Shire horse | 台北市立動物園資訊網

TheShireisaBritishbreedofdraughthorse.Itisusuallyblack,bay,orgrey.Itisatallbreed,andShireshaveatvarioustimesheldworldrecordsbothforthe ...

British breed of horse

The Shire is a British breed of draught horse. It is usually black, bay, or grey. It is a tall breed, and Shires have at various times held world records both for the largest horse and for the tallest horse. The Shire has a great capacity for weight-pulling; it was used for farm work, to tow barges at a time when the canal system was the principal means of goods transport, and as a cart-horse for road transport. One traditional use was for pulling brewers drays for delivery of beer, and some are still used in this way; others are used for forestry, for riding and for commercial promotion.

The Shire breed was established in the mid-eighteenth century, although its origins are much older. A breed society was formed in 1876, and in 1878 the first stud-book was published.[2]: 287  In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there were large numbers of Shires, ...