THE GREAT HORSE
OR
The WAR HORSE: from the time of the Roman Invasion
till its development into the
SHIRE HORSE
BY
SIR WALTER GILBEY Bart.
SECOND EDITION
LONDON
VINTON & CO., Limited
9, NEW BRIDGE STREET, LUDGATE CIRCUS, E.C.
1899
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
Since the publication in 1889 of the first edition of this little book, which I was privileged to dedicate to His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, great progress has been made in the improvement of the Shire Horse. It therefore has seemed desirable to remodel and enlarge, by the inclusion of more minute details, pages which had been compiled from notes taken in course of an enquiry into the antecedents of the horse now known as the Shire-bred. This research led to the conclusion that the Shire Horse is the purest survival of the type described by mediæval writers as the Great Horse; and this type being the native development of that ancient British War Horse which evoked the admiration of Julius Cæsar, it seemed appropriate to seek permission to dedicate the book to the Prince who combined with his high position as Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty’s Forces, the keenest interest in those breeds of horses which are most useful to the State.
It would be easy to multiply ad infinitum such evidence as is here quoted, but it is unnecessary to encumber the narrative with repetition of details which throw no fresh light upon the history of the breed. These pages have been written for the convenience of those who desire to possess in concise form knowledge of the main facts concerning the origin and development of this truly noble and most useful animal, and to point out the true type of the “Shire Horse.” It is not claimed that there is any information contained in this work which those who are interested in the subject may not, with an equal amount of patient reading obtain for themselves.
Elsenham Hall, Essex,
January, 1899.