The power of horses is kicking off this season’s festivities at a national site dedicated to promoting the history of ranching. The Bar U Ranch National Historic Site is starting the 2018 season with Rhythm of the Land, where 10 acres of barley will be planted using draft horses and heavy-equipment to represent the early days of farming May 19-21. “You will see horses plowing, running discs and pulling a seed drill,” said Mike McLean, the ranch’s acting site manager. “It’s really quite a spectacle to see all of the horses and vintage equipment working.” Volunteers with Eau Claire Distillery in Turner Valley and Alberta Carriage Supply east of Calgary will be in the field working the land alongside the horses throughout the weekend. “We will have heritage interpreters explain all that’s going on and some hands-on activities for families to try out some of the equipment,” said McLean. “It reflects farming methods that you would have seen 60 to 70 years ago. It’s all horse-powered farming that would be from the early part of the 20th century to the post World War II era.” At 1 p.m. on Saturday, visitors can watch a parade of the horses and implements tour through the grounds. Throughout the season, the Bar U Ranch will host its Historic Places Day, Hometown Heroes, Canada Day celebrations, Ranch Rodeo, harvest and heavy horse weekend and the chore horse competition. New this season will be a cowboy cuisine where visitors can enjoy a heritage meal in the cookhouse July 14 and 28, August 4, 11, 18 and 25 and Sept. 8 and 22 at a cost of $22 each, said McLean. “We did a pilot last year of pot roast, roasted vegetables, coffee and rhubarb crumble for dessert,” he said. Also new are daily hour-long percheron-drawn wagon rides that will shuttle people around the site as they hear stories about the ranch throughout July and August. McLean said the Bar U Ranch had its most visitors ever last year at 33,000 when people were admitted for free, which beat the previous record of 26,000 visitors in 2016. Admission to the Bar U Ranch will be free this year for children only. Adults cost $7.80 and seniors $6.55. The historic site opened May 14 and is open seven days a week 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Sept. 30.
