The Shire Horse in Peace and War

by J. Albert Frost

In 1890 the number of members of the Shire Horse Society was 1615, the amount given in prizes being just over £700. A curious thing about that 1890 meeting, with its great entry, was that it resulted in a loss of £1300 to the Society, but in those days farmers did not attend in their thousands as they do now.

The sum spent in 1914 was £2230, the number of members being 4200, and the entries totalling 719, a similar sum being offered, at the time this is being written, for distribution at the Shire Horse Show of 1915, which will be held when this country has, with the help of her Allies, waged a great war for seven months, yet before it had been carried on for seven days show committees in various parts of the country cancelled their shows, being evidently under the impression that “all was in the dust.” With horses of all grades at a premium, any method of directing the attention of farmers and breeders generally to the scarcity that is certain to exist is justifiable, particularly that which provides for over two thousand pounds being spent among members of what is admitted to be the most flourishing breed society in existence.

At the London Show of 1895 two classes for geldings were added to the prize schedule, making fifteen in all, but even with twenty-two geldings the total was only 489, so that it was a small show, its most notable feature being that Mr. A. B. Freeman-Mitford’s Minnehaha won the Challenge Cup for mares and died later.

Up till the Show of 1898 both stallions and mares commenced with the eldest, so that Class I was for stallions ten years old and upwards, the yearlings coming last, the mare classes following in like order. But for the 1898 Show a desirable change was made by putting the yearlings first, and following on with classes in the order of age. At this show, 1898, Sir Alexander Henderson performed the unique feat of winning not only the male and female Challenge Cups, but also the other two, so that he had four cup winners, three of them being sire, dam, and son, viz. Markeaton Royal Harold, Aurea, and Buscot Harold, this made the victory particularly noteworthy. The last named also succeeded in winning champion honours in 1899 and 1900, thus rivalling Starlight. The cup-winning gelding, Bardon Extraordinary, had won similar honours the previous year for Mr. W. T. Everard, his owner in 1898 being Mr. James Eadie. He possessed both weight and quality, and it is doubtful if a better gelding has been exhibited since. He was also cup winner again in 1899, consequently he holds the record for geldings at the London Show.

It should have been mentioned that the system of giving breeders prizes was introduced at the Show of 1896, the first prizes being reduced from £25 to £20 in the case of stallions, and from £20 to £15 in those for mares, to allow the breeder of the first prize animal £10 in each breeding class, and the breeder of each second-prize stallion or mare £5, the latter sum being awarded to breeders of first-prize geldings. This was a move in the right direction, and certainly gave the Shire Horse Society and its London Show a lift up in the eyes of farmers who had bred Shires but had not exhibited. Since then they have never lost their claim on any good animal they have bred, that is why they flock to the Show in February from all parts of England, and follow the judging with such keen interest; there is money in it.

This Show of 1896 was, therefore, one of the most important ever held. It marked the beginning of a more democratic era in the history of the Great Horse. The sum of £1142 was well spent.

By the year 1900 the prize money had reached a total of £1322, the classes remaining as from 1895 with seven for stallions, six for mares, and two for geldings. The next year, 1901, another class, for mares 16 hands 2 inches and over, was added, and also another class for geldings, resulting in a further rise to £1537 in prize money. The sensation of this Show was the winning of the Championship by new tenant-farmer exhibitors, Messrs. J. and M. Walwyn, with an unknown two-year-old colt, Bearwardcote Blaze. This was a bigger surprise than the success of Rokeby Harold as a yearling in 1893, as he had won prizes for his breeder, Mr. A. C. Rogers, and for Mr. John Parnell (at Ashbourne) before getting into Lord Belper’s possession, therefore great things were expected of him, whereas the colt Bearwardcote Blaze was a veritable “dark horse.” Captain Heaton, of Worsley, was one of the judges, and subsequently purchased him for Lord Ellesmere.

The winning of the Championship by a yearling colt was much commented on at the time (1893), but he was altogether an extraordinary colt. The critics of that day regarded him as the best yearling Shire ever seen. Said one, “We breed Shire horses every day, but a colt like this comes only once in a lifetime.” Fortunately I saw him both in London and at the Chester Royal, where he was also Champion, my interest being all the greater because he was bred in Bucks, close to where I “sung my first song.”

Of two-year-old champions there have been at least four, viz. Prince William, in 1885; Buscot Harold, 1898; Bearwardcote Blaze, 1901; and Champion’s Goalkeeper, 1913.

Three-year-olds have also won supreme honours fairly often. Those within the writer’s recollection being Bury Victor Chief, in 1892, after being first in his class for the two previous years, and reserve champion in 1891; Rokeby Harold in 1895, who was Champion in 1893, and cup winner in 1894; Buscot Harold, in 1899, thus repeating his two-year-old performance; Halstead Royal Duke in 1909, the Royal Champion as a two-year-old.