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LONDON - Whether it is carrying armour-clad knights into battle, hauling iron ploughs through fields, greasing the wheels of the Industrial Revolution or dragging artillery guns during both world wars, shire horses have played a pivotal role in Britain's history for 1000 years.
But many of the country's finest draught breeds could be extinct within a generation following a dramatic drop in the number of people willing to breed them, experts predict.
The Rare Breeds Survival Trust announced yesterday that the number of draught horses in the UK is falling every year as breeders turn away from heavy horses - they can be more than 18 hands (180cm) tall and weigh up to 1120kg - to cheaper and less resource-hungry breeds.
Clydesdales, with ancestors stretching back to the 19th century when the Sixth Duke of Hamilton began cross-breeding his local horses with Dutch stallions, are now on the RBST's "vulnerable" list. Shires - Britain's best-known working breed - are said to be "at risk".
The Suffolk punch, a muscled draught horse from East Anglia, is fast nearing extinction and is on the "critical" list with just 100 pedigree pairs left, making it officially rarer than the giant panda.
But unlike the panda, little money is being put towards halting the decline of Britain's draught horses.
Heavy horses dominated British farming as a cheap and reliable source of power even during and after the Industrial Revolution. Only with the invention of the tractor were they sidelined.
What worries conservationists is how quickly the remaining populations of draught horses have tumbled during the past decade. In 1998 there were approximately 6000 heavy horses left in Britain but now their numbers have almost halved to around 3500. The main problem is the lack of suitable breeding mares. The UK Shire Horse Society estimates that up to 300 female shire horses of breeding age are needed every year to replace old stock but only around 200 are available most years.
Dawn Teverson, head of conservation at the RBST, said: "Heavy horses are so large that most normal people with normal levels of resources cannot look after them. A lot of the mares are used as show animals which means they aren't breeding and you also can't guarantee that a mare will produce a foal every year. All of these factors and many more have contributed to their plight."
HORSE-POWER
Shire horses began life in Britain as unstoppable war machines. The Normans brought them over in the 11th century and for hundreds of years they remained a battlefield weapon. Before tractors, shire horses were used to plough fields. During the 19th and early 20th century they helped deliver mail, milk and bread. In World War II, they were used to move artillery.
- INDEPENDENT
