“During the past year (1905) foreign buyers have been giving very high prices for Shorthorn cattle, and if they would buy in the same spirited manner at the Shire sales, a much more creditable animal could be obtained for shipment. As an advertisement for the Shire it is obviously beneficial that the Shire Horse Society—which is unquestionably the most successful breed society in existence—gives prizes for breeding stock and also geldings at a few of the most important horse shows in the United States. This tends to bring the breed into prominence abroad, and it is certain that many Colonial farmers would rejoice at being able to breed working geldings of a similar type to those which may be seen shunting trucks on any large railway station in England, or walking smartly along in front of a binder in harvest. The writer has a relative farming in the North-West Territory of Canada, and his last letter says, ‘The only thing in the stock line that there is much money in now is horses; they are keeping high, and seem likely to for years, as so many new settlers are coming in all the time, and others do not seem able to raise enough for their own needs’; and it may be mentioned that almost the only kind of stallions available there are of the Percheron breed, which is certainly not calculated to improve the size, or substance, of the native draught horse stock.
The Cost of Shipping
“The cost of shipping a horse from Liverpool to New York is about £11, which is not prohibitive for such an indispensable animal as the Shire horse, and if such specimens of the breed as the medal winners at shows like Peterborough could be exhibited in the draught horse classes at the best horse shows of America, it is more than probable that at least some of the visitors would be impressed with their appearance, and an increase in the export trade in Shires might thereby be brought about.
“A few years ago the price of high-class Shire stallions ran upwards of a thousand pounds, which placed them beyond the reach of exporters; but the reign of what may be called ‘fancy’ prices appears to be over, at least for a time, seeing that the general sale averages have declined since that of Lord Llangattock in October, 1900, when the record average of £226 1s. 8d. was made, although the best general average for the sales of any single year was obtained in 1901, viz. £112 5s. 10d. for 633 animals, and it was during that year that the highest price for Shires was obtained at an auction sale, the sum being 1550 guineas, given by Mr. Leopold Salomons, for the stallion Hendre Champion, at the late Mr. Crisp’s sale at Girton. Other high-priced stallions purchased by auction include Marmion II., 1400 guineas, and Chancellor, 1100 guineas, both by Mr. Crisp. Waresley Premier Duke, 1100 guineas, and Hendre Crown Prince, 1100 guineas, were two purchases of Mr. Victor Cavendish in the year 1897. These figures show that the worth of a really good Shire stallion can hardly be estimated, and it is certain that the market for this particular class of animal is by no means glutted, but rather the reverse, as the number of males offered at the stud sales is always limited, which proves that there is ‘room on the top’ for the stallion breeder, and with this fact in view and the possible chance of an increased foreign trade in stallions it behoves British breeders of Shires to see to it that there is no falling off in the standard of the horses ‘raised,’ to use the American word, but rather that a continual improvement is aimed at, so that visitors from horse-breeding countries may find what they want if they come to ‘the stud farm of the world.’
“The need to keep to the right lines and breed from good old stock which has produced real stock-getting stallions cannot be too strongly emphasised, for the reason that there is a possibility of the British market being overstocked with females, with a corresponding dearth of males, both stallions and geldings, and although this is a matter which breeders cannot control they can at least patronise a strain of blood famous for its males. The group of Premier—Nellie Blacklegs’ brothers, Northwood, Hydrometer, Senator, and Calwich Topsman—may be quoted as showing the advisability of continuing to use the same horse year after year if colt foals are bred, and wanted, and the sire is a horse of merit.
“With the number of breeders of Shire horses and the plentiful supply of mares, together with the facilities offered by local stallion-hiring societies, it ought not to be impossible to breed enough high-grade sires to meet the home demand and leave a surplus for export as well, and the latter of the class that will speak for themselves in other countries, and lead to enquiries for more of the same sort.
Few High Prices from Exporters
“It is noteworthy that few, if any, of the high prices obtained for Shires at public sales have come from exporters or buyers from abroad, but from lovers of the heavy breed in England, who have been either forming or replenishing studs, therefore, ‘the almighty dollar’ has not been responsible for the figures above quoted. Still it is probable that with the opening up of the agricultural industry in Western Canada, South Africa, and elsewhere, Shire stallions will be needed to help the Colonial settlers to build up a breed of horses which will be useful for both tillage and haulage purposes.
“The adaptability of the Shire horse to climate and country is well known, and it is satisfactory for home breeders to hear that Mr. Martinez de Hoz has recently sold ten Shires, bred in Argentina, at an average of £223 2s. 6d., one, a three-year-old, making £525.
“Meanwhile it might be a good investment if a syndicate of British breeders placed a group of typical Shire horses in a few of the biggest fairs or shows in countries where weighty horses are wanted, and thus further the interests of the Shire abroad, and assist in developing the export trade.”