Suffolk Punch horses need a purpose in life

SIR – Tom Bliss (Letters, September 11) asks that we spare some of the money spent on saving wildlife to help the Suffolk Punch horse. Sadly, it is a little more complicated than that.

Most equines (and all heavy horses) are privately owned and expensive to keep. Feeding, shoeing, housing, equipment and veterinary bills can add up to thousands every year. Yet the opportunity to recoup some of this expenditure is limited. Horses will work, of course, but are inefficient compared with modern machinery.

There are still some opportunities in forestry work, where they damage the environment much less than heavy machinery, and in display work at shows and ploughing matches – but these are limited.

We don’t (knowingly) eat horse flesh in Britain, although the Princess Royal has suggested we should as a means of ensuring better welfare for many horses and ponies. However, the way to help domesticated breeds such as the Suffolk Punch is to find new uses for them. Can anyone suggest other ways of profitably maintaining them? Richard Lutwyche Cirencester, Gloucestershire SIR – Mr Bliss refers to the precise footwork of the Suffolk Punch. I spent a summer helping to bring in the corn harvest on a farm that used 16 of these magnificent beasts instead of tractors.

I was assigned to work with Rodney, a colossal stallion with the strength to pull a fully-laden hay cart. Like many horses, he would puff out his stomach when I cinched his girth harness so it would not be too tight, but it could cause soreness if left too loose. Once, early in our relationship, I gave him a prod with my pitchfork in an attempt to make him release his breath.

He responded by placing one of his enormous front hooves on my foot, applying just enough pressure to hurt without crippling me for life, while giving me a hard stare which clearly said “mind your manners – I’m bigger than you”. Precise footwork indeed. Brian Halling Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire