With its head low and every muscle straining, the American Pit Bull Terrier pulls many times his own weight on a wheeled cart, rail cart or snow sled. He must move the weight 16 feet in 60 seconds or less. Spectators watch in amazement as he moves stacks of concrete blocks weighing more than a ton.
Holly Lowery-Richmond has successfully participated in weight pulling and other related performance activities for many years with her WinMor American Staffordshire and American Pit Bull Terriers. She is a breeder of performance and conformation champions and a weight-pull judge. Holly was introduced to the world of purebred dogs as a small child. “My parents had Toy Poodles. When I was 12 years old, I became fascinated with a friend’s English Setter. She was from show lines and tolerated a lot from a young girl doing her best to learn. At the age of 17, my parents purchased a Gordon Setter from Wildwood Kennels for me. I dabbled a little in showing but soon after received a scholarship to The Columbus [Ohio] College Of Art and Design, and Zach retired to be the family pet.”
While in college, Holly met a friend with a dark brindle American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) named Hammer. “His loyalty, intelligence and loving temperament started my search for my own Pit Bull puppy. When I was 20 I purchased a tiger brindle APBT female named Gucci. Gucci started my love affair with the breed. In 1991 I purchased my first registered APBT: “PR” Lowery’s CH, ACE 2 Rude 4 U, better known as Rudee. She won two Best in Shows in ADBA
and only lost in weight pull twice in her career.”
All in the name
Holly chose her kennel name, WinMor, after a successful ABDA show in 1992. “I was packing up to leave after a successful weekend. I had two Best Puppy in Show trophies, a Champion Cup, and several other ribbons. A young man walked by and said, ‘Hey, you think you could win more?’ And that is how our name was born…we just dropped the E on the end of more.”
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