HEAVY HORSES 181 



objected to by some, who express the opinion that lie is unnecessarily 

 big, oblivious of the fact that it is by virtue of the weight he can throw 

 into his collar that he is enabled to walk away jauntily with such a load 

 behind him as would have appeared incredible to his admirers of a century 

 ago. It is possible that in employing Shire horses for agricultural 

 purposes in some districts their owners are not making the most of their 

 strength, and that a lighter animal would do the work equally well, and 

 in a shorter time; but the whole aim and ambition of breeders of this 

 variety of stock has been to produce the most powerful horses procurable 

 for the purposes of heavy work, relying on the misfits, or such as do 

 not come up to this standard, for purposes of lighter draught. As 

 regards the food question, it naturally occurs that a large frame requires 

 a great deal of keeping up, and if size and weight be required, they can 

 only be maintained by the supply of a liberal amount of nourishment. 

 The firms that employ Shires would scarcely continue to do so did they 

 not find them remunerative slaves; and considering that these animals 

 possess no equal in size or power, and that there is no other breed that 

 can fulfil their duties equally well, it appears that the contentions of their 

 opponents savour somewhat of the hypercritical. 



There remains, however, one further point upon which the detractors 

 of the Shire horse are united, and that is, the amount of silky hair or 

 "feather" which adorns his legs. This, it is contended by some, is 

 absolutely prejudicial to the welfare of the horse; they assert that it is 

 productive of grease and other kindred ills; that a profusion of feather 

 presupposes a coarse skin; and, above all, that any animal that is the 

 possessor of much hair is totally unadapted for agricultural work, as its 

 legs would soon become clogged with soil if it were put to work on wet 

 and heavy ground. As may be readily supposed, the above objections 

 to the Shire horse, as promulgated by his opponents, are vigorously 

 combated by those who are included in the circle of his admirers; whilst, 

 placing aside the two first charges laid against feather, as being more 

 suited for consideration by the veterinary portion of this work, it may 

 be suggested that as the labours of the very heavy feathered Shires are 

 more usually restricted to town than country work, the possibility of its 

 being clogged does not apply with any particular force. Nor can it be 

 supposed that the breeders of Shire horses are influenced in their desire 

 to produce plenty of hair upon the legs by merely sentimental feelings, 

 for this is not the case. They assert that without feather there is likely 

 to be a deficiency of bone, both as regards quantity and quality, each of 

 which is essential in the composition of an animal possessing such an 

 enormous frame. It is only fair, therefore, to allow the breeders who 



