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30 <strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Wednesday <strong>October</strong> 6 <strong>2021</strong><br />
SELWYN RURAL LIFE<br />
Majestic creatures to feature<br />
The Ellesmere A&P Association once had<br />
a role in advocating for improved draught<br />
horse bloodlines in the district. In 1935 a<br />
Clydesdale stallion – from Henley, Otago<br />
- was chosen to travel <strong>Selwyn</strong> under the<br />
auspices of the association. This scheme<br />
was short-lived. By 1937 the scheme was<br />
expected to make a loss, in view of the<br />
price of horses and the market trend,<br />
and less than whole-hearted support by<br />
members, so the scheme was discontinued.<br />
Horse and Stallion Parades, organised by<br />
the association and held in late September,<br />
were an opportunity for stud owners to<br />
show off their finest bloodlines. Something<br />
akin to the modern-day reality tv series<br />
‘The Bachelorette’, the annual parade was<br />
held prior to the annual Show, allowing<br />
farmers to compare stallions ‘in the flesh’<br />
before mating season began.<br />
Annual ploughing matches, run by the<br />
association from 1920 to 1927 (ploughing<br />
matches were held prior to 1920 and<br />
organised by an independent Ploughing<br />
Match Committee) were a marvellous<br />
spectacle of working horsepower – teams<br />
of beautifully groomed and ribbon<br />
bedecked Clydesdales with polished<br />
harness and sparkling nickel plate.<br />
The abandonment of the ploughing<br />
matches heralded the decline of the role<br />
of the Clydesdale. Show competitors<br />
dwindled as a result. The Ellesmere<br />
Guardian of May 1944 commented that<br />
the 1943 Ellesmere Show was the first<br />
time on record that Clydesdales were<br />
deleted from the programme and ‘many<br />
expressions of regret were voiced that<br />
such a course has been necessary by the<br />
development of mechanical power in<br />
agricultural pursuits’.<br />
In the intervening years the number of<br />
Clydesdale breeders declined and hence<br />
numbers being exhibited at local shows.<br />
That makes it more exciting having the<br />
Clydesdale Association supporting the<br />
special 150th Ellesmere A&P Association<br />
Show this year.<br />
Ploughing matches were run by<br />
the Ellesmere A&P Association<br />
from 1920-1927<br />
Clydesdale from 1920 Jubilee Show<br />
Yearling fillies being judged at the Ellesmere A&P Show, 1934<br />
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