FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



The Shire horse resembles the Clydes- 

 dale, but is heavier and coarser. The 

 color is black, bay, brown or gray ; height 

 16 to 17.2 hands, weight 1,600 to 2,300 

 pounds, neck short, nose Roman, shoulder 

 straight, body short, deep and round, 

 back broad, legs strong with heavy bone 

 and "feather" extending around on the 

 sides. The gait is slower and less stylish 

 than in the Clydesdale, but the animal 

 is stronger and less likely to be "weedy." 

 The shoulders and pasterns are more 

 erect than in the Clydesdale and the 



cheron, Percheron or French Draft. In 

 that year the name Percheron was 

 adopted. At first two types, the light and 

 the heavy, were recognized. The light 

 Percheron was most in fpvor and was 

 used as a coach horse. He weighed 1,400 

 to 1,600 pounds, stood about 15.2 hands 

 high and had considerable speed as well 

 as strength. The neck was trim, the 

 feet well formed and the legs only slightly 

 feathered. In 1732, many of the orien- 

 tal horses were captured in France from 

 the invading Saracens, and this blood, 



Fig. 210 — SHETLAND STALLION, CHAMPION AT ST. LOUIS EXPOSITION 



hair is coarser. Shire and Clydesdale 

 have been crossed to produce the select. 

 Clydesdale, but this horse is no longer 

 in favor. The early importations of 

 Shires to this country included many in- 

 ferior animals, but great improvement 

 in this respect has taken place in recent 

 years. There are about 7,500 registered 

 Shires in the United States. (For secre- 

 tary, see appendix.) 



The Percheron ; s the national horse 

 of France and originated in the dis- 

 trict of La Perche. Until 1883 all 

 draft horses in France were referred to 

 indifferently as Norman, Norman-Per- 



mixed with that of the European black 

 horse, yielded the Percheron. Shire 

 horses were also imported from England 

 and their blood added to the existing 

 mixture. Du Hays in his treatise on 

 the Percheron claims an Arabian ances- 

 try for this horse. 



The French Kanuck horse of Canada 

 is a descendant of the light Percheron 

 and makes a good cob horse, and the 

 "Morse Gray," imported into New York 

 about 1825, was evidently a Percheron. 



The color of the modern Percheron is 

 black, gray, or white, stands 16 to 17.2 

 hands high, and weighs 1,600 to 2,200 



