The Shire Horse

The British Sbire or Shire Horse (“county horse”) is the oldest of the heavy draft horses. Caesar already reported the presence of a large black horse (Equus magnus) in northern England. In the Middle Ages, infusions of Flemish blood gave it more strength, bravery, and agility. It took the name of Great Horse or English Great Horse, of heavy Cob type, massive, with a heavy head and smaller (1,60 m) than the current Sbire. It became a war horse.

In the 16th century, to preserve the large size of horses, King Henry VIII prohibited the breeding of small English horses. In the XVth century, Dutch horses (Black Friesian) and horses from Flanders were imported to clear and drain the marshy region of the Fens, in the east of England. The Great Horse takes the name of “English Black Carthose” or “Old English Black Carthose”, the largest and most powerful carriage maker in the world. A Studbook is created in 1878. In 1884, foundation of the Shire Horse Society which gives the name of Sbire in reference to the counties of the center of England which were the cradles of the race. It is believed that the Packington Blind Horse stallion, born in 1755, was the founder of the breed.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, there were massive exports to the United States, Russia, and Australia. Between 1950 and 1965, the breed was threatened with extinction. Currently, the numbers are increasing. In 1995, the Shire Horse France was born, following the introduction of this breed in the 1980s.