Suffolk Punch stars destined for pastures new
Ruby, an endangered British Native breed of heavy horse, has resided at Nottingham Trent University’s Brackenhurst campus since 2016.
Following the difficult decision made last year by the equine team at NTU Brackenhurst, Ruby, the Suffolk Punch mare and her foal, Hope, will soon move to not only their new home but Ruby’s birthplace, at Easton Farm in their native Suffolk. The hope is that they will continue to be bred to help support the continuation of the rare breed.
Ruby came to NTU in September 2016 on loan from Barnsley College and was eventually purchased to be a full-time member of the Equestrian Centre. Suffolk Punches are classified as a critically endangered breed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, with less than 75 female horses left in the UK and fewer than 300 left in the world, so with this information, discussions between the equine academic and technical teams soon led to the decision to breed from Ruby.
Breeding from Ruby provided the opportunity to combine sperm sexing technology and genetic parent matching to increase the chance of producing a filly foal from a match that would limit damage to the genetic diversity of the breed.
Ruby and Hope, the Suffolk Punch horses
The semen of one of the best-matched stallions, Holbeach Iggy, was collected and sex-sorted by Stallion AI Services and Cogent, and Ruby was inseminated at Twemlows Stud in 2019.
In July 2020 Hope was born, the first foal born using this combined technology, increasing genetically appropriate females to support future breeding for breed conservation purposes.
Both Ruby and Hope are of most value to the breed as breeding females, and Anna Gregory, NTU’s Equine Technical Team Leader, has been seeking a suitable home for the pair.
The team at Easton Farm, which has made headlines in recent years for facilitating the breeding of a variety of rare breeds, came to visit NTU recently to reunite with Ruby – whom they originally bred eight years ago – and meet Hope for the first time.
Steve Swan, who will be looking after Ruby and Hope at Easton Farm Park, was present when Ruby was born and is delighted that she is returning to the breed’s namesake region with her daughter.