Talk:Shire horse

message: Have changed "draft" to "draught" which I think is the British spelling - the article seems to suggest that the Shire horse is a British breed (at least originally) so this spelling to probably to be preferred (unless there are general Wikipedia rules to the contrary). MightyWarrior 14:58, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: British English

message: There is some doubt that the Shire was descended from the Medieval great horse, so the wording should perhaps be changed to reflect that.  See Horses in the Middle Ages#Breeding of medieval horses for a presentation of the debate. Gwinva 18:38, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The article does not claim resemblance, only a possible/probable hypothesis that ancestral stock may have in part been these horses.  And it is sourced to a reliable source.  If you think it needs to be changed, I suggest looking for studies saying otherwise.  Indeed.  Montanabw(talk) 00:15, 24 April 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Ancestry

message: G, you've got the research, go ahead and fix the ancestry bits with excruciatingly careful NPOV.  Basically use a form of "some people (source) say this, but there is some controversy to this claim because other people (source) say that..."   Try to do it in a way not to tick off the Shire breeders too much. <grin>  Montanabw 02:13, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Not wanting to step on anyone's toes, I left the above message, so someone else could do it!!  But you're right...I've got the refs. Some time...Gwinva 09:17, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Attention other editors: If you want to do this, or have time to do this, contact me or Gwinva for source materials and ideas!  Montanabw 03:45, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ancestry II 

message: There are some bigger horses.
http://www.ruralheritage.com/horse_paddock/horse_large.htm —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 148.81.137.4 (talk • contribs) 14:54, 19 April 2007  (UTC)
This link supports the information given! Owain.davies 13:29, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Biggest? 

message: What's the rationale for the proposed merge? I'd like to see them kept as separate articles. Even if it has a place in Shire history, the Black is an extinct breed. A small reference could be made here if necessary, linking to the Black article. James (talk) 12:44, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Oppose - As James said, it is clearly a separate breed. OwainDavies (about)(talk) edited at 20:49, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Merge 

message: In the Ale Deliveries paragraph there is no mention of the most famous shire horses, The Budweiser Clydesdales of Anheuser Busch. Anheuser-Busch has one of the world's largest herds of Clydesdale horses and owns approximately 250 nationwide(America). The Wikimedia Foundation was founded and headquartered in the USA so why is there no mention of the best Clydesdales from America's brewery? 144.246.4.22 (talk) 00:27, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Um, see Clydesdale (horse). Shire horses are a totally different breed.  To ask why we don't discuss the Budweiser Clydesdales in the Shire article would be like asking why no one mentions Lassie in an article about German Shepherds.  Same general family of animal, but two completely different breeds.  Hope this explains things.  Montanabw(talk) 02:10, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:   Ale deliveries- 

message: The section on the Shire's use in ceremonial duties is incorrect. The Household Cavalry drum horses are generally Clydesdales or Clydesdale crosses bred in Ireland. Constantine (a full Clydesdale) is now retired and resident at the Horses Trust Home of Rest for Horses in Speen, Princess Risborough alongside fellow retired Drum Horses Janus and Leonidis. Sparticus is very much still in service with the Household Cavalry but he is a Clydesdale cross and definately not a shire. --Timetrial (talk) 12:50, 4 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ceremonial Duties 

message: Dana, I was harsher on this rewrite than most because the whole "draft horses came from war horses" thing is a common myth of draft horse breeders and also utter nonsense.  Gwinva and I hashed this over for a year and a half in creating HIW and HIMA -- she led me kicking and screaming into an understanding of reality on the issue.  So I really jumped all over the history section.  There is a need to do significantly more research on the Old English Black, which appears to be the real ancestor of both the Clydesdale and the Shire, though that is a different issue for a different article.  I also think the breed standards on color are absolutely ridiculous, so best to cite at each tag to which organization is claiming this stuff.  (I suspect that Shires, like Clydes, actually carry sabino, not "roan", as Arabian breeders have the same problem with the same genetics.  But if "roan," then that's double nuts because roan is a dominant!  But I digress)  I hope I didn't come across too mean or bitey here because your article rewrites overall have been excellent.  But the history stuff here is, as Gwinva would put it, quite dodgy! But this is a major breed, and as such, we need to be extra careful.  And FYI, I've seen several Shires out here, but never pulling a brewery wagon!  (Though I should mention it to the local microbreweries...be good publicity and I know some folks with a nice team...LOL)! Montanabw(talk) 05:50, 13 November 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Most of the stuff on the early history of the breed isn't mine - it was already in the article and sourced, so I left it. I thought you or maybe Richard New Forest had put it in there. The whole first paragraph (actually, anything sourced to the Hart book) isn't mine, and I would have no problem with it being tossed. All of the breed standards stuff is referenced, but I'll toss in a few more duplicated cites. Dana boomer (talk) 13:50, 13 November 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Didn't mean to be too harsh on you then!  My bad.  That said, that may have been the early, pre-HIW work of myself or something from Richard, but we disavow all knowledge of said edits now!  I hadn't looked at this article in any depth for a long time.  Feel free to toss anything iffy!  LOL!  Montanabw(talk) 03:44, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
replies: text:  I'm the person with Hart's The Book of the Heavy Horse. I didn't write the intro, though. Bogbumper (talk) 11:22, 28 November 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: LOL!  Anything you can add from that book with proper full citations (other than the "descended from the destrier" bit will help.  Dana did a ton of much needed work to  bring this article up to nice quality. I've just been spending too much time on the military horse stuff...Montanabw(talk) 05:57, 29 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Rewrite

message: I remember reading on an information board at Wimpole Home Farm that the reason shires are often referred to as "gentle giants" was that after mechanisation, only the well-tempered ones probably survived to be bred from. Is there any truth in that? Bob talk 20:02, 12 June 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I doubt that, horses with poor dispositions got canned even before mechanization, a dangerous horse is not a good thing to have when hitched to a plow.  Especially an 18-hand horse that weighs close to a ton.  I suspect they were bred for good dispositions long before the internal combustion engine was developed! :-)  Montanabw(talk) 00:23, 13 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Character 

message: There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Dartmoor (pony) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you.  —RMCD bot 21:58, 6 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Move discussion in progress

message: I am editing the Gypsy Horse article, and I came across another book on the Shire that had coloured Shires in it. I wonder if this is worth adding--that is, the fact that the Shire used to have colours prior to their culling. Here is what I've written. We could smooth this into the current writeup of course:
Colour was prevalent among Shire horses; Sir Walter Gilbey reproduces and then discusses colour in a drawing of a team of tobiano Shires dating from 1844 to 1855. Commenting on the drawing, he calls the team's tobiano colouring "[t]his curious parti-color" and states that it "is by no means uncommon in the Shires reared in the Fen country." He goes on to describe a stallion who breeds "horses of odd colours" and states that such horses "are common ... [t]o this day", or the late 1800s when his book was first published.[59] 
Here is the source: Sir Walter Elbey, Bart, "Concise History of the Shire Horse" (1976). Reprinted from the original 1889) Hampshire: The Spur Publications Company. ISBN 0904558134.
Also, Edward Hart's "The Coloured Horse and Pony" discusses colour in the Shire. I can add this as a source.   — Preceding unsigned comment added by SFGMary (talk • contribs) 17:35, 2 December 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Colour in the Shire before about the 1960s'