One traditional use was for pulling brewer's drays for delivery of beer, and some are still used in this way; others are used for forestry, for riding and for commercial promotion.

[2]: 287  In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there were large numbers of Shires, and many were exported to the United States.

With the progressive mechanisation of agriculture and of transport, the need for draught horses decreased rapidly and by the 1960s numbers had fallen from a million or more to a few thousand.

[5] Though oxen were used for most farm work into the eighteenth century, horses "fit for the dray, the plough, or the chariot" were on sale at Smithfield Market in London as early as 1145.

Oliver Cromwell's cavalry favoured lighter, faster mounts and the big horses began to be used for draught work instead.

[8] Bakewell imported six Dutch or Flanders mares, notable since breeders tended to concentrate on improving the male line.

[2]: 287  During the nineteenth century, Shires were used extensively as cart horses to move goods from the docks through the cities and countryside.

Around the time of the Second World War, increasing mechanisation and strict regulations on the purchase of livestock feed reduced the need for and ability to keep draught horses.

The breed fell to its lowest point in the 1950s and 1960s, and in 1955 fewer than 100 horses were shown at the annual British Spring Show.

Breed societies have been established in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, France, and Germany, and in 1996 the first World Shire Horse Congress was held in Peterborough.

[3] In the United States, the Shire population dropped significantly in the early part of the twentieth century, and continued to decline in the 1940s and 1950s.

[12] The conservation status of the Shire is listed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust as "at risk", meaning that population numbers are estimated to be under 1500 head.

[13] In the United States, the Livestock Conservancy lists it as "critical",[14] while the Equus Survival Trust calls it "vulnerable".

[2]: 287 The tallest and heaviest horse in recorded history was probably a Shire gelding named Sampson (also known as Mammoth), foaled in Bedfordshire in 1846.