Pictured: Duke, the 6ft 5in Shire horse that is Britain's tallest (but he's still scared of mice)

He's about as heavy as a family car - and costs almost as much to run. Duke the shire horse stands 19.3 hands, or around 6ft 5in at the shoulder.

Duke the shire horse stands 19.3 hands, or around 6ft 5in at the shoulder.

He lives in a stable which had to be custom-built to fit all four hooves, and his blankets have to be made to measure. And he munches through £80 of food a week.

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Hefty: 6ft 5in Duke and refuge owner Sara Ross standing alongside a Shetland pony

The one-ton giant has already claimed the title of Britain's tallest. horse.

At five years old he is still growing, however - and may one day take the world record from Radar, a Canadian shire who is around an inch taller.

Earlier this week the Daily Mail featured Chilli, a nine-year-old Friesian who at 6ft6in is believed to be the country's tallest bullock.

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Mighty: Duke weighs the same as a family car and costs £80 a week to feed

Luckily for those who take care of Duke at The Horse Refuge in Finchingfield, near Braintree, Essex, he is as gentle as a lamb.

Carer Sara Ross said: "He's a big baby at heart and is frightened of lots of things, which is unusual because he's such a huge horse and shires are generally very laid back.

"The first time he heard a mobile phone, he freaked. He also doesn't like the rain and will come running back to his stable when it's raining. He also hates snow."

She added: "We rescued him about 18 months ago when his owner suddenly died and since then he's grown and grown.

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Gentle giant: The shire horse is friendly with other horses at the refuge - but scared of mice

"He's the biggest horse I've ever seen and I've seen quite a few horses over the years. He's an absolute giant."

The amount of food he eats is four times that of a normal horse, said Mrs Ross.

"He can really pack it away. In the summer he has two small feeds and then eats grass in the field.

"In winter, he has two large feeds and "ad-lib" hay - which generally means around one-and-a-half bales a day. If he didn't come in at night he'd eat all the grass in the field."

Despite his size, Duke gets on well with his more diminutive stablemates and has a particularly soft spot for a Shetland pony called Jasper.

The average height of a shire horse is 17.2 hands. The British record of 19.2 hands was held by a shire called Cracker until his death last year.

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Why Women Gladly Date Ugly Men (And Probably Even Prefer Them)

It's a pretty well known fact that most women - attractive women - will happily date ugly men. We see it on TV -- in shows like King of Queens, though I would probably argue that Kevin James is kind of a stud, and really, that's exactly the point I plan on making-- and we see it in our friends.

There are plenty of studies on this strangely anti-Darwinian phenomenon - studies which I think don't answer the question as well as I, with my oh-so-steadfast opinions, can, do, and will.

So let's talk about this. Let's talk about what exactly is wrong with these conventionally attractive men, and let's talk about what is right about these, well, conventionally un-attractive men.

Anecdotal evidence aside, I know for a fact that I don't find "hot" men attractive.* Let me clarify - I find them pleasing to the eye, and every so often quite tempting, but I don't find myself actually attracted to them. And here I have to admit that I am undoubtedly judging their books by their covers, but I have yet to find the exception to the rule.

To explain: These high-school hotties are used to having the sort of unadulterated, fawning adoration that the symmetrically blessed always get in high-school, but the problem is that it doesn't do them any good. In fact, it's fair to say that it categorically does them harm.

They're trained from a young age to be (often) unjustifiably self-assured, to eschew personality and affability for cocksure confidence, and to generally treat people like the feudal system is alive and kickin'.

Am I making a sweeping generalization? No doubt. Can the same argument be used against women? Sometimes. But I find that women are much more inclined to date with their emotions - to pick a man that is funny, comforting, kind, and generous - and they'll often pick one or all of those traits over his looks.

I also have a little (and relatively untested) theory. I believe that women tend to come into themselves -- appearance-wise -- much later in school than men. And because of this I think women tend to retain some memory of what it means to be liked (or disliked) for who one is, not how one looks.

The bottom line: Ask any woman who she'd rather have as her boyfriend -- the lovably awkward Albert Brennaman (aka Kevin James -- told you he was the crux of the arugment) from Hitch, or Hugh Grant's wholly irredeemable Daniel Cleaver from Bridget Jones' Diary?

So -- let's start here. Which one would you pick? Did I just set womankind back a generation? Or do you wholly agree? Please share. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[Disclaimer: This post should in no way indicate that my boyfriend is ugly and/or unattractive. In fact, I find him rather dashing.]

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