o8 THE HORSE. 



animal is bred and reared, and also upuii llie way in wliieli it is 

 fed duiini>- eolthoud. The bint'er and ueiuiilier a Sliire is the 

 more valuable is it in the market. The average height of 

 good Sliire horses, when fully groAvn, is from 16-3 to 17 hands. 

 iStallions are oftentimes bigger than 17 hands. 



GO 



The Weig-ht of Shires, like their size, varies in dif- 

 ferent siDecimens, The breeder should aim at brtM>ding his 

 Sliires as weighty as possible, because weight means money. 

 A small and comparatively light Shire liorse is not nearly so 

 valuable as a big and weighty one. For farm work, however, 

 tlie smaller Shire horses do better, and are more suitalile 

 than very big and heavy animals. Though it is desirable that 

 Shire horses, when they are bred for sale, should possess as 

 n;ueh weight and size as possible, they must not be coarse. 

 A certain amount of " qualit}- " is essential in a Shire, espe- 

 cially if the animal in question is intended for breeding ])Ui- 

 poses. Coarseness is a defect. Generally, it Avill be found 

 tlijit very big and weighty Shires are much more inclined 

 to be coarse in build than smaller-sized animals. It 

 i> always more or less difficult to combine quality and size 

 and weight, not only in a SJiire but in other kinds of horses. 

 By increasing the size and weight in Shires, '"quality" is apt 

 to suffer, and vice versa, in breeding for a great deal of 

 <|uality, a decrease in the size and weight is very liable to 

 occur. The breeder of Sliires will, therefore, find considerable 

 scope for his skill in breeding in trying to produce typical 

 animals that combine plenty of weight and size, or "bigness," 

 with a sufficient amount of quality. 



