William Nothard (1831 - 1905) was a farmer from the village of Reedness near Goole in East Yorkshire, England. When his son Abraham took over the day to day running of the farm, William turned his skills to the breeding of horses. In those days before the evolution of the Tractor, field horses were as important as the land that they worked, and William realised that the industry would pay a high price for a strong well bred beast. Within a few years he had developed one of the most successful Stud Farms in the North of England, and at one time was said to have owned over twenty high class Stallions.
To advertise a breeding Stallion in those days, the owner would have a Stud Card printed that included the hereditary history, size in hands, and a description (later a photograph) of the horse, cards usually finished off at the bottom with "Money to be paid to the groom the last time round, or 5 shillings extra will be charged for collecting".
William, as well as having Stud cards printed, also wrote a poem about each of his horses. He describes how well the horses were bred, and in some cases who he had sold the horse on to. Although very few of these Stud cards and Poems have lasted to this day, I do have a few dating back to the end of the last century, of which four of them I have included on the following pages.
