Photos and text © Copyright Lynn Cassels-Caldwell 2010 All rights reserved.
All of the horses in these pictures are in danger. As individuals they are very well kept, however, the greater imminent threat is to what they each carry deep inside them, as a group.
Its their DNA that is at critical risk.
Rare Breeds Canada has classified the Suffolk Punch as Endangered, with less than 50 registrations of purebred female stock per year. United Kingdom Rare Breeds Survival Trust, and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy both rank the breed as Critical.
Realizing the rarity of the breed, and the urgency to maintain it, Frank began to breed his Suffolks on a small scale. Preservationist breeding involves tremendous time, effort, dedication and money. Rare breeds don’t always have well established markets to sell animals, but the costs of raising the horses are the same as any mainstream breed.
In the early 1700s, the farmers of Suffolk County, East Anglia, England, were looking for the same qualities in their horses as Frank was. The stallion, “Crisp’s Horse of Ufford” was foaled in 1768, and was destined to become the founder of the the Suffolk Punch breed, with eventually all animals tracing back to him. These English farmers developed the oldest breed of heavy horse in Great Britain, breeding them in a relatively remote area, and keeping them pure.
For them and Frank, farming demanded a horse “bred for the furrow”, strong and heavy but not too tall, at 16 to 17 hh, standing on correct legs of heavy bone, close set behind for easy ploughing. Their build was compact, round, broad, smooth, and barrel chested, with tremendously deep girth, well muscled necks and hindquarters, and weight reaching a ton.
Frank’s horses all possess incredible hooves, hard as flint, well rounded with open heels, and requiring no shoes, even though they are pastured on rough terrain. In England the Suffolks are the only breed to offer a hoof competition, judged solely on quality of the hoof. The breed also has no heavy feathering on their substantial lower legs, which reduces the risk of skin disease from constantly working in heavy soil.
All Suffolk Punch horses are required to be some variation of “chesnut” (the old English spelling), with seven colour categories: red, golden, yellow, light, dark, dull dark, and the most common, bright chestnut, which is a very rich colour. White markings are not common.
Frank currently has several offspring from “Chester”; the mares “Willow” (2008), “Coco” and “Bella” (both 2009) and the strapping colt “Hercules” (2010 out of “Nutmeg”). “Rose” foaled a filly, “Grace”, on Father’s Day. He uses his Suffolks on the manure spreader and for all gardening work, including ploughing and harrowing, as well as skidding logs, hauling, pleasure driving to a cutter or large sleigh, occasional riding, and breeding.
Sixty years ago the rise of mechanized farming brought severe decimation to the Suffolk Punch. It is making a very slow comeback because of those devoted breeders who see its intrinsic value, and who are willing to put decades of effort into preserving these magnificent draft horses.
www.suffolkhorsesociety.org.uk - UK Suffolk registry
www.suffolkpunch.com - North American Suffolk registry
Frank Fitzpatrick - 705-750-7371
