Countryfile’s Adam Henson on raising the profile of Suffolk horses and making a buck from his childhood animals
Visitors to the Cotswold Farm Park, which my late dad Joe founded in 1971 to help protect rare breeds of farm animals, are always impressed by the stature of our Suffolk horses and are amazed by their history. The animals are part of our living heritage; they ploughed the land, provided us with food and kept everything going before tractors.
As a child, my dad worked with heavy horses on the farm and so he had an incredible affinity to them. We used to run heavy horse working courses here with Shires and Ardennes – a heavy European breed that we imported – to keep the skills alive.
Suffolk owner and enthusiast Nigel Oakley gifted me the mare Victoria five years ago to have on show to the public at the farm. I was really keen to help promote the breed because they are so critically rare; it seems like they’re on this helix to extinction.
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