96 TYPES AND BREEDS 



its quality being of the finest. The Scotchman still holds to the 

 presence of feather, even stimulating its growth by artificial 

 means in some instances. The superiority of the Clydesdale in 

 action is a point quite generally conceded. The direction and 

 conformation of his legs are such as to insure the straightest, 

 springiest stride of which a draft horse is capable. 



Color. — Gray Clydesdales have been common at times in the 

 history of the breed, but are now discriminated against in favor 

 of bays and bro^^^lS, witli occasional blacks, chestnuts, and roans. 

 White markings are characteristic, to the extent of splashes of 

 white on tlie body or an even distribution of white hair through- 

 out the coat, in addition to white in the face and on all four legs. 



Judged by the standards of other breeds, the Clydesdale has 

 been criticised as deficient in scale and draftiness, and as be- 

 ing plain in the head, low in the Imck, short in the rib, with a 

 shelly foot, and too nmch white, with no regularity of distribu- 

 tion. 



Although introduced at a comparatively early date, the 

 Clydesdale has not received the consideration in this country 

 Avhich he seems to merit 



THE SHIRE 



It has already been pointed out, in reviewing the history of 

 the Clydesdale, that from essentially the same original material 

 the Scotchman has evolved the Clydesdale and the Englishman 

 the Shire, in accordance with their own divergent conceptions of 

 what a draft horse should be, and that, while they have much in 

 common, the characters which distinguish them are extremely 

 unlike. To be sure, the low-lying fenn country of Cambridge 

 and Lincolnshire is more conducive to massive growth than is 

 Scotland, it being also the home of the largest breed of sheep. 

 Here the Shire and his antecedent, the black Lincolnshire cart 

 horse, have been chiefly bred, but this environment has only sec- 

 onded the English breeder in the attainment of his ideal. 



Characteristics. — The typical Shire will weigh more on the 

 average than any other draft horse, although he is scarcely as 

 blocky in form as the Belgian (Fig. 72). He possesses the most 

 substance, such as it is, but there is an absence of quality, marked 



