Video: The Thunder of 18 Six-Horse Hitches

Excuse me while I have minor heart palpitations in the corner.

If you’ve ever stood by the rail at a draft horse show, even just the single cart classes put the sound of thunder in the air and a rumble in the ground. Go up to a six-horse hitch and you’ll feel the earth start to shake. But 18 six-horse hitches all at the same time? That has to register on the Richter scale.

The Britt Draft Horse Show takes place every Labor Day weekend in Britt, Iowa, offering several days of competition. The crowning event of the weekend, however, is the six-horse hitch class, in which all eighteen competing teams are showing — at the same time. That’s 108 horses pounding the ground, 72 wheels rolling and an awe-inspiring sight.

Watch the intense coordination it takes to reverse and line up these 18 teams at the 2016 show, with plenty of help from ground crew:

There’s no place that does it quite like the Britt Draft Horse Show! The winners of this class in 2016 were the Blue Ribbon Days Percherons — but we consider everyone a winner just for making this wild ride work.

Go driving!