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tribune october 14 1987 c3 purcells ponies top winners at fair by denise mcdonald the family that competes together wins together or so it was for the purcell family of markham who took part in the 4h and light horse competi tion at markham fair october 1 to 4 during the 4h event holly and mount rancher secured first- place honors in senior show manship second in western plea sure third in open pleasure and third inenglish pleasure not to be outdone was sister carrie who together with five- yearold patton came first in the senior shetland stallion class and first in the single shetland har ness competition and was awarded grand champion stal lion and grand champion driving stallion honors lionels sweet marie shown by head of the family lionel secured the grand champion mare roset te and came first in the novice harness competition lionels smokin joe shown by both holly and carrie secured re serve grand champion stallion honors came first in pleasure pony and second in ladies driving lastly mother rita and silver princess were honored with re serve grand champion mare came second in pleasure driving and third in ladies driving according to mr purcell he originally became involved in the pony industry at the age of three when 14 he purchased his first animal which would later form the basis of his current show string however in 1975 a fire ripped through his stable at kennedy road and steeles avenue killing 30 ponies and most of his show stock it literally wipsd us out he says we had to start all over again purchasing several part blood lines and those similar to his pre vious animals mr purcell slowly increased his show herd until it has now reached its presentday total of 50 ponies and 10 horses while his main interest lay in breeding and showing shetland and welsh ponies mr purcell also started a childrens petting zoo 25 years ago something he re- fered to as a hobby but then school teachers started knocking on my door asking if they could bring their students in to see the animals he says so it finally became a busi ness however not only were chil dren and teachers interested in the petting zoo and pony farm so too were representatives from the television and movie industry since that time purcells ponies and other animals have appeared in 75 per cent of movies and commercials filmed in ontar io including anne of green gables we also do a lot of weddings when people want horse or pony- drawn carriages he says in 1982 the purcell family and assembled entourage moved their headquarters to the former shadow creek riding stable on mccowan road north of 19th avenue i was the last farmer to sell in scarborough he says at that time we were the first farm south of markham and now were the first farm out of markham on this side citing markham fair as his home town show purcells anim als have been in attendance since 1932 when asked how he feels about this years overwhelming suc cess mr purcell says we generally do well and its not too often we dont after setting re cords at the exhibition and then coming out to local shows and the fair weve found its not the same heavy type of competition carrie purcell and fiveyearold stallion patton left were equally successful during the fourday com- above demonstrate the form that secured grand petition securing one first one second and two third- champion stallion and driving stallion honors for the place finishes markham family sister holly and mount rancher denise mcdonald