Bruce Celebrates 30 years at the Trust

Anyone who has watched our Suffolk Punches at shows or visited the Trust at HollesleyBay, will almost certainly have seen our head groom Bruce Smith.   Indeed, the Suffolk Punch Horse is fortunate to have someone of Bruces ability to help ensure a future for this rare breed. Lets find out how Bruce became involved with Suffolks at HollesleyBay Colony....   Bruces grandfather had a contracting business in Lincolnshire and used to go around the farms during the winter months with his thrashing tackle.  Bruce  used to help on the farms during holidays and just about remembers grandfather using horses but it was mainly traction engines and of course latterly, tractors. Bruce was too young to carry on the family business and grandfather eventually sold up. Keen to follow up his interest in farming from his schooldays, Bruce first got a job as a stockman on an approved school farm in Hertfordshire and worked there for 3-4 years.  As councils then began to take over the approved schools and they became community homes, Bruce looked elsewhere for work and went to work at Rochester Borstal which is in the village of Borstal in Kent- hence when people were sent to Borstal, they were actually sent to the village of Borstal.   He worked there with the dairy herd but also got interested in working with the two Suffolk Punches there.  He worked at Rochester until 1978 when HM The Queen visited Leyhill Prison for the centenary of the Prison Service and he was asked to go there with the Suffolk Punches from HollesleyBay and help with them. Around this time, the then stud groom at Hollesley was about to retire and later in 1978, Bruce moved there as stud groom where he has remained ever since and following the purchase of the stud by the Suffolk Punch Trust in 2006, Bruce remains the head groom.   Bruce and the Suffolk Punch Trust are one of the few people who still show a four horse team. As the years have gone by, many of the brewers who once had show teams have gradually disappeared- names such as Truman, Whitbread, Courage and Youngers have dispersed their dray horses.  But whilst these well-funded teams were still competing, Bruce and his four horse team of Suffolks won the blue riband event at the Royal Show which is the three or four heavy horse turnout class- showing against a number of brewery show teams who mostly had Shires and being placed first ahead of them all by a Shire judge. As the title implies, Bruce is our head stud groom and with his expertise and knowledge, he has got many mares into foal and brought many foals into the world, often staying up all night to assist at the birth if necessary. In 2007, our stallion Fenland Eric sired more foals than any other Suffolk stallion.   The Suffolk Punch Trust is very fortunate to have Bruce Smith- he has been a professional stud groom with Suffolk Punch Horses for almost 40 years and is now passing on his skills to our assistant stud groom Tracey Pettitt.   Bruces knowledge and commitment to the breed are first rate and he is an excellent communicator and ambassador for Suffolk Punch Horses in general and the Suffolk Punch Trust in particular.