Page 132 - IT'S A RUM LIFE BOOK FOUR Volume 1 "Northcote 1984 to 1998"

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
“CRACKER CAME TO STAY”

“Cracker” had a huge long lasting impact on the whole life of the Northcote Centre.

Not long after the “Waterland” episode we began looking for a “New” No 1 working Horse.
Sam was getting too old for hard work, Admiral never had been capable of continuous
work, so who was left? Only Jacob who was still relatively young. There was no escaping
the fact, we needed another Shire Horse.
We decided we really would have to look for a horse capable of several years of serious
work.
The main problem was we did not have much money to spare, times were difficult but we
had not yet been hit by the National Lottery. You will have already read about those
momentous problems.
Looking all over the UK, we did not find a suitable horse to fit our requirements until the
Shire Horse Centre at Cricket St. Thomas in Somerset contacted us.

They had a horse for sale. Elizabeth, the Centre Manager did not want to sell him because
he was exceptional in her eyes. Mind you she was a bit prejudiced as she had bred him!
The owner of the Cricket St. Thomas estate held the purse strings and in his eyes,
because the horse only had three white legs, he was for sale!

We planned a journey to visit the Centre near Chard in Somerset. It was a long way from
us in Lincolnshire near the east coast.
Cricket St, Thomas house was used to film “To the Manor Born” a very popular television
series staring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles.

We stayed with friends who lived near Devizes in Wiltshire to break the journey. It was still
a long way from there to Chard.

“Cricket Cracker” to give him his full name, was big. Elizabeth did not exaggerate when
she had told us he was exceptional. We loved him at first sight and just hope we could
raise the necessary funds to buy him.

We took a video camera with us to record our visit and keep looking at him when we
returned home. I took him for a short drive, his nature was excellent.
Being only three, his potential was incredible and his whole working life ahead of him.

I can not remember what he cost us, I know it seemed a lot of money at the time, but
Cracker paid us back as they say “in spades”.
All his life he excelled in everything he did and then to “cap it all” towards the end of his life
he was found to be the Guinness Tallest Shire Horse in the World.

He was in fact the same height as old Goliath who had died by this time and there was, it
was thought a horse of another breed, perhaps in the U.S.A., a tiny bit taller!