The Suitcase Diaries: The Shire Horse Farm, What a Gem of a find

When Harry was evacuated to Herefordshire in World War 2 he had his first introduction to the Suffolk Breed of Horses that had a great impact on his life. The love of this breed and other heavy horses which started during the war years has continued throughout his life and led him to set up the Shire Horse and Carriage Museum near Redruth in Cornwall.

He first came in to contact with heavy horses while working on a farm during those years as an evacuee and became so attached to the heavy horse breeds that the Carriage Museum became a focus for him to preserve the breeds themselves, and also the skills required to maintain and operate horse-drawn transport. Thus the Shire Horse and Carriage Museum came into being.

The Carriage Museum was established by Harry and his wife in 1972, and it was the first place to exhibit Heavy Horses in the Country.

Some of the original horses that Harry acquired for the Carriage Museum were Brigadier a black Shire, Sally a Clydesdale, Silver a grey Shire, Susie a large ex circus piebald horse together with Robin a Heavy Horse, Joe a Cleveland Bay and Jake a Shetland pony.

Together with 19 horses including Shire Horses, Clydesdales, Suffolk Punches and Shetlands the museum also boasts a large and diverse selection of vehicles which pre-date the mechanised transport of today. Harry has found many of the collection of carriages either at auction or hidden away in obscure places on farms and in garages. Many of these have not been in pristine condition on arrival at the farm so it became necessary for Harry to learn the practical skills needed to restore these vehicles and bring them back to a working condition. This even led to him having to learn to make his own cartwheels, a skill which is rapidly being lost.

Amongst the current collection of horses at the Carriage Museum are Willow and Sorrel both 9 nine year old mares who have been trained to work in harness as a pair and tour many of the country’s shows .

The Carriage Museum is also home to the Suffolk Punch Stallion Highpoint William who stands at Stud and has currently sired 43 foals and is playing an important part in preserving the Suffolk Punch breed. The Suffolk Punch is listed in the “Critical” category of the RBST Watch list with fewer than 300 registered breeding mares surviving to date.

A bit off the map from the carriage museum Harry was nice enough to show us the original Gypsy caravan they are busy restoring to its former glory. W only found out about it as other tourists who came to the farm heard about it from someone else. It was simply one of those days that we just had luck on our side all around.

It is a 'Reading' type caravan and was made by J Thomas of Chertsey in 1902

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE SUFFOLK PUNCH

The Suffolk Punch is the oldest breed of Heavy Horse in Great Britain dating from the 16^th century and mainly bred in East Anglia. All Suffolk Horses alive today originate from one stallion – Crisps Horse of Ufford who was foaled in 1768.

From 1930’s onwards these horses among other heavy breeds were being replaced on farms with machines and men and many horses were slaughtered. In 1966 only 9 Suffolk foals were born. The breed is now registered as “critical” on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust List. Fortunately breeders and Suffolk enthusiasts such as Harry Gotts have shown a great interest in once again breeding and increasing the numbers of these magnificent gentle giants.

Jack .. age 8, definitely the naughtiest part of the Shire Horse Farm family, but by far the most entertaining.

This black stallion donkey came to the Shire Horse farm from the Valleys in Wales, and is a Ride & Drive Donkey. He was taken to a horse show and was left behind by his previous owner and just wandered along towards Harry's shire horses. Harry having a heart of gold just couldn't leave Jack behind so decided to take him home.

He is a very friendly sociable guy who gets on very well with all the animals on the farm, but tends to wander round mainly with our Shire Horses. As you can see above he is quite the character and he immediately tried to eat Dru's pants when he came trodding down to the tourists.