Farewell Beauty

by Colin Tailor

(photos by Kenny Wharton, www.kenpics.com)

Saturday 15th October saw the end of an era for the well-known ploughing team ‘Prince and Beauty’, with the loss of ‘Beauty’ at age 22.

Bought as ‘Ruskington Dark Diamond’ from Ruskington Shires by my father John Taylor, as a gangly two year old, she was renamed ‘Beauty’ and went on to grow into an 18 hand, strong working Shire.

‘Beauty’ went on to plough hundreds of ploughing matches during her lifetime, for both my father and myself as a furrow horse, often finishing alone, calmly and steadily, as was her nature. She was never what people would call ‘mareish’.

Over the years, as well as ploughing, she was shown in hand, both on her own and also as a pair, often winning matched and moving.

At home,and also at working demonstrations, ‘Beauty’ has pulled a variety of implements such as mowers, harrows, carts and notably a restored furniture van to Retford Museum.

One of the family memories which we all cherish would be her leading my father into the crematorium, along with ‘Prince’, for his last journey behind them and then a couple of weeks later paired again on the dray, to take my father’s ashes to the wood near his former home.

‘Beauty’ will be greatly missed by our family, but also leaves hundreds of great memories of a working shire team and companion.

RIP ‘Beauty’ old lass.