TWO farming brothers have embarked on another show season with their prize-winning Shire and Clydesdale horses.

The Bedford family has shown heavy horses for decades, collecting championship awards from the Royal and Great Yorkshire down to the smallest of agricultural shows.

At their Sheepwalk Farm at Escrick - thought to have got its name when flocks were driven by shepherds from the village to York market - the family has no fewer than 35 of the country's top Shire and Clydesdale horses.

They exhibit at about 35 shows a year and have won the Shire horse championships 14 times at the Great Yorkshire alone. Their horses are the top in their field but it means weeks of hard work before they enter the show ring.

The Bedfords' show season starts in March at the Shire Horse Society's spring show at Peterborough, where the family holds the record for the number of championships won. That means preparing the horses selected for exhibiting as far back as October. Then follow the big shows at Perth and Newark.

Paul Bedford and his brother, Walter, have shown horses since the Sixties. Today their Deighton Shires are known not only throughout Britain, but also in the United States and mainland Europe, where they have been exported for exhibition, driving and promotional use.

The family moved to the 200-acre Sheepwalk Farm from Gomersall in 1981 and learned their horsemanship skills from their father, also called Walter, who was a head horse man in Bradford, in charge of 60 horses.

"We survived the dark days in the Sixties when heavy horses seemed to go out of fashion at agricultural shows," said Paul Bedford. "Today they are as popular as ever and always a big attraction. They are a way of life for us - a labour of love; hard work but very satisfying."

As well as breeding and caring for the gentle giants - several are 18 hh high - the brothers shoe, break, and drive them.

The horses have become a major diversification on their mixed grass and arable farm as a result of the many championships. That, in turn, has attracted interest from companies looking to use the horses as attractions, much as breweries present them at agricultural shows in Britain.

They are used for such traditional rural work as logging in forests, but are also in demand from individuals - people who have always had a yearning to own a Shire horse as a hobby.

"They are a beautiful, intelligent animal, which loves to please people," said Paul Bedford. "They're wonderful animals to work with. They demand a lot of time and attention but they are well worth it."

For many years, Shires were used by breweries for deliveries to pubs but problems with street systems in cities, coupled with a lack of men qualified to handle and care for the horses, saw them decline. Today there are only two or three breweries still using them, and then mainly for public appearances.