In the reign of Queen Anne (1702-1713), the roads throughout England were still of the worst description, and the ponderous carriages of the nobility demanded great strength and weight in the animals which drew them; and thus we now find the Shire Horse in demand as a carriage horse. The Queen’s state coach was drawn by long-tailed Shire mares; and the stage coaches which since 1670 had opened regular communication between London and the most important towns in the kingdom were we need not doubt, drawn by horses of a heavy, massive type; for until the end of the century, when McAdam introduced the system of road making known by his name, no team of lighter horses would have been equal to the work. The value and importance of the Shire horse therefore in no wise decreased when the abolition of armour enabled our ancestors to employ a lighter stamp of cavalry trooper. The _London Evening Post_, of September 24th to 27th, 1737, contains notice of a race which shows that endeavours were made to encourage the breeding of active cart horses. It runs as follows:-- “To be run for on Finchley Common, in the county of Middlesex, on Tuesday the 4th of October next, a Set of Lating Bells and Whip, for five Horses, by Carthorses that constantly go in a Team, and to be rid by the Carter that did constantly drive the Team; to ride bareback’d, with the Bit-Halter and his own Cart-Whip; to run two miles at a Heat, the best of three Heats, and to pay three shillings entrance, and no less than five to start, and enter the day of running between the Hours of Eight and Two, at the place above-mentioned; the first Horse to have the Bells, and the second the Whip.” Here is the advertisement of another race of somewhat similar character which, in spite of the element of jocularity in the conditions, would help to stimulate the interest taken by carters in their charges. This is taken from the _London Evening Post_, of September 4th to 6th, 1739:--