During September, my son visited from Liverpool to kindly house-sit for us so that Judy and I could spend a few days away in Suffolk. As he is an archaeologist, he is naturally interested in history, whether it be South American or local. Before we went away, I suggested that we should visit Hylands on the Monday and visit the House now that it has been fully restored.
Although several visits and tours of the House had been taken in the past, I was amazed to find that our bookshelves did not possess a single reference book on Hylands. As a result, a prior visit to the gift shop in the Stable Block was necessary so that son Jon could prepare for the visit with some prior information. The history and guidebook was most helpful and enlightening in the main but I was surprised to see a photo of the late "Mrs Hanbury with two Suffolk Punch Ponies". These looked rather too dark and too hairy (feathering on their feet) to be Suffolks. Also Suffolks are rather too big and sturdy to be really considered ponies although, admittedly, there can be some inconsistency in applying such terminology as polo ponies are, in fact, horses.
However the Suffolk Punch, is very much a sturdy, stout barrelled heavy horse that stands about 16 hands (16x 4 inches = 5 ft 4 inches) at the top of the shoulder (withers). Additionally, Suffolks are always a shade of "chestnut" (Suffolk spelling) and clean legged (free from longish coarse hair) as this is an essential prerequisite for a horse bred to work on heavy East Anglian clay.
I understand that the Suffolks intended for future use at Hylands will, for most of the time, be stabled at Writtle College with large holding pens available at Home Farm as temporary accommodation. The stables in the Stable Block were built for smaller coach horses and, apart from any access problems, the ventilation is inadequate for such large animals.
If anyone would like to know more about these gentle giants and their history, the Suffolk Punch Heavy Horse Museum is situated in Market Hill, Woodbridge and is open 2 to 5 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Easter Monday to the end of September each year. Visit www.suffolkhorsemuseum.com for more information.
PS Museum or not, Woodbridge is a nice town to visit anyway with its Tide Mill, river frontage and an interesting town trail (details from Tourist Information Centre).
Alan Trigg