The Shire
The farmer is of the opinion that the day of the old English shire-horse (descendant of the war horses that Henry VIII bred in Cambridgeshire) is coming to an end—at least on the farms. There is no more splendid horse of higher stamina in the world. And both his intelligence and docility are of the first order. Wherever there is really heavy work to be done, on road or rail or field, he has no rival the world over. An old fen-man farming near the original stud centre, used to say of a favourite Shire, " He can a'most talk to you "; and the animal would instantly follow the most brief and gently spoken direction. Unfortunately one, at any rate, of the most highly treasured points in the Shire is a disadvantage on many soils. The " feathers " on the leg are certainly correlated with power and quality ; the horses are Samsons ; but these feathers pick up mud, and in days when labour is short, the constant and difficult grooming wastes too much time. A rather lighter horse with cleaner limbs is preferred, and among substitutes for the Shire these very long-legged Polish horses begin to win at least a local popularity.
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