5 Aug 2016

Woodbury Clydesdales

From Country Life, 9:27 pm on 5 August 2016
Deborah and Jim Cook

Deborah and Jim Cook Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes

Jim and Deborah Cook love their Clydesdales, it's in their genes; Jim's grandfather worked a team on his farm and Deb's grandfather was a competition ploughman.

The horses, that number about 18 at the moment, live in several paddocks on the outskirts of Cust in North Canterbury.

Some of them are regular competitors at A and P Shows around the South Island and more often than not they come away with prizes.

As well as being used for breeding and showing, the horses get hitched up to a plough every now then and are used to turn over heavy soil, just like their ancestors.