The Southern Counties Heavy Horse Association obviously took pains to organise a varied and entertaining programme for the Heavy Horse enthusiast at Hyde Farm but sadly was not rewarded with a fine spring day in which we could enjoy the proceedings. Heavy sudden showers, and biting winds did occasionally give way to sunny spells it is true but it was definitely an event for the hardier souls among us!

I must confess from the outset that I am not an expert or particularly knowledgeable about horse drawn machinery, the harness the terms or the skills involved, in fact in most cases this was my initial experience of seeing them at first hand - of seeing working horses actually working.

Hitherto my experience of Heavy Horses has been confined to showgrounds where I have always enjoyed their power and size, shining coats and wonderful body shapes - not to mention the glittering harness. I love the feeling of the ground gently shaking as they pass by and look in amazement at the gleaming turnouts, not a speck of dust anywhere and wonder just how many hours of patient toil have contributed to these relatively few minutes of spectacle in the arena. I have stood behind the scenes watching the horses being prepared for the ring and enjoyed their quiet and gentle presence. I have even watched in-hand classes indulging in my private pleasure of sorting the individuals into the ‘correct' order before the judge (often with a surprising degree of accuracy), but the one thing which I had never done, and which I had wanted to do for many years was to see these horses working, doing the jobs that they were bred to do, and which had contributed to their evolution.

I am an artist by profession, and even in childhood I was always to be found drawing horses despite having no family connection with them. I recall some of those very early works even now, the then ‘new' medium of scraperboard and a whole series of pictures of horses - horses ploughing - something that I had never seen but knew about only from pictures in books. I think sub-consciously there was a slight sense of deprivation, of being denied something which in its own right is fulfilling to me and that feeling came full circle on my visit to Haydens Farm..... It was just such a thrill to see the green field gradually turn to deep rich brown during the course of the day as various horse drawn implements created the ever widening strips of furrows and then walked on them with harrows..... I was amazed to see a team of five Percheron ploughing. - In my ignorance I thought they always worked in pairs! Just think what a glorious experience it would be to find yourself in the peace of the countryside, somehow only enhanced by the song of the skylark and to watch several huge teams of horses working the land with such purpose, turning the green to brown....

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It was a common enough sight before the war, so much has been lost in such a relatively short time - something that is an integral part of our heritage, and one wonders with some sadness just what the future holds for these magnificent creatures as we hurtle into the next century. Somehow they seem connected with the very soil they till, and our love of the earth and the abundance it yields has apparently been lost in these times of prairie farming and agro-chemicals which are designed to work against nature instead of in harmony with it. The best one can hope for is that the wheel will turn full circle and that a more sympathetic form of food production will emerge in the future, and who knows there may even be the occasional place for the ‘environmentally friendly' workhorse....

In the meantime we should support the Heavy Horse Association whenever possible and above all encourage children to take an interest in these Great Horses and to learn the skills required to handle them. Somehow children and these gentle, huge horses seem to have a natural empathy, surely that is something to build on for the future?

The children who attended the Spring Working certainly seemed to enjoy themselves (I don't think the weather is a consideration to the ‘under tens'!) and make friends with many of the horses when they rested from their exertions.....

Ruby and Scarlet for instance .. a pair of roan Ardennes. These two lovely ladies were a ‘hit' with the children and exuded personality - and was it my imagination or was Ruby really doing the bulk of the work? They were drawing a cultivator in the hands of Richard Branscombe of the Working Horse Trust, details below, which is a registered charity devoted to safeguarding the future of our much loved Heavy Horse breeds and which runs much needed training courses for would be Heavy Horse handlers... More of that anon ....

One couldn't help admiring Clive Kennett's Roan Clydesdales with their gleaming turnout and such a willing disposition. Taller and leggier than the Shire they display great strength and seem to put heart and soul into their work.

Two Suffolk Punches were harrowing most of the afternoon worked by Ian Victor Smith. I was dismayed to hear that this old British Breed is now threatened with extinction - only 20-odd foals were born last year, a disastrous number. This is one of the breeds supported by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust's Horseshoe Appeal - please do support this. - (See our article for further information about the Trust and Irene Benjamin's historic ride to create further awareness of the need to save these breeds).

Two pairs of Shires displayed their ploughing skills - Dave Mouland of Fordingbridge also took one of his Shires into the ring to demonstrate the nimbleness of his horse, timber snigging through cones, and at the end of the afternoon cantered off bareback!

I thought I saw a Shire harrowing but I have subsequently been (very nicely) corrected by Brian Withers of the Southern Counties Horse Association to the effect that it was a Tasmanian Draught Horse. Apparently it was bred for work in Australia where it was owned by Sue Darling who brought the horse with her when moving to the U.K.

Meanwhile Robert Sampson with his Two Furrow Plough and team of five Percherons was still ploughing .... John McDermott was also ploughing with a pair of Percheron which must have seemed rather tame after dowsing fires in France. (See the article about the St. Giles Steam Fire Engine).

The next attraction was the sled pulling and I'm not sure I grasped all the rules but horses were hitched to a sled, and pulled it up a fairly stiff incline with people jumping on at intervals. I am not certain how the ‘winner' was decided since they all seemed to achieve this feat with ease ...

In the meantime, having been struggling all day to keep my hat on in the wind and rain; hopefully take some attractive photographs to illustrate this article and change films in the teeth of a gale, I suddenly saw exactly the kind of image I'd been waiting for ... There they were, the two magnificent Clydesdales ploughing up towards me. The sun had actually come out to light up the brilliant bright green of the Spring grass, full of raindrops, the rich brown furrow curved up the hill. It was perfect! And then the shutter stuck! My trusty Nikon let me down and the one truly excellent shot of the day was missed ... Nothing would persuade my camera to co-operate further so I set tracks for home.

Before getting into my car a backward glance showed the team of 5 Percherons still ploughing and yet another glorious picture missed: the two Clydesdales silhouetted against a magnificent April sky full of clouds of many hues, some trees edging over the skyline in the distance and the whole scene bathed in glorious sunshine - just what I'd been dreaming of all those years was now manifesting before me.

That instant on its own would have made the whole day worthwhile and I wouldn't have missed it for anything.

If you would enjoy seeing a wonderful array of Heavy Horses working make a note of the Southern Counties Heavy Horse Association's major event this Autumn:

18th October, 1998

THE GREAT ALL ENGLAND HEAVY HORSE PLOUGHING CHAMPIONSHIP AND SHOW

at Cross Farm, Shackleford, Godalming, courtesy of Mr Raymond Stobbold.

Don't miss seeing 35-40 teams of horses ploughing! also over 100 horses in hand, Trade Turnouts and Agricultural Classes .... A wonderful day out.