THE HOMESTEAD, BLETCHLEY, BUCKS. _January, 1915._
For figures and quotations I am indebted to the Stud Books and Catalogues of the Shire Horse Society; the Journals of the Royal Agricultural Society of England; to articles on Shire Horses, in the _Live Stock Journal Almanac_, by the late Mr. G. M. Sexton (who died in 1894); and his successor, Mr. A. C. Beck; also to the late Sir Walter Gilbey’s book on _The Great Horse_, published in 1899.
XIII. JUDGES AT THE LONDON SHIRE SHOWS, 1890-1915 87
STALLION: CHAMPION’S GOALKEEPER _Facing Title Page_
CHAMPION SHIRE MARE, PAILTON SORAIS (45919).]
There is no breed of horses which has attracted so much attention during the past thirty years as the Old English War Horse. Originally bred and preserved for fighting purposes, his size was increased by importations of stallions and mares from Flanders--famous now and henceforth as the battleground of the greatest war ever waged. In the days when heavy armour was worn the cavalry horse could hardly be too stout, and at that time ploughing was performed by oxen; but there came a day when the English knights discarded their coats of mail and thenceforward sought for light-legged mounts. This gave the horses bred in “the Shires” a chance to distinguish themselves as draught horses, for which their width of chest, short legs, and strong back were well adapted: so the War Horse of the olden days became the Old English Cart Horse.
Farmers--particularly Robert Bakewell--discovered that they could do double, or treble, the quantity of ploughing with a pair of these heavy horses that they could with an ox team; therefore draught horses superseded bullocks for agricultural and haulage purposes, which meant that they were bred for weight and substance, the biggest and heaviest being regarded as the best.
Pedigrees of these massive animals were kept by a few progressive breeders from the year 1800, at least; therefore it was not difficult to compile a stud book for this Old English breed when a society, to protect its interests, and promote its breeding, was formed in 1878 by a body of admirers, among whom the late Sir Walter Gilbey was conspicuous. Included were also the Earl of Ellesmere, Earl Spencer, Lord Wantage, Lord Egerton of Tatton, the Hon. Edward Coke, Mr. Chandos Pole-Gell, Mr. Anthony Hamond, and Messrs. George and Frederic Street, while H.R.H. the Prince of Wales (King Edward VII) was a keen supporter of the Shire Horse Society from its inception.