150 



THE HORSE, ASS, AND MULE 



English stallions. He pursued a careful course of selection and 

 added to the value of the breed. It was during this century that 

 this class of horses came into use for draft and farming purposes, 

 the coat of armor having become obsolete. With the improve- 

 ment of roads and the use of coaches the draft horse came into 

 special demand. Gilbey, in his interesting historical work on 

 " The Great Horse," gives copies of pictures of Shire horses : 

 one, the horse Elephant, by an unknown artist about 1792) 



FIG. 57. Intake Albert, champion Shire stallion at the show of Royal Agricultural 

 Society of England, 1904. From photograph by courtesy of American Agriciilturist 



another, a gelding in use by a brewery in 1792, painted by 

 Garrard ; and a third, of two horses, Pirate and Outlaw, painted 

 in 1810 by Zeitter. These horses are all of draft character, with 

 hairy legs, mane, and tail. 



The old-fashioned type of Shires were large, coarse, and slow. 

 They had big heads, coarse ears, and their thick lips had long 

 hairs on them. The shoulders were heavy, the legs hairy, and 

 the pasterns straight. Their action was sluggish, but their tem- 

 perament was mild. Excess of hair seemed a characteristic, as 

 based on some of the pictures extant. In 1842 Low wrote: 



