Draft Horses - The Gentle Giants Of The Equine World

ft horse is a very large, yet compact and stockysuch as trains (the Iron Horse) and automobiles (the
looking, horse which has been bred for extremehorseless carriages) lessened the need for the heavy
strength in both muscle and boning to give the horsedraft horse. To this day, engines are still rated in
the ability to handle very heavy labor such as pulling a"horsepower"; a term that was coined by James Watt
plow through hard or even frozen soil; or hauling ain the late 18th century, who determined by
fully-laden cart or wagon used to transport heavyexperimentation that a horse could move a total of
items such as lumber, coal, marble, or casks of beer33,000 lbs a distance of one foot in one minute while
and wine. They are often hitched in matching teams ofhauling coal from a coal pit. However, that is actually
two or more when the items to be hauled areabout 50% more than the rate an average horse can
extremely heavy; or if speed is essential in getting asustain for an entire working day.
heavy load to its destination, there may be severalA number of things about the physical build, or
teams hitched together. Draft horses are quiteconformation, of a draft horse set it aside from other
recognizable because they tend to be extremely largehorses. Draft horses are quite large yet they tend to
equines that stand 15 to 17.5 hands high; larger than thehave short legs and short bodies with very muscular
average family riding or carriage horse. Some of thehindquarters designed for pulling. They also have
more common draft horse breeds include Percherons,extremely strong shoulders and front legs for the
Shires, Gypsy Vanner Horses, Belgians, andsame reason. Their heads tend toward being
Clydesdales. Americans are probably the most familiarRoman-nosed, with broad flat faces that many people
with the Clydesdales, since this breed of draft horsefind endearing.
has been used extensively in advertising forIn addition to being bred for strength, the draft horse
Budweiser beer over several decades. And manyhas also been bred for a very special workable
have been surprised to learn that Clydesdales are nottemperament. Draft horses are extremely gentle and
only draft horse breed; they are simply more in thevery friendly; children can ride them and play around
public eye than the others.their feet without fear. They are also docile and very
The draft horse appears to have originated in Europepatient; some well trained draft horses will stand when
with many draft horse breeds being centuries old.told without needing to be tethered, for example, a
Some biologists support the “fourvery useful trait in horses used for deliveries. A rogue
foundations” theory of horse breeding, whichdraft horse that cannot be trained or trusted would be
suggests that modern horses evolved from fourthe most dangerous horse that one could imagine.
different horse populations, or types, which means thatBut despite their heavy builds, many draft horses are
the draft horses are probably descended from thevery graceful and quite beautiful. Many breeds have
aptly named draft horse type. The Belgian draft horsefeathered feet, which means that they have tufts of
is thought to be the oldest modern draft type goinglong hair on their fetlocks above the hooves and it is
back to the "Great Horse" of medieval time, and thatquite enjoyable to see that hair in action, since many
all other draft horses have Belgian in their foundations.breeds have a flowing, high stepping gait; it's almost like
These horses have been used in a wide variety ofthey know their feet are beautiful and people are
environments; from farmlands to forests to urbanwatching. These gentle giants continue to be used for
settings for hundreds of years. They were once theagricultural work in many regions of the world, and
main source of power for humans, before the enginesome become beloved pets as well as revered show
was invented, and the mechanization of transportationanimals in many of the equine exhibition disciplines.