In the days before tractors heavy horse-power worked the farm and traditionally the heavy horses had their ”lads”, the best horse had the ”best lad” and the oldest working horse the ”least lad”. This picture of Captain the Clydesdale at Hummersea Farm shows such an animal in the peak of condition. The image dates from c.1936 and shows Mr Tom Hart, with Nell the sheep dog and Mr Coates in the background, at that time four or five Clydesdales were kept at Hummersea Farm to do the heavy work. Carly Chapman tells us: ” Our family lived on the next farm above “Hummersea Farm” (on the farm which I thought was Hummersea Farm!) from the 1950s to the mid 1980s; my great-grandfather John Dale bought the farm of 16 acres when he started a family. My grandad and his brothers then inherited the dairy farm with my grandad Frank Dale running it until they moved onto the newly built “Arlington Estate” in the late 1980s. My Grandad’s brother John Dale was a Cleveland bay breeder and sent Cleveland Bays to the Queen (and was invited to the Queens garden party), however I don’t know of any lasting photographs. He also judged Cleveland Bays at the annual shows where my Mam said she got front row seats in the judging ring when she was little.”
Many thanks to Carly Chapman for that update.
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