Shire Horse Race at Lingfield - Video

We love this video of Shire horses racing at Lingfield, UK. The race was held to raise awareness of the breed, which is apparently on the decline, and the gentle giants were ridden by real jockeys. Enjoy!  Find out more about Shire Horses below the video.

 

 

The Shire is a horse of great size: a mature stallion stands between 16.2 and 17.2 hands and weighs up to 1,000 kilos. Mares and geldings are slightly less massive. It has relatively large, wide-set and expressive eyes, the nose is rather convex ("Roman"). The shoulders are large and deep and the body has substantial barrel. The legs are long with considerable feather about the feet. It is usually found in bay, brown, black and grey. The breed is known for its easy-going temperament. With a long and colourful history, Shire horses were apparently used as war horses as far back as the 15th and 16th century in Britain, then because of their massive strength for draft and farm purposes, before becoming extremely popular as harness horses.