A Couple's Love & Lifetime journey with the Shire Horse Breed

No problem. We started the business back in 20... 35 years ago now in England. And then we had it running for 25 years over there. We then moved to Australia to retire basically. Came over here. It didn't go very well. It went for about three months and then we were bored. So we thought, what are we going to do now? So then we decided to start the whole business again. And now we've been running over here for 10 years. So we chose this area because it was basically for the grass, really, for the feed. Because all the horses that we need, they need to have good feed. So we spent a long time looking to where we were actually going to move. We started off in Chambers Flat, but the grass there wasn't very good. It's very sandy soil for the horses. So we decided to come here because it was dairy country. And Gavin's auntie actually lives in Boonah, so we did visit this way quite often. And it's absolutely beautiful scenery here in the scenic rim. So that's why we decided to come here. And we wouldn't move. It's a lovely, lovely place. Yeah, perfect place. We've kind of got a very, very background with the horses, with the carriage business in the UK. It was so diverse of the different things that we used to do. So it would start off with just a basic funeral, and then go on to the big, big funerals. And then we'd take all day, and then sort of smaller weddings. And then chapel weddings, and cathedral weddings, and castle weddings. So everything kind of grows and grows. So every day is kind of completely different. Sort of the pinnacle of the business was doing the 2012 Olympics, where all our horses was actually in the Olympics. They said it couldn't be done. We said it couldn't be done. But the organizers of the Olympic Committee was fantastic and said, let's try it, and if it doesn't work, then we can put out. But if it does work, let's go for it. And they were so accommodating. It worked absolutely perfectly. So that was sort of the pinnacle for the staff and for us. But then after that, we was coaching with the Royals as well. So we would do seven to ten events every year with the Duke and the Queen. And that was just absolutely amazing. That's with Gelderland Horses, not Shire Horses. So that was probably the top of where we was. So we had some amazing experiences with that. But we also done weddings in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle as well with the horses, with the Shire Horses. We had a pair of greys in there to do weddings in there. So that was very nice, down the bottom of where Kate and William got married. A lot of London work, a lot of Mayfair work as well with the horses, mainly evenings, doing sort of tours for princes and that sort of stuff. So those, again, difficult jobs, but very highbrow, so very enjoyable. When we run the Cobham Co tours, the guests actually come here and they get a bit of a Shire Horse farm experience as well as the Cobham Co tour. So they come and then we take them out on the Cobham Co tour, give them a bit of a talk about the farm before that and the breeding and how the Shire Horse breed is endangered. This is Pride, Pride on this side and Henry on that side. These are both Shire Horses. So Pride is 6-year-old and Henry is 13. So he's been with us for about 10 years, Henry. So he's been with us from the start of us being in Australia. So originally we came from the UK and then we had the same sort of business in the UK, horse-drawn carriages, do weddings, funerals, promotions, Cobham Co tours, whatever we need to do. And then we moved over 10 years ago and then we started up again over here. And we've also got a breeding program. So we've got mares and foals in the paddock behind you there. But I'll tell you a bit more about that once you're having your lunch. I just want to do a little bit of a safety briefing with you. So once you're on the carriage, please remain seated. If anything happens, jolts forward, anything happens at all, please just remain seated. No screaming, shouting and please don't try to get off. So we're going to take you for a ride. Take you about three quarters of an hour to an hour on the carriage and then you'll come back and then Gavin's going to take you into the carriage barn over the other side where the carriage is and he's going to tell you a bit about our carriages and the history of some of the carriages. So you would have five horses. So you'd have two at the back, three at the front. It's called a Cobham Co hitch. We call it a reverse unicorn. So they would do 10 miles. They would normally be standard breeds, probably trot between 10 and 15 miles an hour. They would just be flat out. You would have a gate boy sitting beside you and the gate boy would be a young fellow, normally an orphan, 14, 15, something like that. He would jump off, open the gates for you. You should go through the logging tracks or people's properties. You should close the gates behind, look after your passengers' luggage and so on and so forth. So after the 10 miles, as a driver I would stop. He would sort out your passengers, make sure they were fed and watered at your stations. He would change the horses. So he would harness up another set of five horses, put them on, hand me the reins, load everybody off, we'd go again. We would do that three times in a day. So we'd do 30 miles a day. After the 30 miles, I would stop. I would rest. The boy would sort out the horses and then the next day we would drive back. So that would be our room. A lot of people have really enjoyed experience really and it's just so peaceful and it's just all stepped back in time so it gets away from the main traffic, as it were, from day-to-day living. So that's what the experience is about. But each horse, each one of these, because they're fully grown now, they can pull 7 tonne each on the flat. So that's 14 tonne between them. There's only pulling about 3.5, 3.7 today. So they're not going to struggle. They might get a bit warm, they might get a bit sweaty because it's very still today. Good boys. We've all got our special horse and my horses that I love are very different to the ones that Gab loves. They've all got different personalities. So we've all got our special horses. Mine is probably King and Fleur. So King's a stallion and Fleur's our main mare. They mean so much to me. I just love King. We bred him and he's just one of those horses that you could just never get rid of. He's just beautiful. Whereas Gavin really loves Henry. And Henry's a little monster. Yeah, I like something with a bit of spark in it. Something that's going to give me a bit of trouble but once you actually get under the skin of them, they're your best friends. And they will work for you all day long without arguments. They're just amazing horses. Something that's got just a little bit of sass and will give you just a little bit of trouble on the day, they're the ones I really like. As the old horsemen always say, there's no point in knocking if there's no one home. So there's something in the brain that says, yes, let's go. Use that into the actual work of that horse. And then he's so proud of what he does, he wants to please you all day long. And then they just keep going. But they are very different. Every horse is different just like we are. Every horse has got a different personality and likes different people. Sometimes they don't like or don't get on with you and some of them don't get on with me. You've just got to find that personality and you've got to find what makes you tick. And once you do that, then you've got a friend for life.