- skip - Brewer’s

Shire Horses

originally meant horses bred in the midland and eastern shires of England, but now mean any draught-horses of a certain character which can show a registered pedigree. The sire and dam, with a minute description of the horse itself, its age, marks, and so on, must be shown in order to prove the claim of a “shire horse.” Shire horses are noted for their great size, muscular power, and beauty of form; stallions to serve cart mares.

Clydesdale horses are Scotch draught-horses, not equal to shire horses in size, but of great endurance.

A hackney is not a thoroughbred, but nearly so, and makes the best roadster, hunter, and carriage-horse. Its action is showy, and its pace good. A first-class roadster will trot a mile in two and a half minutes. American trotters sometimes exceed this record. The best hackneys are produced from thorough sires mated with half-bred mares.

 

previous entry · index · next entry

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

previous entry · index · next entry

Shindy
Shingebis
Ship (the device of Paris)
Ship Letters
Ship-shape
Ship of the Desert
Ships
Ships of the Line
Shipton
Shire and County
Shire Horses
Shirt
Shittim Wood
Shivering Mountain
Shoddy
Shoe
Shoe-loosed
Shoe Pinches
Shoe a Goose (To)
Shoe the Anchor (To)
Shoe the Cobbler (To)

Linking here:

Clydesdale Horses