180 VARIETIES OF THE HORSE 



was the recipient of very little patronage from the farmers in those 

 districts, this tending to show that the English -bred animals were in 

 their opinion the superior. 



The increase in stature made by the Great Horse, and the intelligent 

 desire to increase still further his proportions, likewise point to the fact 

 that breeders, if quiet, had none the less been working for the improve- 

 ment of the breed, whilst the high prices that were realized by the taller 

 animals point conclusively to the upward tendency of the market, which, 

 after all, is the chief barometer by which the popularity and position 

 of a variety can be discovered. It may, therefore, be accepted as a fact 

 that there was a supply of 17-hands horses available in the earlier quarter 

 of the nineteenth century for those who cared to pay for them; and this 

 being so, the evolution of the old War-horse from an undersized, though 

 willing creature, to an equine giant of huge strength and magnificent 

 proportions became an accomplished fact. 



During more recent years, the lines of breeders of the Heavy Horse — 

 it would be premature to refer to the animals just yet as Shires — were 

 cast in pleasanter places. There was, in the first place, a ready-made 

 animal for them to exercise their ingenuity upon, the principles of horse- 

 raising and the management of stock had become far better understood, 

 and the facilities for arranging crosses of blood had been infinitely 

 increased. In suggesting that the Heavy Horse men of the nineteenth 

 century have laboured under fewer obstacles than those which confronted 

 their predecessors, there is, however, no desire on the part of the writer 

 to minimize the value of their work. On the contrary, had it not been 

 for their perseverance and intelligence, combined by a liberal expenditure 

 of time and money, the position of the breed would be nothing like 

 what it is. The perfection of any animal — and the Shire horse, as he 

 now exists, is on the threshold of perfection — is always a very difficult 

 task. Still, it is very reasonable to. presume that, within the space of 

 a few years more, the number of misfits will be much reduced, and the 

 imperfections which now detract from the value of many a grand specimen 

 of the race will be much less frequently met with. 



The present position of the Shire horse may therefore be taken to 

 be that of an animal that can always command a ready sale, both at 

 home and abroad. He possesses a whole army of influential supporters, 

 .Hid is generally accepted as a most profitable animal to breed, and a 

 very useful one to possess by those who require the services of powerful 

 horses. On the other hand, it would be idle to deny the fact that the 

 Shire horse, like many another good animal, has his detractors, who 

 prefer some other breed. His enormous proportions, for instance, are 



