Shire

The Shire Horse developed in the U.K. Fen counties, as well as in Derbyshire, Leicestershire,, and Staffordshire, and can be traced back to the English Great Horse of the Middle Ages and the primitive Forest Horse., During the 17th century, large numbers of Flanders Horse and the Friesian were brought over to England by the Dutch contactors employed to work on the land reclamation taking place in the Fens. Both these breeds has a considerable effect on the development of the Shire horse.

Interbreeding between the Great Horse, the Friesian, and the Flanders horse, led to the English Black, named by Oliver Cromwell. The English Black was a much bigger animal than the Great Horse, as well as the predominantly black coloring of the Friesian. The foundation sire of the Shire horse is believed to be a black horse called Packington Blind Horse who sired the first Shires to appear in the studbood of 1878. In 1884 the Shire Horse Society was formed, and from then until the Second World War a vast number of Shires were registered every year. They became extremely popular due to their incredible pulling power, which has not been surpassed by any other breed of horse, and were used for all agricultural uses. After the Second World War the numbers of Shires decreased dramatically, but the breed has seen a revival in interest, partly due to the support of breweries, who continue to use the Shire throughout the country for demonstrations and shows. The Shire horse is known for its docile and gentle temperament, making them easy to handle in spite of their size.

In appearance, they are big-barreled horses with long legs and carry a lot of feather. They usually have an attractive head, which often has a Roman type nose and a very honest outlook. They have wide spacing between intelligent and kind eyes, and fairly small, alter ears. The neck is often longish and slightly arched, they have a good, powerful, sloping shoulder and rounded muscular quarters. Generally they are black, bay, chestnut, gray or brown, often with white markings on the legs. They can stand up to 18 hh, and there have been cases where they have even exceeded this.

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