PLOUGHING WITH HORSES


Mirroring the canine world, horse breeding


overthe yearshas been adapted to fashion and certain breeds have losttheir characteristics forthe job theywereoriginally bred for. Paul’s thirdaddition, another stallion Shirecalled Titan, stands at only 16.3hh. “The Shires these days have been bred so tall forthe showring that theywould struggle to work the land, whereyou needamuch lowercentreofgravitymixed with strength”,explains Paul. “Unfortunately,welosta lot of our shorter and stockier working linesinthe GreatWar,these horseshad legs likeelephants and were built forthe job theywerebredtodo.” Over the years, Paul has made his dreamof


owning and working Shires arealityand taught himself and his horseshow to plough the traditional waywhilstpaying attention to every detail. Paul even made aloom from scratch so he could makehis owncotton, traditional, Lancashire halters. Being extremely skilled and hands on, Paul canfabricateand weld to ahigh leveland will often makehis ownpartsfor ploughs or anything else that’s needed and not easy to come by. If therewas ever anything that Paul wasunsure


about, he would makethe effort to go out and research whatever it wasatgreat length, including spending time with gypsiestolearn howtotether correctly.Each of Paul’shorseshas been taught and conditioned to accept not only the sound of achain, but howtostepoverachain to graze effectively without causing them panic. “Learning howtotether and howtotrain my horses to accept being tethered has been invaluable to them and to me”,saysPaul. “It means theycan


grazeatshows and have access to utilise good grazing that isn’tpossible to fenceall year round.” Despiteowning, keepingand working two


stallions together,Paul has managed to keep the status quo,where all three horseswill listentohim and theyall respect each other.“Obviously,I need to keep an eyeonthemifthey’re loosening off,but as long as their belliesare full, they’ll happily graze alongside each other with abit tape between them”, says Paul. “I canwork them three abreastorthree in aline,with Titan, the younger stallion in the middle.” Paul transportshis horsesinthe back of an Ifor


Williams TA510,which is another advantage of owning shorter Shires.“Idon’tneedaHGV,the floor is strong but the trailer is lightweight, even fully laden it caneasily be towedbymytwo seater truck with the plough on the back”,explains Paul. “This is by farthe mostcosteffectiveway of transporting my boys and all the gear that goeswith them.” The ripple effectofCovid-19 restrictions have hit


Paul, but perhaps not in the mostobvious of ways. “I used to feed theboys on the cooked barleyfrom the local brewerieswhich is the by-productofbeer brewing”,saysPaul. “With lockdown, and still now, the demand forbeer is not what it was, so Iam having to buy in Fibrebeet to mix with their Scotch Oats,I have alwaysfed in the traditional wayof feeding different typesofgrain fordifferent jobs.” Paul is astickler fortradition but will always


choose function overfashion. Different counties and indeed, different partsofthe country,have harness stylesthat areunique to the area they originated. “I will pinch the best of everything, my horseswearMidland bridleswith Scotch


bucklesand leather collarswith homemade ash hames, Idon’twant alot of unnecessary leather holding us up and weighing the horsesdown; it’s justnot necessary forthe type of ploughing classweenter,‘The Best Team Judged Whilst Working”,explains Paul. “One man, twohorses, one acreaday,was the saying, and that’s quite enough without being laden down with brass!” Paul’sshowpieceisnot only working his team single-handedly,but his horseswill finish two inline,a skill that notmanycompetitorswill even attempt, yetalone master. “Myaim for the futureistohopefully enter some OatSeed Furrow (HighCut) classes, this is by farthe mostintricatestyle of ploughing.”, says Paul. “When yousee agood team working in a‘High Cut’class, the results resemble looking down apair of corduroy trousers, it’s an amazing site to behold that takesahigh levelofskill and teamwork between man and horse to achieve.” Horse ploughing is mostdefinitely asport and


competitorswill travelgreat distancestocompete. Today, theploughing circuit is well known forits warmth of welcome and exclusivitytoall atall levels. Ploughingmatchesare held on alocal level throughout the country and tractorploughing and horse ploughing will often run alongside each other. “There’sgood camaraderie between competitors


at competitions and we all have lotsoffun”, says Paul. “Everyone will help each other out and offeradvicewhenasked, at the end of the day, we all love what we do andwantto shareour knowledge with futuregenerations, as those generations have beforeus.”


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