500 



The Shire Hoesb. 



[Sept., 



THE SHIRE HORSE: 



PAST, PEESENT AND FUTUEE. 

 Edmund Beck. 



Having been invited to write an article on Shire horses for the 

 Ministry's Journal, I propose to deal with the subject under 

 the three headings, the Past, the Present and the Future. 



The Past. — It will not be necessary to dwell on the past, for 

 many able writers have dealt with the genesis of the Shire, 

 tracing his ancestry to the Great War Horse that carried the 

 knight to battle in the days when knights were bold. It may, 

 however, be noted that in 1879 a Society was formed and a Stud 

 Book instituted to further the breeding of the English Cart Horse, 

 which then took the name of the Shire Horse. The society proved 

 an immediate success and many of the ablest men in the country, 

 both landowners and farmers, took up the breed and set about 

 its improvement. 



At that time, although the Shire was a weighty horse it must 

 be admitted that there was considerable room for improvement, 

 especially in his feet, legs and movement. A marked change, 

 however, soon took place. Lincolnshire Lad II and his famous son 

 Harold, What's Wanted and his son Premier, William the 

 Conqueror and his sons Prince William and Hitchin Conqueror, 

 Eoyal Albert, Bar None, Vulcan and Bury Victor Chief were all 

 famous sires that did their bit in the earlier days of the breed. 

 In later days Lockinge Forest King, Childwick Champion and 

 Norbury Menestrel proved their worth, and it is interesting to 

 students of pedigree to observe how full these three are of the 

 blood of the old giants. Lockinge Forest King had three crosses 

 of Harold, one of Premier, one of Prince William, and two of 

 Eoyal Albert ; Childwick Champion had three crosses of Lincoln- 

 shire Lad II and one of Premier ; and Norbury Menestrel was of 

 the combined blood of Hitchin Conqueror, Premier, Harold, Eoyal 

 Albert and Vulcan. Other famous sires up to and including the 

 present are Champion's Goalkeeper, Friar Tuck IV, Babingley 

 Nulli Seeundus and Champion's Clansman. The breed has 

 produced many other good sires. It is only an expression 

 of opinion, but if asked to say which of these sires has done 

 most for the breed the writer would say that Ijockinge Forest 

 King holds chief place by reason of the beautiful mares and 

 filhes that he sired, all of one type. 



