In spite of a delay that postponed the event by one day, the fifth annual Bushnell Horse Show opened Saturday afternoon to an enthusiastic crowd ready to see the horses.

"With all the rain delays and weather delays, it's going very well," said event chairperson Ruth Ann McGrew about the event. "We've got a beautiful day, we've got a nice crowd."

Recent rainfall made the track on the west edge of Bushnell too muddy to use on Friday evening, so the event was postponed until Saturday at 1 p.m. The parking area on the grounds served as the track. 

Percheron and Belgian hitches came from all over the country and as far away as Canada to participate in the show. Krista Grange, from Delmar, Iowa, came with her team of eight Percheron horses.

"We'll hitch every class," Grange said after she finished first in the ladies draft horse cart class. "We have eight Percherons, and they're all geldings."

Grange said she has participated in the show three times, and only missed last year's show because she participated in the Calgary Stampede.

Aaron Mosher, from Prophetstown, competed in several classes with his Belgian horses.

"It's good to get the horses out in an environment of showing," he said he waited to compete in the draft horse mare team class.

Many of the horse teams participating in the show finish in the National Finals, which are held in October.

This year's horse show marked the 100th anniversary of the very first Bushnell Horse Show, which was held in October 1908.