i worked on a horse ranch outside of austin in highschool and always wished they would buy one of these, even though i knew it would be impractical.
shire horses are actually draft horses, meaning they are big and used for manual labor (like pulling logs). they are the largest breed of horse in the world.
they were ridden by william the conqueror (william I of england) into battle because of their size. stallions stand around 18 hands high and can weigh a ton.