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Ardennes:
The Ardennes is essentially a compact heavy draught breed, possessing a great muscular development combined with style and activity.
Good posture and conformation with plenty of quality bone, should give an impression of balance strength and power. Height must not be at the expense of bone and/or fine quality
musculature. All colours permitted, except part-coloured (piebald/skewbald). No white markings permitted on the head of stallions. In mares a little white below fetlock is allowed (but
not encouraged), nowhere else except on head.
They have an intelligent expression with a flat nose, pronounced eye sockets, large eyes and docile nature.
All over Europe they are still used in commercial forestry and farming whilst also regularly used for competitive private driving. A
number of Ardennes are being used by the Riding for the Disabled Associations and also as general, sturdy riding horses in the UK. They are surprisingly fast, nimble, strong and
good tempered.
The rugged landscape, harsh climate, poor soil and cold winters of the Ardennes Plateau have contributed to the development of the
Ardennes horse. They are small, sturdy, very strong, yet tractable breasts. With the movements of people across Europe, the horses have moved with them and different types have emerged. Moved
to better land with better climates they have become bigger, hence the Brabant or Heavy Belgian Draught in the north and the huge Trait du Nord in the east of France.
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Clydesdale:
The Clydesdale origin is similar to that of the Shire in that the native horse of the Clydesdale area (Lanarkshire today) was
interbred with heavy horses imported from Flanders. The fact that Henry VIII passed a law forbidding the export and sale of Great Horses, and particularly ‘to Scotchmen’, was
probably significant in the distinction between the Clydesdale and the Shire.
At first glance, the Clydesdale bears a marked resemblance to the Shire, especially as it also has the distinctive long silky hair or
‘feather’ on its legs. However, it is generally lighter in build, has a longer neck and its forequarters are markedly higher than its hindquarters, with very clearly delineated
withers. It has a tendency to be cow-hocked, which in this breed is not necessarily regarded as a fault. It has a flat face and should not have the Roman nose of the Shire.
In colour it is bat, brown or black and it tends to have more white splashed on the legs and occasionally elsewhere. It is a
very powerful horse, noted for its endurance and tough constitution.
For more information about the Clydesdale click here www.clydesdalehorsesociety.com
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Percheron:
The Percheron is one of the oldest breeds in France and said to be the purest. It gets its name from the small province of La Perche in
north-west France where the horses were always bred. Little is known of the early history of the Percheron, but it seems to have gone through a number of distinct phases. Like the English
Warhorse, it was bred into a massive horse to bear the weight of a fully armoured Knight. With the use of firearms and the decline of armour, a lighter horse was used and the Percheron became a
draught horse for military and civil use.
The formation of the Percheron Horse Society in 1882 also helped the control of breeding and the French Stud Book appeared the following
year. In America, a Stud Book had started in 1878, but during the money crisis of 1893 many Percherons were sold to farmers in areas where there were no good stallions. One result of this was
that some 90 per cent of the horses that drew the old London buses were Percheron crosses imported from America around the turn of the century.
The pure Percheron was considered highly suitable for military purposes. It was very powerful, short-legged, minus leg hair and capable of a
good trot. The good characteristics were predominant in crosses with lighter mares, producing good light draught horses for artillery and first line transport. It rapidly found favour with
farmers too. Apart from its clean legs, it combined great strength with docility and was a long-lived horse with a high resistance to disease. Good feet had long been of high regard in the
French horse which had worked so often on stone block roads, and the hard blue horn of the Percheron’s feet is a valued characteristic.
The British Percheron is a good height (stallions have to be a minimum of 16’3 hands), with great muscular development combined with a long free
stride. The only colours accepted are grey or black, the former found more often, frequently with the typical dapple.
For more information about The Percheron click here www.percheron.org.uk
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Suffolk:
The Suffolk Punch has a history as a distinct breed going back to the early 16th century. It was always a native of the country from which it takes its name and even today it is found mostly there and in the immediately neighbouring counties. It is an odd thing that every registered Suffolk can trace its descent in the direct male line from one nameless stallion foaled in 1768 in the Suffolk village of Ufford, a horse known simply as Crisp’s Horse, from its owner.
Crisp’s Horse was one pf the so-called ‘old breed’, described as about 15 ½ Hands high, very powerfully built, with short legs and low in
the shoulder, giving it outstanding pulling power.
The modern Suffolk has emerged as a slightly taller (16 hands) but still relatively short-legged, barrel-girthed and low-shouldered horse and by
no means ugly. One of the unpopular features were ‘frying pan feet’ but this has been bred out now.
The Suffolk is only one colour: ‘chesnut’ (traditionally so spelt), although seven shades are recognised, from pale sorrel to dark
copper. A little white on the forehead is just acceptable. It is clean-legged (no ‘feather’) which makes it particularly suitable for the heavy soils of its home counties. Despite
its bulk and short legs, it can trot a fast pace and is also valued as a long-lived horse.
For more information about the Suffolk click here. www.suffolkhorsesociety.org.uk
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Shire:
Most familiar of the heavy horses, the Shire has a mixed history. It is a descendant of the Old English Warhorse, or Great Horse, itself
bred from a large native horse and other heavy horses imported from Flanders and Holland in the 12th and 13th centuries.
It became apparent that some rationalisation of the breeding activities was required to improve and maintain the best qualities in the Shire horse
and in 1878 the English Cart Horse Society was founded, later becoming the Shire Horse Society. Its aims were to establish uniformity of type, character and appearance and to keep authentic
records. The first volume of the Shire Horse Stud Book contained the records of 2,381 stallions, going back to 1770.
The shire today is the biggest of the heavy horses and at its best is a truly splendid creature. Enormously strong, intelligent and
courageous, it is still a patient and docile animal. It often exceeds 17 hands in height and can weigh over a ton. In colour it can be bay, brown, black or grey, with white on the lower legs
and the characteristic long, silky hair or ‘feather’ over the fetlocks. In the modern Shire, the feather is less abundant than it used to be.
For more information about the Shire click here. www.shire-horse.org.uk
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