Working Horse Trust - Horse Details

ALICE Breed: Suffolk. Sex: Mare. Born: 1995. Colour: Chesnut. Height: 15.4 Hands. Weight: c. 650kg. (but still growing)	Alice is the newest of our 'herd', having joined us in the spring as a long-term loan. She's very inexperienced and had never left the paddock she was born in, so coming to the Trust was a bit of a wrench for her. Getting her into the horse box for the journey home took several hours and she has only just learned to pick her feet up for the farrier. With so little handling and schooling in her early life, Alice is going to need a lot of time and patience. But she has settled in extremely well and is beginning to learn the ways of the Trust. In time we hope that she will help us to promote the Suffolk breed and, as a pure-bred, registered mare, will produce some youngsters when she's older.
APRICOT Breed: Suffolk. Sex: Mare. Born: 1988. Colour: Chesnut. Height: 16.1 Hands. Weight: 900kg.	Apricot joined the Trust in 1997 when we bought her from the National Trust's Wimpole Hall farm. She is a pure-bred Suffolk with an illustrious pedigree recorded back to the 1940s - her Sire goes by the wonderful name of Leap House Golden Eagle. We hope very much that Apricot will help us to make a positive contribution to the future of the Suffolk breed by producing some offspring in the not too distant future. A point to note - all registered Suffolk horses must be Chesnut (no 't') - of which there are seven recognised shades!
BENJAMIN	Details to follow shortly.
BESS Breed: Shire-X. Sex: Mare. Born: 1982. Colour: Bay. Height: 16.3 Hands. Weight: 750kg.	Bess' Sire was the Shire stallion Springfield Governor and her Dam was Blossom (who lived to the grand age of 35), which means that she is half-sister to quite a few of our other horses as well as being full-sister to Sam - she is also head mare of the herd. A cart horse in the traditional mould, Bess is stocky and strong but with a amenable temperament which is only very occasionally upset - by helium balloons and bagpipes for example. Bess works well in both woodland and farmland settings and she accompanies us to the many heavy horse events, local fetes, and public demonstrations that we attend each year.
BONNIE Breed: Shire-X-Suffolk. Sex: Mare. Born: 1986. Colour: Bay. Height: 16.2 Hands. Weight: 820kg.	The crossing of a Shire and a Suffolk is not often encountered, which makes Bonnie quite an unusual horse. She is undeniably handsome but in many respects resembles a super heavy hunter rather than a traditional working horse. Despite a lack of early schooling by her previous owner, Bonnie has great potential. She is very good natured and biddable. She is also extremely affectionate and likes nothing more than to have her rump vigorously scratched by a human companion - which can be quite alarming to those don't know her yet find themselves being proffered by her imposing rear end!
BOXER Breed: Shire. Sex: Gelding. Born: 1974. Colour: Black. Height: 16.3 Hands. Weight: 800kg.	Boxer is a Shire with more traditional characteristics - shorter and stockier than the modern breed, but immensely strong. Now retired and suffering from arthritis in the knees, Boxer has, in his time, been a wonderful asset to the Trust. Not only was he a very experienced and skilful working horse, who has helped to train many a beginner, he has also been a superb PR man - 'a noble ambassador' our local paper dubbed him. In his twilight years all that is asked of Boxer is that he keeps the grass cut, which he does with great enthusiasm. We are treating his arthritis and trying to keep him as pain free and comfortable as possible but of course we keep a very keen eye on his quality of life.
CAPTAIN Breed: Ardennes-X. Sex: Gelding. Born: 1983. Colour: Strawberry Roan. Height: 17.1 Hands. Weight: 800kg.	Captain is the son of our Ardennes mare Logique (Lulu) and the Shire stallion Governor - making him half-brother to Bonnie, Sam and Bess. This unusual crossing was made by the horse's previous owner who was looking to breed a more traditional working horse with the best characteristics of each breed - particularly the dense bone and excellent musculature of the Ardennes. The result, in Captain, is a very powerful horse, though perhaps somewhat taller than we would wish. Captain was never fully trained as a youngster so we still have some hard work to do with him.
DYLAN Breed: Ardennes. Sex: Colt. Born: 1997. Colour: Red Roan. Height: 15.3 Hands. Weight: c. 850kg. (but still growing)	Dylan is the third Ardennes bred by the Trust and the second youngster from our mare Ruby and the fine Ardennes stallion Fayard. Full brother to Poppy and half-brother to Monty , Dylan has a wonderful temperament and is very people-friendly, having been regularly handled from moments after birth. He had his first public outing just 3 months after he was born and was awarded a special rosette at the Chertsey Agricultural Show. As with all young horses he is developing rapidly and the time is not far away when serious training begins.
JACK Breed: Suffolk. Sex: Gelding. Born: 1982. Colour: Chesnut. Height: 17.3 Hands. Weight: 890kg.	Jack is the biggest of our horses, but at the same time is probably the softest. He has a lovely, kind nature and is incredibly easy going. Licking people is one of his favourite pastimes. The only thing that seems to get him all of a quiver is when the beagles come roaring by. As a youngster, and before he came to the Trust, Jack had a serious accident, cutting his foot on some sharp wire and causing permanent damage. At the time he was stable-bound for over 6 months and it has taken many years of careful farriery to improve things - although his foot is still prone to damage and will never be 100%. For this reason, Jack does not work and it is unlikely that he will ever be sound enough to do so - which is a great pity because he is a fine example of a Suffolk and it would have been marvellous to team him up with Apricot.
MAJOR Breed: Suffolk. Sex: Gelding. Born: 1980. Colour: Chesnut. Height: 16.3 Hands. Weight: 800kg.	Major bears the distinction of being featured in the Trust's logo , with his brother Duke, epitomising the spirit of the Trust and characterising the horses of yester-year. An immensely powerful fellow, with the biggest feet of any of our horses, Major is an ideal working horse in many respects - size, strength and an even and docile disposition. Sadly though, he has difficulty metabolising protein and in winter , when there is no fresh grass, he tends to lose condition quite easily - necessitating special additives in his diet. Once spring comes he recovers quickly but we tend not to work with him as much as we might so as not to cause him undue stress. Being in semi-retirement seems to suit him very well though.
(ADMIRAL) MONTY Breed: Ardennes. Sex: Gelding. Born: 1994. Colour: Strawberry Roan. Height: 15 Hands. Weight: 750kg.	Monty is the second son of Lulu, his Sire Fayard. This makes him half-brother to Captain, Poppy and Dylan. He takes after Lulu much more than Fayard and you can definitely see the relationship between him and Captain - though it has to be said, he is not quite as handsome as his elder brother. Nevertheless, when they are both trained up, they will make a good matching pair. Still young yet, and with just a little more growing to do, Monty has recently been away for schooling and has returned to join the regular working team. He has been in the show ring on numerous occasions though has yet to come home covered in glory. No matter, he shows all the signs of developing into a sound working horse with all the right characteristics - muscle-power and mild manners being far more important than showy good looks.
(ALPINE) POPPY Breed: Ardennes. Sex: Mare. Born: 1994. Colour: Red Roan. Height: 15.2 Hands. Weight: 800kg.	Poppy, as her name implies, is quite beautiful, with the most lovely eyes and gloriously thick mane and tail. It is from Fayard that she gets most of her good looks and from her Dam, Ruby 1, that she gets her luxuriant locks and much of her temperament. A real show stopper, Poppy was crowned Champion Ardennes at the Chertsey Agricultural Show in 1997 as well as winning the Heavy Horse Youngstock Class and being Reserve Champion overall. What a triumph. In the real world though Poppy is not always such a star - having inherited Ruby's stubborn streak, she can be quite a handful at times. She is also something of an escape artist and has been the ring leader in one of two breakouts and other incidents of rowdy behaviour.
RUBY Breed: Ardennes. Sex: Mare. Born: 1987. Colour: Strawberry Roan. Height: 15 Hands. Weight: 850kg.	Ruby has much to recommend her, particularly her parenting skills which have produced two very fine youngsters. If only she applied the same keen sense of discipline to herself as she does to her offspring, she would make a sturdy working horse. Alas, it's a case of 'do as I say' not 'as I do' with Ruby and though she has raised Poppy and Dylan well she remains somewhat obstinate and unruly and most reluctant to try her hand at anything other than breeding. This is not a problem for us as we are quite happy to let her do what she does best - producing the next generation. Like all Ardennes, Ruby thrives on the meagrest of resources and has a tendency to rotundity so it's not always easy to tell if she's in foal or not!
HAMISH	Details to follow shortly.
RUBY 11 (ROO) Breed: Ardennes. Sex: Mare. Born: 1989. Colour: Chesnut Roan. Height: 16 Hands. Weight: 900kg.	Ruby 11 came to the Trust in the Autumn of 1997, along with her companion Scarlet. We had to call her Ruby 11 or Roo as we already had a Ruby but didn't want to change either of their manes as horses get used to their own name and respond to voice commands. Ruby 11 and Scarlet are very well known in the heavy horse world and have won many rosettes and trophies in their working career. They have fared particularly well in turnout classes as they both have fabulous show harness, which, although the Trust couldn't afford to purchase, we still borrow from time to time from Ruby's previous owner (who now incidentally has become a dedicated volunteer).
SAM Breed: Shire-X. Sex: Gelding. Born: 1981. Colour: Bay. Height: 16.1 Hands. Weight: 750kg.	Sam, like his sister Bess, is one of our 'show' horses and often accompanies us out and about in public. An excellent timber horse and a good, steady worker, Sam will willingly pull harrows, the mower, the roller and sundry other agricultural implements. He does, however, have a strong aversion to shafts and will simply not be backed into them - which of course excludes him from cart work. Although we prefer not to use blinkers on our horses, it may be that we will need to with Sam to help him get over his fear. Sam is a particularly handsome horse with distinctive spotty markings on his nose, which he likes to show off by keeping his head held high.
UNITY Breed: Ardennes. Sex: Mare. Born: 1986. Colour: Strawberry Roan. Height: 16.1 Hands. Weight: 750kg.	Unity is on loan to the Trust for two years, hopefully longer. A well trained and experienced working horse, she has settled in well with the other horses, particularly Apricot with whom she works as a pair. Unity was in foal when she came to us so until Clover was weaned she did very little work - light duties only to keep her in trim. Motherhood didn't come easily and she was a somewhat careless mum - when Clover was just a couple of weeks old Unity kicked her sufficiently hard to send her into shock. A few anxious days (and all night watches) followed until the foal recovered. It wasn't a malicious blow, but Unity didn't appreciate just how fragile Clover was at that tender age. Parenting duties over, Unity is now back as one of the regular team, both on the farm and out at events.

Heavy, working horses had all but disappeared from our towns and countryside
by the 1960s and have only enjoyed a modest recovery since.

THE SUFFOLK, our oldest working breed, is considered to be in a critical condition, meriting a Category 1 on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) Priority List. With fewer than 90 mares breeding and foaling rates at an all time low ( just 12 registered in 1998 ), the Suffolk is in danger of disappearing from our shores.

THE CLYDESDALE reached its heyday in the 1920s but then suffered a catastrophic decline which brought it to the point of local extinction in the 1960s. Numbers have recovered slightly since then, but the breed is still considered to be at risk and is classified as such on the RBST's Priority List.

THE SHIRE, despite its popularity, is still a minority breed carefully monitored by the RBST. Moreover, the modern Shire bears little resemblance to its forbears and has lost many of the fine characteristics which made it the premier draught horse of midland England.

THE ARDENNES is one of the oldest native breeds of northern Europe and has been imported regularly into the UK to improve our own breeds. However, numbers in this country are still very low, with just 40 breeding pairs registered.

THE PERCHERON came to Britain from France at the end of the First World War and thrived for a while. However, increased mechanism precipitated a serious decline from which the breed is only just beginning to recover.

The Working Horse Trust is committed to helping improve the future outlook for these breeds, particularly the Suffolk, and to actively campaigning for their greater use in the countryside at work - an environment in which for so long they played such an important role. We also want to make sure that the traditional skills associated with handling and caring for them do not fade into disuse.

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