Shire Horses

See also:

The Suffolk Punch | The Clydesdale | The Cleveland
The Percheron | Dales and Fell Ponies

Largest of the Heavy Breeds, the Shire was derived from the old Black English carthorses from Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. Native cobs were bred with larger horses from the Low Countries, Normandy horses from the time of William the Conqueror; the Jutland, the Destrier of Knights in armour and Flemish mares brought to England by the Dutch during the draining of the Wash. Friesians gave the English Blacks a better movement.

The foundation stallion of the breed was the Packington Blind Horse who stood at Ashby-de-la-Zouch in 1755, but the name Shire was not used until 1884, when the Shire Horse Society replaced the English Cart Horse Society.

With a short back, sloping shoulders, massive girth and sweeping quarters, it has both weight and the great strength necessary for draught work. The head is of medium size and broad between the eyes, which are large and docile in expression. The profile of the nose is slightly Roman.