I never made a post about draft horses. :T They are the gentle giants of the horse world, sometimes growing as large as 20 hands and over 2000 lbs. The tallest horse in the world is an American-type Belgian horse named Big Jake (I think???).
A very big (but good) boy!
Despite their size, draft horses are known for their quiet, even temperaments, which make them good work horses. They were originally bred to pull wagons and plows, and they still do that. The most famous draft horses are probably the Budweiser Clydesdales, i.e. the horses in those Superbowl commercials that make us cry every goddamn year.
Draft horses can be ridden, and they are often crossed with lighter breeds, such as Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses, to create tall, sturdy-boned, quiet sport horses.
Such horses were a common sight during foxhunts, as “hotter” breeds, like Arabians and Thoroughbreds, tend to lose their minds a bit in the chaos of the hunt. Draft horses can also be crossed with Mammoth Jack donkeys to create draft mules, which are also used to pull plows for the Amish.
Mammoth Jack donkey:
Draft Mule:
There are a lot of draft breeds, some more common than others. Many of the common ones are easy to tell apart from the others, but they’re all large-boned and tall, except for the draft ponies, such as Halflingers and Norwegian Fjord horses.
The Belgian
There are two Belgian horses, one that’s popular in Europe and another that’s very common in the US.
This is the European-type “Brabant” Belgian, which tends to be very thick boned and roan in color.
This is the American-type Belgian, which is lighter-boned and always sorrel/palomino in color:
Here is a Brabant Belgian mare pulling some shit:
A lot of draft horses really do enjoy pulling stuff, as much as a horse CAN enjoy doing anything that’s not eating grass and farting. Horse pulls are a common sight in Middle America, often done using Belgian horses. Here’s one of a team pulling 9200 lbs. They pull for a very short period of time, often only a few seconds.
Next up is the Percheron, which has a similar body type to the Belgians but are always black or dapple. They can be slightly more spirited than Belgian horses, with some demonstrating high stepping action.
They are not to be confused with Friesians, who have much more “feathered” legs and feet (long hair around the lower legs) and are lighter-boned. Friesians also don’t come in dapple colors, like the horse at the top of this post.
Clydesdales
Clydesdales are recognizable because they are a) always bay colored and b) almost always have four white socks and a blaze on their faces. They also have much more feathering on their legs than Percherons or Belgians. Clydesdales are more common in parades and the like because they tend to be slightly lighter than Percheron and Belgians, and because of this, they’re more agile and “showy”. You probably would not want to plow with a Clydesdale. You could, but their feathering means their feet get dirty much easier than a Belgians might.
Shire Horse
Shires come in a variety of colors, usually black or bay, and they are probably the most “feathered” horses of the popular breeds. They’ve got lots of fur on their feet.
Gypsy Vanner Horses
Gypsy Vanner horses got their start pulling Roma wagons, but now they’re mostly used in fantasy photoshoots, and you can see why. They are beautiful horses, definitely not the type you’d want toiling in the muck. They are almost always paint colored, which distinguishes them from Shire horses.
These are the main, most popular and commonly seen full-sized draft breeds, at least in the US. However, there are also draft ponies, the most popular of which is the Halflinger, which resembles a shrunken Belgian horse. They are ALWAYS sorrel/palomino colored, but their frame can vary. Some Halflingers are lighter-boned and more suitable for riding. Others are thicker-boned and better for pulling.
The other unmistakable draft pony is the Norwegian Fjord, easily recognized by the black stripe in the center of its mane, like a reverse ice cream sandwich.
This can lead to some creative hair cuts
So there you go. That’s a somewhat comprehensive review of draft horse breeds. Here is a size comparison for funsies, with the average riding horse in the middle.
the bigger they are the bigger they are
There was a time in my life where I had to choose whether I would marry Dr Glass and move to England OR take on the functional ownership of a chubby Clydesdale named Belle, who had aspirations of dressage, and riding her was exactly like sitting on an overstuffed couch. I’m happy with how my life turned out but then I see photos like these and I mope around for ten minutes regretting my total lack of Clydesdales and my inability to ever get any. And my husband points out that that is an INCREDIBLY UNREASONABLE life expectation, and I’m just like “well SOMEBODY has to own all these clydesdales”
That’s not the ‘average riding horse’ in the bottom picture. Looks like a large pony, actually, assuming the people in the picture are not, in fact, 7 feet tall. The average riding horse is probably 15 to 16 hands high; the average draft is 16 to 19 hands high (4 inches to a hand). I’m 5′4″ and my horse is 15.3, and I can look over his back when standing flat-footed beside him.
Also I’ve ridden both a Belgian warmblood and a Percheron. I even jumped the Belgian. That was a hell of a workout; she was so big it felt like I had to do half the jumping for her, like she didn’t just pop neatly over the jumps, you best have that leg on her and be urging her up and over. Also mildly uncomfortable, hitting the ground that hard.
Jumping a Belgian! I’m actually not that good with horses (just a casual/ fake horse girl) but even I can recognise the impressiveness of that feet.
God, “jumping a Belgian” sounds almost absurd, like “flying a crocodile” - though TBF dressage on a chubby Clydesdale was a bit like trying to parallel park a blue whale.
You’re absolutely right about the “average” riding horse being bigger than that! although it might be the MEDIAN riding horse - given the preponderance of children’s lesson horses….! ( /joke) I think OP may have been misled by looking at the distance between them, it’s kind of an optical illusion if you don’t look at the lady.
and for those who don’t know how to tell hands by eyeballing, riding horses are usually about the size of the Mammoth donkey, maybe a little smaller (proportions are weird.)
Tumblr suggested this as a similar post and I, who had been predictably moping sadly again about the Clydesdale named Belle after posting about Brabant draft horses, felt as if I had been personally called out. Like the website just gave me a scathing look and was like “are you on the verge of telling that shitty story again? We heard it. In 2017.” Like there is basically an algorithm already existing to predict my inbuilt reactions to things, and it serves judgment upon demand. Hate game unparalleled. Is this what it feels like to be a Homestuck
