Where does shire originate from?

Horse Isle Answer: England

The Shire horse is a breed of draught horse (BrE) or draft horse (AmE). It is the tallest of the modern draught breeds, and a stallion may stand about 180 cm). Their weight is 907.18474 kg.The Shire horse descends from the medieval Great Horse brought to England in 1066 by William the Conqueror. From this medieval horse came a draught horse called the Black Horse in the seventeenth century, which was dull-colored and sluggish. The Black Horse was greatly improved by the followers of Robert Bakewell, resulting in a horse commonly known as the Bakewell Black. When the Pedigree Society was founded in 1878, the name was changed to English Cart Horse, since black was a misnomer. Six years later, the name was again changed to Shire. The breed was improved during the following years as ruthless veterinary examinations virtually eliminated the old unsoundness of wind and limb. With the increased use of mechanized farm and transport equipment, the numbers of Shire horses began to decline. By the middle of the twentieth century their numbers had dwindled to a small fraction of what they had been in their heyday. Numbers of Shires are on the rise again, however. They are now widely used in breeding heavier hunter types by crosses with thoroughbred mares, and are also seen in Draught or Draft horse competition worldwide. The Shire horse was originally the staple breed used to draw carts to deliver ale from the brewery to the public houses. Owing to practicality and modernisation, this is a tradition that only remains at a few breweries in the UK. These include the Hook Norton Brewery and the Samuel Smith Brewery in Tadcaster, which maintains a small stable of grey shires to deliver to public houses within a seven mile radius. The former Bass Museum, Burton upon Trent (Now Coors visitor centre) has a small stable of shire horses which it uses for promotional events. Several breweries have recently withdrawn their shire horse teams, including the Tetley brewery in Leeds, and the Adnams brewery in Southwold, Suffolk which used Shire horses for regular deliveries until September 2006.

First answer by Muthamilarasan. Last edit by Momoftwo1981. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 16 [recommend question]