CASSOPOLIS — Sara McIntyre not only showed her draft horse, who was named the grand champion gelding, but she also showed a grand champion mare, only the mare’s esteemed title was not for her, it was for her 74-year-old uncle, Ron Williams.

Williams, who is from Cassopolis, has been attending the Cass County fair for more than 60 years, but has only been competing with his mare, Babe, in the draft horse shows for 10 years. After retiring, Williams wanted to buy a horse and found Babe for sale at the Cass County Fair when she was just two months old.

“I bought her to make my wife mad in a way,” Williams said. “My wife said, ‘You are not going to buy a horse. You know expensive they get.’”

Against his wife’s wishes, Williams purchased the horse, picked her up that August and immediately took her to a trainer to break her for a cart. The following year, he entered Babe in a horse show at the Cass County Fair and she won, but was still not old enough to compete in a cart class yet because of her age.

Eventually, Babe became ready for the cart class and Williams entered her into the St. Joseph County Grange Fair draft horse show. 

“I did something that hadn’t been done yet,” Williams said. “Two years in a row you show in your cart class and you win, then you have to show against all breeds. She won against all breeds.”

The next year, Williams took Babe back again and she did the same thing under a different set of judges, he said.

“I was shocked, completely shocked,” Williams said.

While Babe was collecting wins, Williams was told by his doctor that he could possibly have a spot of cancer on his lungs. Once Williams went through surgery and the results came back negative for cancer, there was only one thing left for him to do, he said.

“I got dumb and wanted to buy another horse,” he said.

Williams spent the next five years looking for a horse that would perfectly match Babe so they could compete in the matching category. Williams and his wife eventually found a horse.

“It was perfect, but then he started growing and he grew that much taller,” Williams said putting his hand high above his head. “The judge told me one day, ‘You can’t get first today Ron because they aren’t matched anymore.’ So, I ended up selling him.”

Now Williams leaves the actual running of Babe to his niece, McIntyre, who is 32 and has been showing her own gelding in the draft horse shows since 2012.

“I can’t run. I did a couple years ago,” Williams said. “I ran out there, and when I came back I thought I was going to need the paramedics right away. I just lost my breath and then got scared and panicked.”

Williams went on to express his gratitude to McIntyre for helping him run Babe and show her to the judges.

“I just help when I can,” McIntyre said.

Her own introduction to the draft horse competition came from Williams, who she used to watch compete in the draft horse shows.

Now, the pair has noticed a lot of people in similar situations who utilize a runner to show another person’s horse. Although McIntyre said showing someone else’s horse can be difficult because a runner may not know all of a specific horse’s ins and outs, she is happy to help her uncle.

Williams will continue to show Babe in the draft horses show and is already looking for another horse.

“The draft horse is a completely different breed from a riding horse,” he said. “I just love them because they are so big and gentle. This just keeps me going.”