132 THE HORSE AND ITS RELATIVES 



clearly to a shire cross. The feet should have 

 long hair behind. As regards colour, bay or brown, 

 with a blaze on the forehead, and the whole or 

 part of the legs below the knees and hocks white, 

 is the most prized ; but black, grey, or chestnut 

 occasionally occurs, the last of these being regarded 

 as indicative of a shire cross. 



The history of one of the most famous of the 

 English heavy breeds, namely, the shire, or great, 

 horse, has been fully worked out by Sir Walter 

 Gilbey.^ This breed (pi. xii. fig. 2) was probably 

 derived from the chariot-horses of the Britons 

 of Caesar's time, and by the time of King John 

 ( 1 199-12 1 6) had become the recognised English 

 war-horse. With the increasinor weight of armour, 

 a heavier and larger type of horse became essential ; 

 and accordingly breeders directed their attention 

 to the production of such a type. During the 

 Wars of the Roses (1450-147 1) large numbers 

 of great horses were exported, in order to escape 

 being seized for military purposes ; but in the 

 reign of Henry VII. (1485-1509) an Act was 

 passed prohibiting the exportation of these and 

 all other horses. In the succeeding reign — Henry 

 VHI. — not only was this prohibition continued, but 

 statutes were made for encouraging and improving 

 the breed of shire horses. At this date the weight 

 a charger had to carry (inclusive of his own armour) 



^ The Great Horse, or Shire Horse, 2nd ed. London, 1899= 



