Meet the latest member of the team at Thwaites… but he’s no ordinary colleague.
This is their latest Shire Horse, a two-year-old gelding who is joining the company’s resident stable team – Wainwright, Gunner and Ribble.
He arrived last week after travelling from his previous home in Shropshire.
Head Horseman, Richard Green, said: “We have been looking for a new addition since the beginning of the year but it takes a while because we have some quite specific requirements – anyone who has seen our Shire Horses will know they are black with four white feet and a white flash on their nose and believe it or not, that’s quite difficult to find.
“We looked at quite a few but this one really fitted the bill and we are looking forward to him settlinginto the team. It’s a great time for him to join us too, as we are preparing to move to our fantastic new stables in Mellor Brook.”
Eventually, the horse, who doesn’t yet have a name, will join Wainwright (13), Gunner (5) and Ribble (3) as they visit Thwaites pubs, inns and hotels.
It’ll be a while before he is ready – it took a year to train Ribble, who is now becoming a bit of a regular in the pubs!
Once upon a time, the Shire Horses were famous for delivering Thwaites beer to pubs but now they are the company’s mascots and are on hand to celebrate new openings, investment, charity events, fun days or simply enjoy a pint!
The horses are fed on the spent grain produced through the beer brewing process and travel around 10,000 miles a year to the delight of their increasing fans.
But the stable team also have big ambitions and will soon be entering them into shows.
Richard added: “We used to attend shows regularly and our tack room is filled with the rosettes that have been won over those years but in the last five years we haven’t entered any competitions.
“But Gunner and Ribble are now a solid team, they look good and we want to show them off a bit more, so they will be at Westmorland Show later this month – their first competition together.
“It’ll be great to have all four horses out there raising the profile of Thwaites – all we need now is a name, and we’re open to suggestions if anyone has a good one.”
