Farms takes top honors at Pa. Farm Show

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Windermere Farms took home many of the top honors in the draft horse show at the 2012 Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg.

Honors

Abraham Allebach of Windermere Farms in Centre County, claimed the title of supreme champion draft horse for the second consecutive year.

Gerald Allebach’s champion entry, Windermeres Markie Maid, was also selected as the winner for the Percheron best of breed class and was named Percheron junior champion mare and Percheron grand champion mare.

Percherons

Walt Rice, of Shining Eye Percherons, in Cumberland County, took home Percheron grand champion stallion honors with his entry, Shining Eye Farran. Rice’s other entry, Shining Eye Hawks Talon, was awarded with the Percheron reserve junior champion stallion title.

Hitching competition

Draft horse breeders Ken and Karen Sandoe of Sunny Hill Farm, Lebanon Co., and Gerald and Melissa Allebach of Windermere Farms, shook up a little more than the ground beneath their draft horses’ hooves during the draft horse hitch competition Jan. 8.

Both farms returned home with top honors for several of their respective hitches. Sunny Hill, exhibited by Ken Sandoe, took the championship title in the six-horse hitch and unicorn hitch before snagging the reserve championship for the team hitch.

Windermere, exhibited by Gerald and Melissa Allebach, was awarded with the four-horse hitch and team hitch championship titles. Their son, Abraham Allebach, drove to a championship title during the youth team hitch as well.

Bee Tree Trail of Berks Co., a crowd favorite for their whimsical creativity, took home the top honors in the commercial hitch portion of the show.