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The breed
Great horses have a long tradition in England. The beginnings of today’s shire horses can be traced back to William the Conqueror (1027 to 1087). In 1066 William the Conqueror introduced great horses to Britain, which in terms of height noteably surpassed carthorses of that time. The declared aim back then was to breed horses that were physically able to carry horsemen in armours.
The change in warfare and the disappearance of horsemen led to the new need in strong draught horses and work horses.
Over the following centuries, heavy horses were repeatedly imported from the Netherlands and Flanders.
From about the 14th century, thoroughbreds were bred in the area which is today England. The breeding technique applied here highly benefited from the support of the reigning monarchs, who strictly determined the resultant breed and who excluded small horses from breeding. The entries in today’s stud book date back to the first official shire horse stallion called Balze, which was born in 1770.
The sudden industrial revolution entailed a high demand in work horses. In the 19th century, the breed slowly declined due to the rise of trains and steam engines.
In about 1850, local breeding in Scotland induced a split that resulted in the Clydesdales.
After the Second World War the shire horses became almost extinct. Only thanks to a few English breeders who were pronouncedly tradition-minded and above all thanks to the commitment of English breweries, which did not want to give up their representative horses, did the new development of breeding begin in the 1960s. It prevails to this day.
The entire global breed is being managed by the Shire Horses Society in England and in cooperation with its subsidiaries in many countries the world over. It is particularly impressive to see how on the annual Shire Horse Spring Show in Peterborough and on the numerous country-shows all over the country English breeders enthusiastically and proudly demonstrate their devotion to breeding and preserving this tradition in English culture.
Keeping
In general, it is advisable to carefully ease oneself into keeping a Shire horse since already the first encounter with these wonderful animals might result in an addiction and a passion. These horses have an incredibly gentle and majestic air about them and virtually compel you to spend your leisure time with them. However, some problems that the largest horses in the world entail are easily overlooked.
The first major problem is the height of the horses. Shire horses can easily reach a wither height of 1.90 m and more, which is why a conventional horsebox for cross-bred horses is not spacious enough. Even the usual rule of thumb that suggests twice the wither height in square metres does not quite yield ideal measures. We recommend a horsebox of at least 16 square meters with an additional paddock of again 16 square meters. Depending on the horse, you might feel even then that the horsebox could still be slightly more spacious.
The second problem are their massive hooves, which can have the size of pizzas and which can be quite a challenge for the “average” blacksmith. Regarding the costs for feeding the animals, you should allow for approximately €1,200 per year. If you keep them accordingly and raise them healthily, the costs for the veterinarian are comparable to those for cross-bred horses.
Given their height, choosing the harness and the saddle is slightly more difficult. However, the major advantage is that nobody who keeps a pony will ever mistake your harness for theirs. Shire horses are no sport horses! Although it is possible to train the animals to perform even L-dressage, inferring from their weight (approximately 1,200 kg) jumping and galloping over an extended period of time are ruled out.
Shire horses are particularly good at proceeding in a slow pace. Owing to their strong nerves, they are perfectly suitable for riding in the countryside. Furthermore, Shire horses are also eligible for pulling a hackney carriage. In this, they are readily availed of for representative purposes to this day.