14 Breeds of Horses 



good set of feet, correct joints, and nice straight silky feather. 

 A good foundation, or " good at the ground", and the top, or body, 

 may be made sufficiently weighty by judicious feeding. This, 

 however, is not all, for your ideal Shire stallion should also possess 

 good breeding, great size (17 hands) and substance, big knees 

 and hocks; he should be on a short leg, his body deep, ribs well 

 sprung, and he should have strong, masculine character, a big 

 strong head, and robust constitution. His joints should be nicely 

 turned, and his pasterns set at the correct angle; he should have 

 wide feet with open heels, and wide coronets, and should move 

 well all round with a boldness and freedom of action in the walk 

 and trot that denote soundness, power, and constitutional strength. 

 He should also have a nice sloping shoulder, short back, and long 

 quarters. Such a sire, if mated with suitable mares, is bound .to 

 leave his mark in any district in which he may be located. 



Your typical Shire mare should be equally good on the ground 

 as the stallion, that is, she should have good feet, joints, and legs. 

 She should be long, low, and wide, and not under 16 hands high; 

 she should have a sweet effeminate head, with a nice docile expres- 

 sion of face, and should, in all cases, have good and true action. 

 In short, the typical Shire mare or stallion should have weight, 

 size, and quality. While these attributes are essential in stallions 

 and mares used for breeding purposes, it is important that buyers 

 of breeding animals should make their choice of animals that are 

 bred from good mares, that is, mares which, or whose dams, have 

 proved themselves good breeders. 



It may be asked what kind of soil is most suitable for breeding 

 Shires. Good specimens are bred on almost every kind of soil 

 throughout the country, from light land to heavy clay, though 

 it must be admitted that the better the land, the better will be 

 the chances of producing animals of the required size and weight. 

 It used to be thought, many years ago, that good Shires could 

 only be produced on the limestone soils of Derbyshire, and the 

 Ashbourne district, which, by the way, is considered the Mecca of 

 the Shire horse world, for it produced amongst other notable Shires 

 the famous stallion Harold, a giant, truly, of his race. But 

 during the last quarter of a century Shire breeding has spread 

 throughout the country, and on all kinds of soils; it is no longer 

 confined to a few districts as was the case when the Shire Horse 

 Society was originated. Good sound land is, however, required 

 to obtain the best results, that is, land that by the porous nature 

 of its soil and subsoil is drained naturally, or land that has been 

 artificially drained, and that becomes fairly dry and firm in a 



