180 THE HORSE BOOK. 



Englishman seems to care little for a fine crest. 

 The difficulty, however, which most Shires ex- 

 perience in getting into their collars would indi- 

 cate that the heaviness of the head is a condi- 

 tion and not a mere appearance. 



From the American angle, again it passes be- 

 lief why any one should prefer a horse whose 

 four legs are burdened with great mops of hair 

 and discard those of equal bone and less 

 feather. Again why so many of the winners 

 should have such splotches of white upon them 

 is something which the American mind can not 

 discern. White markings not only persist, but 

 tend to spread from generation to generation 

 and they are spreading. It does not seem to 

 make much difference in England whether 

 America wants a whole-colored horse or not. 

 No spirit of co-operation in this regard has 

 been manifested and the Shire interest in this 

 country >shows the effects of it. 



It was not always so. There was a time when 

 the Shire was a popular horse in this country. 

 He is so still, but he does not cover -the ground 

 he once did. There is little doubt that English 

 Draft horses, as they were called in those days, 

 were imported into the eastern United States 

 a very long -time ago. Tradition tells of a 

 strain of horses called the John Bulls in Penn- 

 sylvania which were indubitably descended 

 from imported English stock and some of these 

 found their way as far west as Illinois during 



