It’s been 30 years since the little town of Navan entered the annals of the Guinness Book of Records when a group of farmers banded together to do something no one else had ever done – hitch up 50 Clydesdale horses to a wagon and drive them 3.5 kilometres through the village.
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Wyatt and Willard McWilliams pose together during an event at this year’s Navan Fair marking the 30th anniversary of the 50-Horse Hitch which took place on Aug. 13, 1995 and witnessed by more than 40,000 spectators. STAFF PHOTO |
The famous 50-Horse Hitch was a year in the making. First dreamed up by Navan farmer Willard McWilliams to mark the 50th anniversary of the Navan Fair, the 50-Horse Hitch would require the cooperation of 18 Clydesdale owners and the cooperation of dozens more in the fabrication of five groups of reins, each stretching 180 feet long.
In the lead up to the big day, Willard and his son Wyatt organized a series of three practices – two involving 18 horses and one involving 30 horses – along with fellow lead organizers Denny Brown and Sam Dagg.
It wasn’t until the big day on Aug. 13, 1995 that they attempted to hitch up all 50 horses. It took two hours to prepare all of the horses and hitch them all up. The formation consisted on 12 rows of four horses each lead by two horses, Tony and Duke.
The team left the Navan Fairgrounds and turned right on to Delson Road. They then followed Delson around to Trim Road and turned right before taking a left on to Forest Lea Drive.
After going the length of Forest Lea, the team turned right onto Smith Road and marched down Smith and Colonial Road to Delson before returning to the Navan Fairgrounds.
An estimated crowd of 50,000 people descended on the little village of Navan to witness the historic event. It would be a site that Wyatt McWilliams would never forget.
“When we turned the corner on to Smith Road and just seeing all the people. I’d never seen anything like it. It was just a sea of people,” recalls Wyatt, who developed a rare disease in the years afterwards that robbed him of his sight. “That’s a memory I have kept with me all these years.”
Interestingly enough, the McWilliams never intended to set a record, it was the Fair’s organizers who checked with the Guinness Book of Records people and found out the old record was 48 horses. It was only a coincidence that the 50th anniversary 50-Horse Hitch entered the record books.
The anniversary of the 50-Horse Hitch was celebrated in the Myers Barn at this year's Fair, with a model replica of the historic event, press clippings from the original event, the actual wagon that was used and several vintage wagons donated by Navan farmer and vintage wagon collector Glen Edwards.
The display was sponsored by Myers Orléans, the Friends of the Mer Bleue, Sure Print and Graphics, Waste Connections and Gabriels Pizza.
ORLEANS FARMERS MARKET every Thursday from 11 am to 4 pm in the parking lot at the Ray Friel Recreation Centre on Tenth Line Road. Shop the freshest seasonal produce, meat and dairy, baked goods, prepared foods, crafts and more while getting to know the folks who grew and made it.
STATION 71 PANCAKE BREAKFAST from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Fire Station 71 in Navan with a freewill donation to the CHEO Foundation. Come enjoy pancakes with local maple syrup Erabliere des Wats Sugar Bush, local coffee from Papa Bean coffee roastery, and sausages and bacon from Lavergne Meat. After breakfast check out the Navan Fall Fest at the Navan Fairgrounds.
