Shire Horse Poster

Description

This Shire horse poster features the head of a Shire horse in profile. The Shire horse is a British breed of horse. It was traditionally used for pulling brewer’s wagons to deliver beers to public houses. Some breweries carried on that tradition long after motor vehicles became the modern way of getting beer to its destination. Shires are usually black, reddish brown (known as bay), or grey.

They are very big horses and can easily reach seventeen hands, with some famously reaching nineteen or twenty hands. The tallest and largest Shire was born in 1848 and he reached twenty one and a half hands when full grown. He weighed an almighty 1,524 kilograms (3,360 lbs). Considering that a large man might weigh 100kg, that makes this horse the equivalent of fifteen men.