THE EXPORT TRADE
Among the first to recognize the enormous power and possibilities of
the Shire were the Americans. Very few London shows had been held
before they were looking out for fully-registered specimens to take
across the Atlantic. Towards the close of the ’eighties a great export
trade was done, the climax being reached in 1889, when the Shire Horse
Society granted 1264 export certificates. A society to safeguard the
interests of the breed was formed in America, these being the remarks
of Mr. A. Galbraith (President of the American Shire Horse Society) in
his introductory essay: “At no time in the history of the breed have
first-class animals been so valuable as now, the praiseworthy endeavour
to secure the best specimens of the breed having the natural effect of
enhancing prices all round. Breeders of Shire horses both in England
and America have a hopeful and brilliant future before them, and by
exercising good judgment in their selections, and giving due regard to
pedigree and soundness, as well as individual merit, they will not only
reap a rich pecuniary reward, but prove a blessing and a benefit to
this country.”
From the day that the Shire Horse Society was incorporated, on June
3, 1878, until now, America has been Britain’s best overseas customer
for Shire horses, a good second being our own colony, the Dominion of
Canada. Another stockbreeding country to make an early discovery of the
merits of “The Great Horse” was Argentina, to which destination many
good Shires have gone. In 1906 the number given in the Stud Book was
118. So much importance is attached to the breed both in the United
States and in the Argentine Republic that English judges have travelled
to each of those country’s shows to award the prizes in the Shire
Classes.
Another great country with which a good and growing trade has been done
is Russia. In 1904 the number was eleven, in 1913 it had increased to
fifty-two, so there is evidently a market there which is certain to be
extended when peace has been restored and our powerful ally sets about
the stupendous, if peaceful, task of replenishing her horse stock.
Our other allies have their own breeds of draught horses, therefore
they have not been customers for Shires, but with war raging in their
breeding grounds, the numbers must necessarily be reduced almost to
extinction, consequently the help of the Shire may be sought for
building up their breeds in days to come.
German buyers have not fancied Shire horses to any extent--British-bred
re-mounts have been more in their line.
In 1905, however, Germany was the destination of thirty-one. By 1910
the number had declined to eleven, and in 1913 to three, therefore, if
the export of trade in Shires to “The Fatherland” is altogether lost,
English breeders will scarcely feel it.
Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa are parts of the British
Empire to which Shires have been shipped for several years. Substantial
prizes in the shape of Cups and Medals are now given by the Shire
Horse Society to the best specimens of the breed exhibited at Foreign
and Colonial Shows.
ENCOURAGING THE EXPORT OF SHIRES
The following is reprinted from the “Farmer and Stockbreeder Year Book”
for 1906, and was written by S. H. L. (J. A. Frost):--
“The Old English breed of cart horse, or ‘Shire,’ is
universally admitted to be the best and most valuable animal
for draught purposes in the world, and a visitor from America,
Mr. Morrow, of the United States Department of Agriculture,
speaking at Mr. John Rowell’s sale of Shires in 1889, said,
‘Great as had been the business done in Shire horses in
America, the trade is but in its infancy, for the more Shire
horses became known, and the more they came into competition
with other breeds, the more their merits for all heavy draught
purposes were appreciated.’
“These remarks are true to-day, for although sixteen years have
elapsed since they were made (1906), the massive Shire has more
than held his own, but in the interests of the breed, and of
the nearly four thousand members of the Shire Horse Society,
it is still doubtful whether the true worth of the Shire
horse is properly known and appreciated in foreign countries
and towns needing heavy horses, and whether the export trade
in this essentially British breed is not capable of further
development. The number of export certificates granted by the
Shire Horse Society in 1889 was 1264, which takes a good deal
of beating, but it must be remembered that since then Shire
horse breeding at home has progressed by leaps and bounds,
and tenant farmers, who could only look on in those days,
are now members of the flourishing Shire Horse Society and
owners of breeding studs, and such prices as 800 guineas for a
two-year-old filly and 230 guineas for a nine-months-old colt,
are less frequently obtainable than they were then; therefore,
an increase in the demand from other countries would find more
Shire breeders ready to supply it, although up to the present
the home demand has been and is very good, and weighty geldings
continue to be scarce and dear.”
THE NUMBER EXPORTED
“It may be true that the number of horses exported during the last year
or two has been higher than ever, but when the average value of those
that go to ‘other countries’ than Holland, Belgium, and France, is
worked out, it does not allow of such specimens as would excite the
admiration of a foreign merchant or Colonial farmer being exported,
except in very isolated instances; then the tendency of American buyers
is to give preference to stallions which are on the quality rather than
on the weighty side, and as the mares to which they are eventually put
are also light boned, the typical English dray horse is not produced.
“During the past year (1905) foreign buyers have been giving very
high prices for Shorthorn cattle, and if they would buy in the same
spirited manner at the Shire sales, a much more creditable animal
could be obtained for shipment. As an advertisement for the Shire
it is obviously beneficial that the Shire Horse Society--which is
unquestionably the most successful breed society in existence--gives
prizes for breeding stock and also geldings at a few of the most
important horse shows in the United States. This tends to bring the
breed into prominence abroad, and it is certain that many Colonial
farmers would rejoice at being able to breed working geldings of a
similar type to those which may be seen shunting trucks on any large
railway station in England, or walking smartly along in front of a
binder in harvest. The writer has a relative farming in the North-West
Territory of Canada, and his last letter says, ‘The only thing in
the stock line that there is much money in now is horses; they are
keeping high, and seem likely to for years, as so many new settlers are
coming in all the time, and others do not seem able to raise enough
for their own needs’; and it may be mentioned that almost the only
kind of stallions available there are of the Percheron breed, which
is certainly not calculated to improve the size, or substance, of the
native draught horse stock.
THE COST OF SHIPPING
“The cost of shipping a horse from Liverpool to New York is about £11,
which is not prohibitive for such an indispensable animal as the Shire
horse, and if such specimens of the breed as the medal winners at shows
like Peterborough could be exhibited in the draught horse classes at
the best horse shows of America, it is more than probable that at least
some of the visitors would be impressed with their appearance, and an
increase in the export trade in Shires might thereby be brought about.
“A few years ago the price of high-class Shire stallions ran upwards of
a thousand pounds, which placed them beyond the reach of exporters;
but the reign of what may be called ‘fancy’ prices appears to be
over, at least for a time, seeing that the general sale averages have
declined since that of Lord Llangattock in October, 1900, when the
record average of £226 1_s._ 8_d._ was made, although the best general
average for the sales of any single year was obtained in 1901, viz.
£112 5_s._ 10_d._ for 633 animals, and it was during that year that the
highest price for Shires was obtained at an auction sale, the sum being
1550 guineas, given by Mr. Leopold Salomons, for the stallion Hendre
Champion, at the late Mr. Crisp’s sale at Girton. Other high-priced
stallions purchased by auction include Marmion II., 1400 guineas, and
Chancellor, 1100 guineas, both by Mr. Crisp. Waresley Premier Duke,
1100 guineas, and Hendre Crown Prince, 1100 guineas, were two purchases
of Mr. Victor Cavendish in the year 1897. These figures show that the
worth of a really good Shire stallion can hardly be estimated, and
it is certain that the market for this particular class of animal is
by no means glutted, but rather the reverse, as the number of males
offered at the stud sales is always limited, which proves that there
is ‘room on the top’ for the stallion breeder, and with this fact in
view and the possible chance of an increased foreign trade in stallions
it behoves British breeders of Shires to see to it that there is no
falling off in the standard of the horses ‘raised,’ to use the American
word, but rather that a continual improvement is aimed at, so that
visitors from horse-breeding countries may find what they want if they
come to ‘the stud farm of the world.’
“The need to keep to the right lines and breed from good old stock
which has produced real stock-getting stallions cannot be too strongly
emphasised, for the reason that there is a possibility of the British
market being overstocked with females, with a corresponding dearth of
males, both stallions and geldings, and although this is a matter which
breeders cannot control they can at least patronise a strain of blood
famous for its males. The group of Premier--Nellie Blacklegs’ brothers,
Northwood, Hydrometer, Senator, and Calwich Topsman--may be quoted as
showing the advisability of continuing to use the same horse year after
year if colt foals are bred, and wanted, and the sire is a horse of
merit.
“With the number of breeders of Shire horses and the plentiful supply
of mares, together with the facilities offered by local stallion-hiring
societies, it ought not to be impossible to breed enough high-grade
sires to meet the home demand and leave a surplus for export as well,
and the latter of the class that will speak for themselves in other
countries, and lead to enquiries for more of the same sort.
FEW HIGH PRICES FROM EXPORTERS
“It is noteworthy that few, if any, of the high prices obtained for
Shires at public sales have come from exporters or buyers from abroad,
but from lovers of the heavy breed in England, who have been either
forming or replenishing studs, therefore, ‘the almighty dollar’ has not
been responsible for the figures above quoted. Still it is probable
that with the opening up of the agricultural industry in Western
Canada, South Africa, and elsewhere, Shire stallions will be needed to
help the Colonial settlers to build up a breed of horses which will be
useful for both tillage and haulage purposes.
“The adaptability of the Shire horse to climate and country is well
known, and it is satisfactory for home breeders to hear that Mr.
Martinez de Hoz has recently sold ten Shires, bred in Argentina, at an
average of £223 2_s._ 6_d._, one, a three-year-old, making £525.
“Meanwhile it might be a good investment if a syndicate of British
breeders placed a group of typical Shire horses in a few of the biggest
fairs or shows in countries where weighty horses are wanted, and thus
further the interests of the Shire abroad, and assist in developing the
export trade.”
It may be added that during the summer of 1906, H.M. King Edward and
Lord Rothschild sent a consignment of Shires to the United States of
America for exhibition.