Vote for Bomber as Horse & Hounds' Horse of a Lifetime

Bomber the Shire horse with his owners Eve Miller and Jon Davison at the screening of War Horse.

Bomber the Shire horse lives in Horncastle with his owners Eve Miller and Jon Davison.

Standing at 18.1 hands high – around 2metres tall – he weighs a whopping 900kg, and attends events all over the country to promote the importance of preserving shires like him, as there are just an estimated 2,000-3,000 shire horses worldwide.

He was most recently seen at Woodhall Spa’s 1940s Festival and Horncastle Horse Fair last month, attending a free screening of War Horse at Stanhope Hall, hosted by Joe Richardson, a West End actor and puppeteer from the international tour of the National Theatre’s ‘War Horse’.

And now, Bomber has been nominated for a coveted Horse & Hound magazine award, in the category of Horse of a Lifetime.

The category celebrates horses who “may not be a megastar, but has changed lives and deserves recognition for what he has done for people”.

This is a new award introduced last year, and the inaugural winner was Carltonlima Emma, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s beloved hack.

Eve said: “We are absolutely delighted to hear that a couple of kind people have nominated Bomber for the Horse of a lifetime category in this years Horse & Hound awards!

“While we are humbled, we'd also love for Bomber to get the recognition he deserves. He will always be our Horse of a lifetime, but if you could spare two minutes of your time to also vote for him, we'd be eternally grateful!”

By coincidence, Bomber’s farrier – Matthew Strawson of Brook House Forge in Louth – has also been nominated for the Farrier of the Year award.

You can vote for Bomber by visiting https://www.hhawardsuk.com/nominations. Voting closes on September 21.

The winners will be announced at the Horse & Hound Awards Ceremony, which will take place on November 22 at the IXL Events Centre, Dallas Burston Polo Club in Warwickshire.

You can meet Bomber at North Norfolk Railway’s 1940s event this weekend (September 16 and 17), and follow his adventures via his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/bombersmission.