How fierce is the world's "king of all horses"?

As the saying goes: "A thin dead camel is bigger than a horse", in many people's opinion, even if a camel is smaller, it is still bigger than a horse. But that's not necessarily true!

The horses we usually see are usually between 1~2 meters tall and have long limbs. But the world also exists a size comparable to the elephant heavy horse - Shire horse (Shire horse), it is the world's largest horse species today, weighing about a ton (the average adult camel is about 500 kg), very imposing, running up a very spectacular, very oppressive, and the force is immense. It can pull up to 5 tons of weight. So, do you know where the world's largest horse originated? Let's talk about this is known as the world's "king of all horses" of the Shire horse!

The "King of Horses" Sharma

According to records, the Shire horses first appeared in England, they are from the English medieval horse breeding through breeding passed down.

The average Shire horse as an adult is nearly 2 meters tall at the shoulder, plus the neck and head, the natural standing height of at least 2.5 meters, weighing up to about 1 ton, with very broad shoulders, a well-developed muscular back, very thick hindquarters, and great strength. Their feet are full of many long, thin hair, look and like wearing shaggy boots, these long hairs can be a certain degree of protection for the horse's hooves from small sharp objects. The Shire horse grows so tall that it eats a lot, and its diet is more than four times that of an ordinary horse.

Unlike the riding horses we see on the grasslands, the Shire horse is a draft horse, that is, a horse used for plowing and hauling goods, and it is known for its strength. Because of its huge size and full of power, the shire horse has the amazing hauling ability and was used as an important tool for plowing, hauling goods, and carrying passengers in the early days of England.

Before the industrial era, the Sharma was widely used in warfare, agriculture, transport, son, and daily life, and its figure was seen everywhere in England at that time.

In the 1924 British exhibition, a pair of Sharma pulled nearly 5 tons of cargo. Someone else once came up with an idea for a contest, which is to let a group of people and the Shire horse tug-of-war, the results of 13 strong men working together, make all the efforts but can not drag a Shire horse.

Why is it not suitable as a war horse?

Some people may ask such a question: the Shire horse is so tall and majestic, and very powerful, as if there is always "inexhaustible strength", riding such an imposing horse to fight, is not the enemy can be scared of urine? However, this is not the case, the Shire horse is not suitable for the battlefield.

Battlefield on the war horse requirements are not only imposing and strong body type but more importantly, being able-bodied, agile, responsive also "good riding" to do.

Sharma's overly large body leads to its limbs are not flexible enough to run up to speed is not fast enough to react, in the battlefield more emphasis on its bulky, Theocritus speed is not as fast as that of an ordinary horse, speed is not fast enough not agile, will lose the battlefield deterrent, difficult to win.

The company's main business is to provide a wide range of products and services to its customers. This point also indicates that the Sharma is not suitable for battle. Then there is the fact that the Shire's "ride" is very poor. Because the back is too wide, with no solid splitting work, I'm afraid it is impossible to ride on the horse, riding is very uncomfortable to be, has poor stability, and very affects the rider's play!

In short, the Shire horse is not suitable for people to ride, and is even less suitable as a good war horse!

So on the battlefield, the Shire horse was mostly used to transport heavy instruments such as cannons, and was also used as a driving horse, but would not be ridden on the battlefield.

What happened to the Shire horse now?

According to information, historically, the heyday of the Shire horse was in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the largest number of Shire horses, up to more than 1 million, was widely used for plowing and transport as a tool horse, becoming a very common scenery in Britain at the time.

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, which accelerated the development process of the times, and the gradual rise of railroads in England, the position of the shire horse was soon replaced by trains with greater transport capacity and greater convenience. And modern farming methods no longer required the labor of the shire horse. This made the Shire horse no longer useful, and a Shire horse eats more than four times the amount of ordinary horses, so the cost of raising them was too high and their use was reduced, and fewer and fewer people kept them, resulting in more and more Shires being eliminated. Since World War II, the large number of Shire horses has been rapidly declining in number due to excessive wear and tear.

However, later a special conservation society began to care for and protect the Shire horses. According to the organization's data, there are less than 3,500 Shire horses in the UK, and their reproductive capacity is low, with the rate of death of Shire horses far outstripping the rate of reproduction. The British Shire Horse Association warns that if this situation continues, it could take less than 10 years for the Shire horse to disappear from the face of the earth.

Nowadays, there is little demand for draft horses, and the Shire horse, which used to be a tool horse, is now so scarce that it has been given priority protection, kept mainly for ornamental purposes and to preserve the species from extinction. Hope they can be better and better!