The Shire Horse  

    For the past ten years Joan and Dennis Woodhead have been working diligently to establish the Canadian Shire horse as a more common part of the draft scene in Central Ontario, Canada.  When Joan and Dennis took this on, as a semi retirement project, Shire horses were pretty rare sight in the region.  The Woodheads moved to Plainfield, north of Belleville, in 1990 after deciding to start breeding and raising shire horses.

    English Shires date back to the 11th century when they were used as pack horses. In the 13th century they were crossed with draft horses from Holland to produce a horse capable of carrying heavily armoured knights and their weapons.  Through the balance of medieval history the English Shire, the "Great Horse", often carried up to 400 lbs. into battle.

    As the military need for such enormous, strong horses declined - because of the technological advances in weaponry (e.g. firearms) and the resulting changes to the way men waged battle - the Shire became more widely used as a draft horse for commercial and agricultural purposes.

    The foundation stallion for the English Shire is attributed to a horse from Leicestershire (in Central England) called the Packington Blind Horse (1775-1790), who had an enormous influence on the breed.  The British Shire Horse Society was formed in 1878 and the breed has changed very little since then.

    The Shire is the largest and heaviest of the draft breeds and most who have worked with a variety of draft horses claim that it is the most docile and friendly natured of the class.  Often referred to as the "Gentle Giants", an adult Shire can pull up to five tons.  Today Shires are bred mainly for show, farm work, and commercial promotion purposes.

    When Joan and Dennis made the move to start into Shires, in 1999 they bought two yearling mares near Kingston, Ontario, and in 1992 they imported their first stallion, Bodernog Crusader, from England.  Also in 1992 they brought two mares in from England to broaden their gene pool and they got themselves fully immersed in the business of breeding, showing, and selling Canadian Shires.

    In an effort to promote Canadian Shires, they have shown their stock with great success at fairs in many Ontario communities, at the Canadian National Exhibition, the Royal Winter Fair, and into the U.S., in Detroit Michigan, and Keystone, Pennsylvania.  They show in line classes, and both Joan and Dennis compete in driving classes, with a single cart and with teams, hitched to a magnificent full-sized wagon.

    Bodernog Crusader has proven his value as a stallion, siring several beautiful foals on their farm, and internationally, through artificial insemination - his semen is shipped throughout Canada and the U.S.  Bodernog, now 12-years-old, weighs in at 2,000 lbs and measures 18-3 hh.  The offspring that he has produced in Plainfield have been sold both in Canada and U.S. and have attracted inquiries from as far afield as Bogota, Columbia.