The film opens with shots of English shire horses at Peterborough Agricultural Show. This cuts to b/w archive film showing shire horses being used on farms to pull ploughs and other farm machinery. The archive also includes an early tractor and the commentary talks about the decline of horses which led to the vast majority of the breed being slaughtered. Some were however kept and we see modern shots of a shire horse being used to pull a canal barge. The film then looks at places where there is a resurgence in interest in the old breed. At Lichfield the National Coal Board use shire horses to publicise their Solid Fuel Advisory Service. We see an exterior shot of the building. Outside a member of staff talks about the popularity of the horses and their use and we go on the road in a cart pulled by a shire horse. We also see horses being prepared in their stable including Hobart Long John who is said to be the largest horse in Britain. Next we visit a ploughing competition at the Stoughton estate near Leicester (held on 1 October 1982) where we see competitive ploughing with shire horses. Several horsemen comment on their craft. Finally we visit the Peterborough Agricultural Show where heavy horses are on show including displays of horses pulling brewery drays.
Produced by Syd Pearman