Shires 15 



reasonable time after heavy rain. Successful horse breeding can- 

 not profitably be carried on if the land be waterlogged or sour; 

 not only do horses do badly on such land, but the land itself 

 suffers considerably by being poached by heavy horses. Although 

 Shire horse breeding is carried on in all parts of the country, there 

 are some districts which have attained specially good results and 

 prominence. This, however, is due not altogether to the land, 

 which undoubtedly has its effect, but also to the enterprise of 

 individual breeders and of societies in those districts. For instance, 

 in addition to the Ashbourne district already referred to, the fen."^ 

 of Lincolnshire, the Peterboro' district in Northamptonshire, the 

 Fylde of Lancashire, and the Welshpool district of Montgomery- 

 shire, are all very important centres in the Shire breeding industry. 

 They have all made great reputations by reason of the quality 

 and type of the Shires which are produced by the landowners and 

 farmers in those districts, and which have attracted buyers from 

 distant parts of the country. 



A great impetus was given to the breeding of Shires some 

 twenty years ago by the formation of studs by a number of noble- 

 men and gentlemen in different parts of the country, and the great 

 interest taken by them in the matter generally. Much credit is 

 due to them for the good work they have done and which many 

 of them are still doing at the present time — such men as Mr 

 A. C. Buncombe, Calwich Abbeys the Duke of Devonshire at 

 Chatsworth; the late Sir Albert Muntz; Sir Alexander Henderson 

 Buscot Park, who still holds the show record as having won all the 

 championship honours at the 1898 London Show, with his famous 

 quartet, Markeaton Royal Harold and his son Buscot Harold, 

 Aurea the dam of Buscot Harold, and Lockinge Loiret; the late 

 Lord Wantage, Lockinge, whose stud included the famous stallion 

 Prince William, and produced the great sire Lockinge Forest King; 

 Lord Rothschild, owner of the renowned Tring Park stud, which 

 has included some of the best sires and dams of the day; Lord 

 Middleton, owner of the noted Birdsall stud; Sir Walpole Green- 

 well, Marden Park, Surrey, the enterprising owner of one of the 

 most successful studs in the country; and many others, who have 

 helped to build up the Shire breed, and have put money into the 

 tenant farmers' pockets by buying from them their best animals 

 at remunerative prices. 



The general management and feeding of heavy horses is fully 

 treated of in another part of this volume, but a few observations 

 may be made on that subject here for the benefit of those who 

 desire to be acquainted with the methods adopted in some of the 



