SUMMER 2009 ISSUE 
National Shire Horse Show Bryan Banham’s two-year-old Acle Brigadier took the National Shire Horse Show stallion championship and King George V Cup at the National Shire Horse Show, Peterborough this year. Paul & Walt Bedford took the senior stallion and female championships with Penrhos Brave Heart and Pantyrhuad Heidi. Tony Bull had a duo of gelding winners with Arclid Odin, supreme champion gelding, and Arclid Legend, reserve junior champion gelding. Andrew Whetton’s Walton Royal Command was junior champion. North West & Wales Shire Foal Society’s 30th anniversary
The North West & Wales Shire Foal Society celebrates 30 years of selling at this year’s show and sale at Wettenhall, Cheshire on Saturday 17 October. Formed to encourage Shire breeding, the event attracts enthusiasts and buyers from all over the UK and overseas. Horse sales are complemented by sales of harness, implements and lorries. Chairman, Jonathan Worthington, says the show committee is looking forward to welcoming visitors to its anniversary event.
 Percheron society’s breeding grant hit
The British Percheron Horse Society (BPHS) has lost its annual grant from the Horserace Betting Levy Board following a change in awarding criteria. This year’s award, of just over £16,000, is the last to be made as the breed is considered ‘non-native’. The Levy Board has decided to align its grant-giving criteria with the Rare Breeds Survival Trust’s Watchlist for endangered breeds. The British Percheron is not included as it is considered a non-British breed. BPHS secretary Rowena McDermott says the decision was much regretted but the society would continue to promote the British Percheron as there was a strong market for the animals, with the horses continually winning in the show ring. Grants for the other heavy breeds, Shire, Suffolk and Clydesdale, continue.
London Harness Horse Parade
The largest heavy horse contingent for many years added to the variety of horse-drawn turnouts at the London Harness Horse Parade on Easter Monday, now held at the South of England Showground, East Sussex. Sponsored by Fullers Brewery, the parade attracted heavy turnouts including brewery drays, ladies carts, a bodkin hitch on a traditional wagon, decorated harness and an entry from the British Carriage Dog Society with three Dalmatians following a vehicle drawn by a Percheron.  Market gardeners increase their carbon hoof print in Cornwall
Working horses are being used to work a market garden near Herodsfoot, Cornwall in a new initiative which blends traditional and progressive growing methods. Skye Grove Organics partners Kevin Austin and Brian Cavendish have joined forces to produce healthy organic food for the local community, reducing food miles and reconnecting people with the land and how food is produced. Brian and his Comtois horses, Bill and Ben, prepare the soil for the crops using traditional and modern horse-drawn implements. The business also runs working horse courses, encouraging others to use horses in vegetable production and on smallholdings. Meanwhile Cotswold Cart Horse Society members, inspired by the Pferde Stark German working horse event, have begun their own vegetable garden to be worked entirely by horse. 
Perfect day at Selby
Fifteen ploughmen took part in another successful Selby Ploughing Match in March at Henwick Hall, Burn. On a near perfect day for the time of year, competitors came from Devon, Lancashire, Co. Durham, Yorkshire, Wales and Nottinghamshire. Jim Elliott won the high cut and John Taylor the general purpose.  Traditional logging skills meet a truly modern need
Horse loggers working in Leicestershire have enabled a UK company to offset the carbon emissions produced by the business. In an innovative move by the borough of Charnwood and businessman Bill Creegen of Movements UK, a car chauffering company, Doug Joiner, chairman of the British Horse Loggers, was engaged to assist with the clearance of old conifers from forest inaccessible to tractors. Bill Creegen sponsored Doug and his team to retrieve the timber to offset the carbon emissions produced by his business. It is hoped other businesses will make use of horse logging in this way.  Ox or horse – which is it to be?
The horse was a much better draught animal than the ox and soon became the dominant draught animal – or at least that is our perception. But is it correct? In a two-part feature Ted Collins, who has made a study of the history of draught oxen in the British Isles, describes the ox’s initial domination, a somewhat unexpected revival and eventual decline. Meanwhile, Bob Powell reports from an international symposium on ox use held in Virginia, USA.  Training a Suffolk stallion … and his owner
Owning and handling a stallion is an exacting task. With many new owners interested in taking up the challenge of breeding heavy horses, Dr Andrew Lucas, Suffolk owner in Australia, describes his steep learning curve, as he seeks training in the skills required and perfects his relationship with a young Suffolk stallion. Other features in this issue include… Homecoming for Clydesdales at Osborne House More Shires outside UK for first time Top Hillmoor horses go abroad in dispersal sale Spring working brings out crowds in Hampshire Behold a dark horse – a surprisingly modern Shire from the 1890s Draught Horse Answers – on veterinary examinations and atrial fibrillation Cawdor Cup win for Irish-bred stallion at Clydesdale Stallion Show Heavy horses’ big presence at the world’s greatest steam show Running out of time? Yvonne Hatch discusses Suffolk breeding issues Rare Jutland mare rescued from the meat man Plus . . . Your Letters – two pages packed with heavy horse interest Heavy Horse World Shop – now FOUR pages - with our comprehensive selection of books and DVDs on heavy horse subjects Heavy Horse World Classifieds – where to go for all your needs – horses, harness, vehicles, books etc Heavy Horse World Breeders Directory – locate the breeder of your choice First chance to buy heavy Horse World Calendar 2010!
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