Shire

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A beautiful Shire colt with well-set eyes and ears of good length. Des Surles

American Shire Horse Association

1211 Hill Harrell Road

Effingham, South Carolina 29541

www.shirehorse.org

The Shire is a strikingly beautiful horse with its arched, massive neck, and classic movement. It is one of the largest horses in the world and yet probably the gentlest. Reaching as tall as 19 hands, the Shire is a full-bodied horse with amazing strength. It easily stands out from other drafts with its stunning colors, usually accentuated with profuse white leg feathering and a fine head. Many Shires are a true black, but vibrant bays and an occasional gray can also be seen.

People are often attracted to the Shire because it is big and impressive and has those wonderful feathered feet. But they fall in love with the Shire because of its heart and kindness.

The Shire holds its value due to the fact that it is a rare breed, but those who really know the Shire mostly appreciate the reserved pride and self assurance it possesses without any trace of arrogance. It is a calm, majestic, and noble animal.

History

The Shire is one of the oldest of the defined draft breeds. It originated in the shires of England and traces back to the time of Roman occupation of the island. Records from the Romans praised the native island horses for their conformation and constitution.

Records in the early medieval period show there were importations of several Flemish stallions from what is now the Netherlands. These were described by horsemen of the time as being black in color, with white on their faces and heavy feathering on their legs. When crossed with the native island stock, a tall, rangy, muscular horse with broad, flat limbs was the result.

These crosses became English warhorses from medieval times to the beginning of the Renaissance period. This was verified by paintings dating back to the fifteenth century depicting Shires of perfect form. Several English monarchs issued laws mandating strict regulations for their breeding, which required that the noble class keep and breed quality stock while culling out inferior horses. In an effort to increase the size of the animals, Henry VIII ordered the destruction of all horses under 15.2 hands. The resulting breed was big and strong enough to carry over four hundred pounds of knight and armor into battle. This powerful warhorse was considered the best in Europe, and anyone exporting one to the Continent committed treason, punishable by death.

With the introduction of more modern warfare techniques, the need for warhorses went into decline, but the horses did not disappear. With the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s, the horses now known as Shires became nothing less than national treasures to the businessmen of England.

Every type of raw material came to England’s ports for manufacturing, and they needed to be hauled from the ports to the manufacturing cities and back again. Roads at that time went through muddy fens and over rolling hills and were often nothing more than dirt tracks. The loads were heavy, necessitating a horse of enormous bulk, prodigious strength, and quiet demeanor. The pride of the businessman required a horse of style to pull his wagons with alacrity at delivering the goods to their destination on time. And so the modern Shire was created.

The first organization for Shires, the English Cart Horse Society, was established in London in 1877 and printed its first stud book in 1880. A few years later, the name was changed to its current one, the Shire Horse Society (SHS). The first predominant stallion recognized by the SHS was a horse named Honest Tom, whose likeness is used as the symbol of the American Shire Horse Association (ASHA), which was established in 1885.

The Shire was imported rather heavily into the United States at that time, both to establish the breed and to be crossbred with the existing stock to improve its quality. An acknowledged equine expert of the time wrote, “I have had opportunity for extended personal observations and inquiry as to the result of crossing them [Shires] on native American mares, as well as on the grades and crosses of other breeds, and the evidence is of unqualified satisfaction. They have been found competent to transmit and impress their own characteristics with a remarkable certainty, and the name ‘Shire Horse’ has become a synonym for strength, constitution, energy, and endurance.”

At that time in the United States, the Shire played a role in helping to establish the major draft breeds seen today by adding size and temperament to the settler’s existing stock. These breeds would return the favor after the drop in Shire numbers with the advent of the tractor and semi, but especially after World War II.

In the aftermath of World War II, the Shire population in England was decimated by the export of horses to feed the people of the Continent. If not for a few breweries in England that continued to make their London deliveries by Shire (and still do so today), a few dedicated enthusiasts, and the royal family, the English would have lost the breed entirely. Numbers of Shires worldwide became frightfully small.

In the United States, the ASHA went dormant, but in the mid 1960s a group of ranchers in Idaho pooled its resources and bought the last remaining Shire herd of any size left in the United States. With the help of a Clydesdale breeder, the old stud books were brought up to date. In 1968, the first Shire to be imported from the United Kingdom since before World War II was sent to Idaho, and the breed began to make steady gains in popularity.

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Correct rear quarters on a Shire: long legs with heavy bone, set wide and full of muscle. Solveig Nesse

Since the gene pool was so small, a grading up registry was implemented. Draft mares of other breeds were bred to fully registered Shire stallions. The resulting fillies were registered as half Shires and bred back to a Shire stallion and so on. When the concentration of Shire blood reached fifteen-sixteenths, the next generation’s foals were fully registered. The ASHA closed this book in the late 1980s. Thus, the draft breeds that benefited from an infusion of Shire blood before World War II returned the favor by reestablishing the breed in the United States and abroad.

Shires Today

Although it is still in the rare breeds registry, the Shire is flourishing today. While making its comeback from very few numbers, the Shire remains one of the most genetically sound breeds to be found. It is used for work, pleasure, and once again, to help establish other breeds. Shires are adept in harness for the farm and ranch. No matter how cold it gets, they can handle it. In their shaggy winter coats (and sometimes even in summer), they frequently sport the unique trait of an upper lip moustache, a comical and endearing feature.

The Shire is an outstanding worker in agriculture as a heavy draft horse and is immensely strong. The average adult Shire weighs about one hundred pounds per hand and is capable of hauling a five ton load. They have excellent “cordy” limbs (having tendons that are well separated and defined beneath the knees and hocks).

Shires haul everything from garbage wagons in small towns, to tourists in the ski areas or the United States’ honored dead at Arlington National Cemetery. Under saddle, they led the inaugural parade of the first President Bush and also work as patrol horses in the streets of some towns. Their kind gentility makes them ideal therapy horses. They can hunt foxes or take a favorite aunt for a stroll on the trail.

When crossbred to light horses, the result can be a spectacular athlete with a calm, clever mind that enjoys work and usually gives more than is asked, which actually can lead to problems. Shires and Shire sport horses are slow to fully mature, taking six years to do so. Since they usually are so willing and athletic, it is very tempting to push them too fast in their training or use, thus causing injuries.

Registry

The ASHA provides a National Show and Regional shows. Shires can now be seen in draft competitions and at American Driving Society events. Beside the regular registry, the ASHA has established the Shire Sporthorse Registry that accepts the offspring of a registered Shire and a light horse. These horses have also been accepted into various warmblood societies and are very competitive.

Due to many factors, the modern ASHA has always been on the cutting edge of equine technology. It was the first association in the world to require parent verification of all foals registered in its book, first by blood factors and also by DNA, when it became available. Artificial insemination has long been accepted and practiced by North American Shire breeders. One of the first successful equine embryo transfers resulted in a Shire colt in 1985.

Standards

The Shire stallion should possess a masculine head and good neck crest, with sloping, not upright, shoulders, running well into the back. The back should be short and well coupled with the loins. The tail should be set well up, but the horse should not be goose-rumped. Both head and tail should be carried erect. The ribs should be well sprung, not flat sided, with good middle that generally denotes good constitution.

The most essential parts of a stallion are his feet and joints; the feet should have open heels, big around the coronets, with plenty of length in the pasterns. When in motion, he should go with force, using both knees and hocks, which should be kept close together. He should go straight and true, before and behind.

Mares should conform to the stallion standards, except that they may be slightly smaller with a feminine and matronly appearance. A mare should have plenty of room to carry a foal. Geldings should conform to stallion standards, with the exception of the thick, masculine neck.

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A magnificent Shire stallion boldly travels with force, using both knees and hocks. Des Surles

• Color: black, brown, bay, gray, or chestnut are the preferred colors. Excessive white markings and roaning are undesirable.

• Height: Minimum 16.2 hands and upwards, with the average being 17.1 hands

• Head: Long and lean, neither too large nor too small, with long neck in proportion to the body; large jaw bone should be avoided

• Eyes: Large, well set and alert; wall eyes should be avoided

• Nose: Nostrils thin and wide, lips together, and nose slightly convex

• Ears: Long, lean, sharp, and sensitive

• Throat: Clean cut and lean

• Shoulder: Deep, oblique, and wide enough to support a collar

• Neck: Long, slightly arched, and well set on to give the horse a commanding appearance

• Girth: Deep, with adequate width in proportion with the rest of the body

• Back: Short, strong, and muscular; should not be dipped or roached

• Loins: Standing well up, denoting a strong constitution

• Fore end: Wide across the chest, with legs well under the body and well developed in muscle; otherwise, action is impeded

• Hindquarters: Long and sweeping, wide and full of muscle, and well let down toward the thighs

• Ribs: Round, deep, well sprung, and not flat

• Forelegs: Should be as straight as possible down to the pasterns

• Pasterns: Fairly long and sloped at about a 45-degree angle

• Hind legs: Hocks should be clean, broad, deep, flat, and wide when viewed from the side; set at a correct angle for leverage, in line with the hindquarters, and of heavy bone; puffy and sickle hocks are to be avoided; the leg sinews should be clean cut, hard, and clear of the cannon bone

• Feet: Moderately deep and wide at the heels; coronets open

• Feather: Fine, straight, and silky

Class Requirements

All stallions and foals must be registered. Mares registered as three-quarter Shire or seven-eighth Shire may be shown with fully registered mares. Geldings registered as three-quarters, seven-eighths, or fifteen-sixteenths Shire may be shown with fully registered geldings. Geldings not registered must be of Shire type to be shown in a grade gelding class. All horses shown in group classes must be registered (get, produce, mare and foal, herd). Shire- cross sport horses are not eligible to show in draft performances, unless permitted by the host show.

Performance classes can include cart, hitch, and unicorn classes where Clydesdales can be included to complete the hitch. Shire Under Saddle is another performance class.

For In-Hand classes, the handler can carry a show stick, often used to guide the horse. A trailer is a designated person who follows about ten feet behind the horse.

The horse’s front legs should be set up even and square to the shoulder; hind legs should be close together and one hind leg can be slightly in front of the other. It is suggested that legs be wrapped from mid-cannon to pasterns prior to the class, and then removed just before the class to allow “spats” to lie down and emphasize the bone and angles of the lower legs. (This is unlike some draft breeds, where feathering from the hock on down are groomed to be full.)

Tails should be braided or put up in some manner so there is no untied hair, giving the judge an unobstructed view of the hindquarters. Scotch knots are traditional for docked tails, and French braids or scotch knots for long tails. Manes should be rolled or plaited on stallions and geldings over one year of age for Halter classes. A bridle path can be clipped in. Pulling of the mane to approximately one-third of the width of the neck is also a standard practice. Braiding manes on mares or foals is optional. Braiding of forelocks is also optional, but they are not shaved for the show ring.

Shires are traditionally shown in russet or black show bridles, but white or other colors may be used. Stallion girths (rollers) are encouraged on stallions over two years of age, as they make stallions easier to manage and enhance their appearance.

Over-shoeing is discouraged, but older horses should be shod. Hooves should not be blackened or whitened. Dye or other substances should not be used to alter the coat color or markings.

Credit: Des Surles and the American Shire Horse Association

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