Have ewe herd our fab-ewe-lous news?
Having thought about getting a Shire Horse for a while, we finally have one.
She is called Lizzy and she arrived on Sunday.
Lizzy is 14 years old and stands at over 18 hands tall.
A hand is 4 inches so that makes her over 6 feet at the withers (the ridge between the shoulders).
We have ‘weigh-taped’ her and she weighs in at over 600kgs.
This week she will be settling in, as it has been a big move for her.
She has got to get used to 4 new horses, a new stable, a new field and new people.
So far she seems very people orientated and loves human company.
We have been keeping a very close eye on her – we’re calling it ‘Bay Watch’ as she is bay in colour.
She is now going out into the field with the other horses. So far there has not been a huge amount of interaction, as Lizzy seems more interested in all her new human friends. Today she is happily grazing away, which is lovely to see.
There is so much equipment in our museum from the days when most heavy farm work would have involved ‘horse’ power, it is lovely to actually have an example of a heavy horse here on the farm.
The population of heavy horses has declined dramatically over the last century
There were a million shire horses 100 years ago, in the UK alone, at the beginning of the First World War. Now, there are fewer than 1,500 worldwide.
We are hoping that when Lizzy has settled in, our visitors will be able to meet her and have their photos taken with her.
So, as you can imagine, we are delighted to have her join our herd.
It’s quite literally a BIG week on the farm.