Pulling through

The stunning Suffolk Punch is under threat, but thanks to modern technology the future for the breed may not be so bleak after all

- ADAM HENSON

It’s impossible not to be impressed and enchanted by the heavy horse breeds of Britain. There’s the mighty Shire with its trademark silky leg featherings; the elegant and showy Clydesdale; and the classic coach-horse, the Cleveland Bay. Together they earned their living pulling ploughs, canal barges, brewery drays or carriages, carrying wheat to the mill, leading armies into battle and hauling artillery to the front line.