Cannon Hall Farm: Meet Barnsley farm's new foal and hopes for future of much loved Shire Horse breed

They were used in the war, for farming, ploughing, towing barges, hauling drays and even trams.

However, the development of the railway and advancements in farming technology meant that the need for the heavy horse reduced.

Shire horse numbers fell from well over a million to just a few thousand by the 1960s and the breed was in serious trouble.

To some extent, it still is, and fears have been expressed that they will have disappeared within ten years, but Cannon Hall Farm is hopeful that breeding programmes and awareness can halt the decline.

They have five mares and three foals with three foals expected next year.

Three weeks ago, the farm welcomed its newest Shire foal.

Making sure the foal, which has been called Midnight Beauty, arrived safely has been a labour of love for the farmers after the heart-break of a foal being still-born earlier this year.

Farmer Robert Nicholson said: “They are doing really well, it is obviously a big relief.

“She was born on the stroke of midnight and I don’t think we have ever had a more beautiful foal in all the time we have been breeding shires. She was a hard to earn foal. We stopped up a lot of nights.”

After the trauma of the death of Silver’s foal the farm fitted mare, Sapphire, with a collar that would notify the farmers if she laid down or was in distress.

There were a few false alarms, even notifying Robert when he was in hospital following a hip replacement and some sleepless nights responding to notifications but it meant the mare and her foal were constantly being checked upon.

He said: “Silver gave birth to a foal that was still born earlier this year and that was the most heart-breaking night that we have ever spent that I can think of.

"We have learned so much about these animals and there is so much to learn and we are learning but there is nothing more devastating when it goes wrong and nothing more thrilling when it doesn’t.”

Other than changes in farming practice, it is the fact that Shires are hard to manage that has also contributed to decreasing numbers.

Statistics show that each Shire is only being replaced by the equivalent of 0.85, as they are big, heavy horses so if they go down and something is wrong with their legs it is hard to get them back up. Colic is another common ailment.

Vet costs are a factor and that the breeding pool is smaller than it was, so finding an unrelated stallion can also prove tricky.

“At one time, every village and every farm in the village would have Shire horses, there would have been different stallions and a real diverse gene pool. Now it is shallow, this year for instance we took two to Canberra to find a stallion totally unrelated.”

Solutions are to make Shires useful and relevant to today’s society – and it can be done in a number of ways, said Mr Nicholson, whose family has been using Shires in their fields for generations.

The life expectancy of a Shire is between 16 and 24 years old so less than other types of horse.

Years ago they would be bred to around 16hh but the average is now 18hh for showing and competition purposes so ideally, says Robert, this will come back down to 16hh as it is healthier for the horse.

"It is a lesson we need to learn and draw them back to what a traditional Shire is.

"Riding is probably the main growth area for people to use them. But, regenerative farming is a real buzz word. Grazing with cattle has proved to be so important for soil, biodiversity and plants. Sometimes you have to take a step backwards to take a step forward.

“We will obviously never feed the world with them but it would be the worst thing ever to allow them to die out. There is a real small number keeping these horses going, they are not young people and we have to engage with young people and hopefully create a business around them.

“They won two world wars and an industrial revolution, to lose them now would be a dereliction of duty.”