Weekly Horse Breed
Hey, everybody!
Today I am excited to share with you some information about the Shire Horse!
The Shire is the tallest horse breed in the world. It is a coldblood standing 16.2 - 20 hands high. 20 hands would be 80 inches, which means the tallest Shire is six feet and eight inches at the withers! That is INSANE!
Shires come in five colors: black, bay, brown, gray, and chestnut. They usually have a good amount of white on their face and legs, but no white on the belly like Clydesdales have.
The conformation of a Shire:
Shires are huge horses, and made to be able to pull INCREDIBLE weight. According to "The Horse Encyclopedia" a "pair of Shires exerted a pull capable of moving 55 tons."
Head and neck: the head is medium-sized or large, and either straight or Roman-nosed (convex). The ears are long and the nostrils are wide. The neck is long, strong, and arched.
Body: the barrel is deep, the chest is broad. Shires' backs are short. The loins and hindquarters are long and muscular, and the croup is sloped.
Legs: Shires' legs are hard and muscular, and kind of short compared to how heavy the body is. The feet are open and perfectly shaped. Thick feathering grows down over the lower legs.
The Shire originated in England to be farm horses and horses that could haul big loads. Breeders created the Shire by breeding the Old English Black Carthorse to Flemish and Flanders horses, then adding Dutch stock (the Friesian) to refine the breed. Then adding native English draft stock once more, the Shire was born. They are docile, gentle, and good-natured horses. Nowadays, the Shire is used as a dray horse, for agriculture, racing (yes, actual racing with actual jockeys!), and plowing matches.
The Shire Horse Society (England) was established in 1884, and the American Shire Horse Association was established in 1885.
Information collected from The Horse Encyclopedia published by DK, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds by Susan McBane, Horses by DK, and 96 Horse Breeds of North America by Judith Dutson.
~Izzy~
P.S. You can vote for either of these colors:
Black
Bay
Brown
Gray
Chestnut
This is very interesting! The Shire is a very pretty horse:D
ReplyDeleteI vote for Bay or Gray
Awesome, thanks, Patience!
DeleteI bet that the Shires' jockeys weigh a bit more than the Thoroughbreds' jockeys. :-) I wonder how fast a Shire can run.... Even if they don't run very fast I think that Shire horses racing would be fun to see. Pretty neat post Izzy!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I love your blog!
~Elate
I think so! Those jockeys probably have to have a lot of muscle to be able to control a 1500 to 2000 pound horse. I think I'd love to go and see a Shire race, too! It'd probably be a snail-race compared to the Kentucky Derby, LOL!
DeleteAw, thank you!
~Izzy
WOW! I forgot how crazy big they can get! That's amazing!
ReplyDeleteI vote bay. :)
IKR? It's kind of surreal!
DeleteAwesome, thanks!
Wow! Shires are so cool! But what is the difference between a Shire and a Clydesdale? I know Clydesdales are more common, but are there some big differences between them that one could look at either and know which was which?
ReplyDeleteI know this is a silly question, but it has puzzled me for awhile and i haven't been able to figure out the differences, try as I might. (I dislike looking on the internet for information cuz idk if something is true or not!) :D
Oh and I vote for Black!
~Sami~
I'm glad you asked this, Sami! Shires are bigger than Clydesdales, and may look heavier and maybe a little more rough around the edges. Also, Clydesdale commonly have white on their bellies, while Shires do not. Clydesdales' faces are commonly more straighter than Shires, while Shires' faces are commonly more convex. It also depends on the horse though ;D
DeleteClydesdales may be a slight more slender, while Shires more robust.
The colors are different, too. Shires can be what I listed above while Clydesdales are bay, brown, red roan, and blue roan with the occasional black, gray, chestnut and sorrel.
Clydesdales have high knee action and long legs, while Shires are more of the typical plow horse type.
Hope this helps!
P.S. Like I said, this also depends on the horse. In one of my encyclopedias, the Shire looks very refined and the Clydesdale looks really rough! ;D I'm just covering the broad spectrum :)
Shires are such stunning assets to the horse community! Thanks for this post, Izzy.
ReplyDeleteI vote gray! ;)
~ Lily Cat (Boots) | lilycatscountrygirlconfessions.blogspot.com