Sherman the Shire has come home to West Ilkerton Farm!
Sherman (left) and Spec (right) in 2005

Some of you may remember Sherman. He was with us for about seven years when we had the Horsedrawn Tour business. About five years ago we sold him with a younger black Shire called Spec and a set of harness plus a nearly new rides wagon which Chris had made (pictured above) to Mullacott Equestrian Centre. The reasons we sold the horses were that the Horsedrawn Tour business was no longer profitable and Sherman (then nearly 17 years old) was finding the hills difficult with a full load. We were assured by Mullacott Equestrian Centre that Sherman's workload would be light and that we would have first refusal if they ever decided to sell the horses. We also agreed that when Sherman became too old to work we would give him a retirement home here.
BUT just over a year later we heard through the grapevine that Sherman, Spec, the harness and the wagon had been sold on. Repeated requests for information from Mullacott Equestrian Centre were stone-walled, so I eventually managed to track the horses down through Sherman's horse passport number. The passport company told me to write a letter which they would forward to the new owners, and then it would be up to the new owners to contact us if they wanted to. Luckily, the new owners (Mr and Mrs Crocker from Bere Regis, Dorset) contacted us. It transpired that Mullacott Equestrian Centre had sold the horses to the Crockers unshod and untried on the strength of old photos of the pair working when they were with us! They also charged much more money that we had sold everything for, and didn't tell the Crockers that (although they had been fine for the first season) during the second season the horses had become increasingly unmanageable, which is why they were sold unshod and untried - a fact we found out from a former employee.
Moral: Don't trust anyone when buying or selling a horse. Get promises in writing. If a horse is really special to you, don't sell it!

Sherman in the field this morning

Anyway, about three weeks ago we had a telephone call from Mrs Crocker saying did we want to buy the horses back? After much soul-searching (and bank account searching!) we decided we really couldn't afford to buy Spec, and the Crockers said they knew of an experienced Shire person who was interested in Spec, anyway. However, we felt that at 21 years old we had to buy Sherman back and give him a good retirement. He worked his socks off for us for several years and never put a foot wrong. Also, he's the kindest, gentlest horse you could ever wish to meet.

Sherman having a good roll. At 21 years old he can still roll right over and back again.

So yesterday a very smart and expensive horse lorry fetched Sherman from Bere Regis and brought him back to West Ilkerton (the trouble with Shire horses is they can't fit in normal trailers!). The lorry was too big to fit down our lane, so we unloaded Sherman at our lane end, and Chris walked him home. As I followed behind I couldn't stop tears from welling up in my eyes because it seemed so right for Chris to be leading a Shire (especially dear old Sherman) down the lane again.
Some sort of ESP must have been at work because Sarah rang at midday and said she was coming home with some of her stuff from Cirencester, and she would be here at around 5 o'clock. We hadn't told Sarah about Sherman coming home because we didn't want to disappoint her if anything went wrong. Sherman was always her special horse, and she was (rightly) very upset at us for selling him.
When Sarah arrived I told her that Winaway was in the barn and needed to be put out in the field. As she went into the barn, she did the best double-take I've ever seen! She really couldn't believe that Sherman was standing there. Needless to say, we went weepy again.



Sherman is now here to stay. For the moment he's settling in, but seeing how fit and well he is we may just get out the harness and potter around the farm with him sometime - just for fun!