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Couple falls in love with rare breed
By CHRISTINA K. COSDON © St. Petersburg Times, published January 3, 2001 CLEARWATER -- On any fair Sunday, joggers and motorists stop or slow down to watch a large black horse with white hair flowing to below its knees. The horse is trotting, pulling a cart and two riders along scenic but heavily traveled McMullen-Booth Road. That would be Barney, an English Shire stallion, and his owners Art and Patty Ferrell of Clearwater. Although the Ferrells have enjoyed horses for many years, they were never passionate about them until they were introduced to their first Shire nearly five years ago. Their enthusiasm for the rare breed led them to start a breeding program at their farm and to take vacation trail rides as far away as Tennessee with members of their Shire family. At their farm, SterlingShire Stables, the Ferrells keep the stallion Barney, three Shire mares, a Percheron/thoroughbred mare and two miniature horses. Two of the mares, Molly and Tara, are pregnant, and the foals are due in late January and mid-February. The Shire, a descendent of the great war horse that carried armored knights into battle, is a broad-backed, powerful animal that can reach heights of more than 7 feet -- not a typical choice for a riding horse. But that was what the Ferrells were looking for when they saw their first Shire in 1996. They wanted a horse they could trust to carry them on trail rides without spooking at noises and tossing them to the ground. Although bred to be the tallest draft horse in the world, the Shire's characteristics include grace and athletic ability, as well as an inquisitive, gentle nature. "Our four children had horses when they were growing up, and competed in dressage and eventing," said Ferrell, an architect with Florida Power. "We were used to crazy thoroughbreds. But for ourselves, we wanted horses that are quiet and even-tempered." "I just wanted to be able to relax and enjoy trail rides," said Mrs. Ferrell. Horses are her stress release, she said, from teaching fourth-graders at Largo Central Elementary. The couple had never seen a Shire when they found an ad in the Times in December 1995 for Shires for sale -- a stallion, a mare and a 6-month-old colt. "When we went to look at them, they had just been sold," Ferrell said. "A trailer was pulling away with them." But as luck would have it, a year later the mare and her colt became available again. This time, the Ferrells were the buyers. "I didn't know a lot about the breed, but I knew I wanted a gentle giant. I didn't want anything that had hot blood in it," Mrs. Ferrell said. Their search ended with the Shires. "As soon as I saw the mare Annie, I fell in love with her," Mrs. Ferrell recalled. "She was massive, but loving and gentle, with eyes so soft I just couldn't resist them. She was the horse I had dreamed about all my life, black with white feathers on her legs." "Granted, they're big, but they're even-tempered," Ferrell said. "And they listen." "But when riding them, you have to know what you're doing," Mrs. Ferrell said. "You can't forget that they are big, powerful horses." Around the farm, the horses follow the couple around like dogs. "They're so people-oriented, they have to have their noses in whatever we're doing," Mrs. Ferrell said. "This is it for us, we'll never go to another breed." In 1997, they bought the stallion Barney, who matched Annie in color. Both had been used in Idaho for logging and were originally brought to Florida for that purpose. The owner sold them when the logging project didn't pan out. People often think they're looking at a Clydesdale when they see Barney, Mrs. Ferrell said. Although the two breeds share blood lines, the Scottish Clydesdale was originally bred to have longer, thinner legs than the Shire, and a longer body and neck. The Clydesdale is "speedier and brisker" than the Shire and not as docile in temperament. Both have been used in farm and forestry work and for pulling carriages and carts for delivering beer and other goods in towns. The larger Shire was the tallest horse in the world until recent years, when the Clydesdale and lighter sport horses have been bred for more height. The size of the Shire -- Barney weighs in at 1,600 pounds, while others are as heavy as 2 tons -- doesn't mean that its food bills are higher. Because they have a lower metabolism, their meals are comparable to those of lighter horses, but with perhaps a little more hay. Mrs. Ferrell said one of her Shires drinks at least 30 gallons of water a day, eats about 40 pounds of timothy/alfalfa hay a day and is fed grain twice a day. Shire foals at birth are a bit larger than those of lighter horses. Mrs. Ferrell said Annie's foals have averaged 125 pounds and 4 feet in height at birth. There is at least one other breeding farm in Florida, Sun State Shires, owned by Tracy and Shawn Bearden in Christmas. Mrs. Ferrell estimated that there are only about 15 Shires in Florida. Colorado, the seat of the American Shire Horse Association, is big Shire country. When Shire workhorses were replaced by mechanized farm implements in the 1920s and 1930s, many were sent to slaughter. Hundreds also were killed while hauling artillery and other war equipment in the two World Wars, bringing the breed close to extinction. In 1963, the British Stud Book listed only 25 colts and 49 fillies. Since then, a renewed interest in the breed has brought their numbers up, but the comeback is a slow process. Today, there are only 3,000 Shires worldwide, according to an article written by Thomas Smrt of Fox Valley Farms in Marengo, Ill., who breeds Shires for the federal government, including some used at Arlington National Cemetery.
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