Giants, as what history dictates are large and violent creatures and of a wild nature. But this giant that I’ll be sharing is not even one of those types. I am referring to one of mother earth’s elegant creatures, the Shire Horse. It originates in the UK and today we have two types the traditional Shire [which I favour] and the Modern Shire has an average height of 17.2 hands. They can have four white legs (other than the grey) and most people call the hair down the back of the legs and over the hoof “feather” when in fact the hair over the foot is known as the “spats”.
" Edingale Enterprise "
The recognised colour of the Shire Horse can be black, bay and grey. Other colours such as roan and chestnut are not recognised. The Shire is decended from the medieval “Old English Black Horse” and used to carry knights in armour into battle. However, in the late 16th century the cavalry needed lighter and faster horses. From the late 17th century until the introduction of the tractor in the 1930’s the horse was the main power on farms, around the docks, railways and in town. Here is a classic picture of a Shire Stallion of the day he was “Edingale Enterprise” a really nice looking boy. They were commonly seen around the docks, railyards and pulling beer wagons of ale for delivery to the local public houses.
Nowadays, we are seeing them pulling barges along the waterfront, logging in the forest, promotional parades and a few have appeared in major motion pictures of late. We still need to promote this magnificent horse around the world, as even though numbers are increasing they are still listed as at risk on the endangered list. We are seeing them crossed with throughbreds and other select types of mares to produce the heavier hunter type seen in the showjumping and dressage arena. An area that I feel needs encouraging is teaching the younger generation to become young handlers.
