The Shire Horse

(a continuing article by Arlin Wareing)

From ASHA Summer 1996 Newsletter

Chapter VI: Alma Chaffin

     In 1952 Fred H. Bixby passed away leaving a million dollar estate and an unrecorded number of Shire horses. Stories range that this number may have been as high as 500 head. Because of the various business considerations, the heir and corporate managers needed the estate settled as soon as possible. With one exception, everyone wanted to get rid of the horses. The best available market was to sell them for fish-food which, in the end, is where most ended up.

     The lone supporter for the horses was Fred's daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Janeway. She not only loved the horses, but wanted to keep a part of her father's ambition and goals alive. She had not met Mr. Wright, whom we wrote about in Chapter IV, nor did she remember his name. However, she did remember the purchase this gentleman from Idaho had made 5 years earlier. So she picked up the telephone in an effort to locate him in hopes he may want to buy more. But without a name or even a description, her efforts seemed futile. Blackfoot, Idaho and the surrounding area had a population of somewhere in the neighborhood of 7000 people and most people knew everyone else. However, those people she contacted did not associate C.J. Wright as a horse dealer, but the name of Alma Chaffin frequently came up. So it was, that Mrs. Janeway contacted Mr. Alma Chaffin.

     Alma had made a living, on a little over 20 acres of land, for his wife and children from buying and selling livestock. He also had a Bull service before the advent of frozen semen. He was well know up and down the Snake River Valley where he would buy any livestock that was offered at a reasonable price, and would turn around and sell it to a willing buyer, hopefully for a few pennies or dollars of profit. Alma told me that in one year alone, he bought and shipped over 1500 horses for slaughter, mostly drafts. He also knew of anyone wanting to buy. This small farm provided the means to work or try out horses he had bought before moving them on. Alma stayed on the same farm until his death in 1983, at the age of 83. He never owned a tractor. Not only was he a cowboy, but owned and showed a 6-horse hitch as well.

     These articles are centered around the history of the Shire horse, but the history and knowledge of the people who owned and maintained the breed is also of importance. Alma was a true horse dealer, with the gift of gab and the knowledge in his trade to get ahead and still maintain honesty. The line between honesty and dishonesty sometimes may be unclear. In order to make a profit at the end of the day, it was important to not only buy for the right price, but to sell as well, and everything Alma owned was for sale. Some said, "he would sell his wife if the price was right." I guess the price was never right, because she is still alive today at the age of 95.

     Alma told the story of one of his former customers who had lost one of his horses and needed a replacement to match the one he had left. This fellow came to the Chaffins and asked if he had any horses for sale. He was promply taken to the corral where a number of horses were kept. As the horses were moved back and forth across the corral, the potential buyer spotted what he believed to be a match for his own horse. When asked the price Alma said, "you don't want that horse." The buyer said, "why." Alma replied, "he don't look so good." The buyer persisted and the horse was caught and examined and a price was agreed upon. He was promptly lead away and loaded into a truck. A couple of days later the man returned, angrier than a wet hen, complainig he had been sold a blind horse. "Yes", Alma said, "I told you he didn't look so good." It was agreed that the farmer could bring his horse back, but he chose to keep him to finish the job he was presently doing. The horse was never returned; it seems he was a good work animal and followed commands and the lead of his team mate to perfection. As long as he was with other horses, either hitched or in a group as he had been in the corral, he followed and depended upon the others to a point where it was impossible to determine that he was blind.

     Upon getting the call from Mrs. Janeway, Chaffin thought about a neighbor farmer, Vernon Bird, who farmed with horses, was already a Shire breeder, and who showed his horses in local fairs and other events. Vernon was promptly contacted, and as the story goes, the rest is history. But after all, this is a story about the history of the breed. Vernon Bird's story is also of profound interest and we will look at in Chapter VII.

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