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 Golden
Grandchild, Suffolk Punch Spectacular 2000. |
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The Suffolk horse is the oldest breed of heavy
horse in Great Britain to exist in its present state. The breed dates at
least into the sixteenth century but all animals alive today trace their
male lines back to one stallion, a horse called Crisp's Horse of Ufford,
who was foaled in 1768. Volume 1 of the Suffolk Stud Book is a classic
among livestock books. The author, Herman Biddell, the first Secretary
of the Society, spent two years tracing the pedigree of all animals alive
at that time. These he published in the book, which he prefaced with a
fascinating history of the breed and a contemporary account of the Suffolk
and the people associated with it. The book was illustrated by the Ipswich
artist, Duvall.
 Four
Horse Team, Royal Norfolk Show 2000. |
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The Suffolk is always chesnut, traditionally
spelt with no "t" after the "s". A few white hairs well mixed with the
chesnut on the body and a star, stripe or blaze is allowed. Seven shades
of chesnut are recognised: bright, red, golden, yellow, light, dark and
dull dark. The legs are rather short and the impression that the breed
gives is that the body is too big for the legs. This shape gives the Suffolk
its nickname, 'the Suffolk Punch' and its great strength. While the standard
for the breed has never included a height, the preferred heights are 16.1hh
to 16.2hh for a mare and 17hh to 17.1hh for a stallion. The legs are clean
with no feather, thus making the working Suffolk an easy animal to care
for in the stable. Temperament, so important in a working animal, is exceptionally
good and a long working life and economy of feeding are well known features.
Common practice on East Anglian farms was to feed the Suffolks loose in
yards.
 Eyke
Ruby, East of England Show 2000. |
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The breed was clearly described in the fifteenth
century and for a breed to have become established by that time it would
clearly have had to have existed at least two hundred years before that.
While it originated in Suffolk and the neighbouring counties, its origin
like all other old breeds is unknown but it is probable that the genes
for large size emanated from the area of what is today Belgium. The Suffolk
has the longest unbroken written pedigree of any breed and this goes back
to 1768 to a stallion known as Crisp's Horse of Ufford. At that time all
the other male lines appear to have died out and this happened again at
the beginning of the ninteenth century and in 1940. Apart from these obvious
genetic bottlenecks, in-breeding has always been practised and it is this
that gives the breed its uniformity of appearance.
 Mare
and foal judging, Royal Norfolk Show 2000. |
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At the height of its popularity there were
huge numbers of Suffolks in East Anglia and one might wonder why it was
that, despite its clear commercial qualities, the breed never moved out
of its homeland. It must be remembered that until relatively recently East
Anglia was a remote area isolated from the rest of the country and another
factor is that livestock farmers, again until recently, were very conservative
and this is illustrated by the very large number of breeds of domestic
farm animals which were produced in these islands. In the late 1930s the
Suffolk did start to move out of East Anglia in a major way with new studs
being started in a number of areas but it was too late, as agricultural
mechanisation was coming into being. The need for a big increase in food
production caused by the second world war stimulated this and the large,
level arable farms of East Anglia were ideal for early machinery. This
dealt the Suffolk a severe blow and numbers fell dramatically, with large
farms getting rid of forty horses in a single day. The numbers on the market
meant that the only buyers were the slaughterhouses and by 1966 only nine
foals were born. It was realised that extinction was imminent and new breeders
came to the rescue so that since that time numbers have slowly risen. The
horse, however, as a species is not very efficient at reproducing itself,
as it is a seasonal breeder with a long gestation period and the reproductive
system of a mare is easily damaged. It takes a very long time to rescue
a horse breed from a very low number of individuals and at the moment there
are approximately seventy-five breeding females in the breed, so that the
situation is still far from safe. Had it not been for the handful of breeders
and the perseverance of the Society at the breed's lowest ebb, it would
have undoubtedly disappeared and taken with it a considerable slice of
social history.
 Suffolk
Horse Society Ploughing Match 2000. |
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Over the last few years Suffolks have gradually
spread from their East Anglian home through the country. Major shows for
Suffolk horses are the Royal Show, the Suffolk Show, East of England Show,
Royal Norfolk Show and Essex Show, with the Society's Spring Show, held
in conjunction with Woodbridge Horse Show, being the principal show for
stallions and Framlingham Show providing a good display of foals. A number
of shows throughout the East and South of England have well filled classes
of Suffolks either in classes of their own or in mixed breed heavy horse
classes.
 Kentwell
Mayflower and Kentwell Jasmine, East of England Show 2000. |
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There are a number of features which are specific
to the Suffolk breed. The way in which a Suffolks mane and tail are braided
for the show ring is unique, with the tail being braided to its end and
then folded up and the mane is completely braided with raffia being used
in both mane and tail to make the horse look superb. Leather head collars
and bits are used for all Suffolks when they are shown and it is a Society
tradition that exhibitors present themselves in a smart manner. A very
old tradition of the breed is the holding of foot classes at the major
East Anglian shows. The Suffolk Horse Society started these classes in
the early years of this century when criticism was being made of Suffolk
feet, especially in relation to town work. These classes are judged by
farriers or veterinary surgeons with a specific interest in the horse's
foot and it is important to realise that it is the foot and not the shoeing
that is being judged.
 Easton
Duchess, Orsett Show 2000. |
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Working practices in Suffolk were different
from those elsewhere and the large numbers of horses at work on farms in
the area were such that the skill of the horseman reached its zenith in
Suffolk. The working day involved a single stretch of work with only a
short break taken at midday. Housing was different, as working horses spent
the night loose in straw yards rather than being tied up in stalls. The
stable was a long building uninterrupted with stall divisions and was only
used in the morning and evening for tieing up the horses for them to receive
their short feeds, to be groomed and harnessed. The East Anglian harness
is distinctive, as the hames around the collar, or seals as they are known
in their home County, are made of wood rather than metal and the saddle
tree is exposed without the usual leather covering. Plough harness is reduced
to the bare minimum necessary for the job. A number of companies developed
in East Anglia to make machinery for horsedrawn work and these produced
implements of a very high standard. The best known of these were Ransomes
of Ipswich, the makers of the best ploughs in the world, Smythe of Peasenhall,
who made drills, again unsurpasses by anyone else, Garretts of Leiston
and a number of smaller firms such as Page & Girling of Woodbridge,
who made farm vehicles with especially well made axles.
 Agricultural
Turnout, Woodbridge Show 2000. |
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