Heavy Horses

The Poitou donkey (pronounced Pwa-too) is named after an old region of France from which it originates. Little is known about the origins of the Poitou donkey but records written as early as 1109 reveal that it was even then well known and valued as a strong pack animal. It is a very old breed. The male is called a Baudet (pronounced Bo-day) and the female is an Anesse.

The Poitou Donkey is often more than 14 hands (140cm) tall and is very heavily built with strong bones and a thick, dark coloured coat. The various studs of Poitou Donkey were mainly engaged in the breeding of mules, the result of crossing a horse mare with donkey stallion. Mules have the best attributes of both donkey and horse and were greatly valued for their strength and stamina for agricultural work in France, and also by the army.

Descended from the warhorse of Henry VIII’s England, when a heavy horse was required to carry a stout man in full armour, the shire horse is probably the most familiar of the heavy horse breeds.

Most stand 16-19 hands* high and weigh approximately one tonne (1000kgs). A feature of the shire horse is the distinctive feathers - long hair over the fetlocks. Modern fashion gives a greater value to a good shire with four white feet.

In 1887 the English Cart Horse Society was founded, which today is called the Shire Horse Society. It was formed to better the breed through the registration of breeding stock in a stud book and establish a recognised standard in respect of character and appearance.
*a hand equals 4” or 10cms and the measurement is taken from the ground to the withers - roughly a vertical line from the back of the foreleg to the base of the neck.

The Suffolk Horse is Great Britain's oldest breed of horse but also has the unfortunate distinction of being the rarest with under 400 pure-breds presently registered in the UK Studbook.
Also known as the Suffolk Punch, with 'Punch' being a way of describing its punchy, heavy and bold shape, it is a very distinctive breed whose history goes back to the 16th Century.
Although seven shades are recognised the chesnut colour of the Suffolk horse makes it easily distinguishable from all other breeds.
The Suffolk has a great width fore and aft, is deep in the rib with massive hindquarters. Having shorter legs, absent of feather, provides a powerful horse well able to cope with the heavy land of its home county. The average height of a Suffolk is 15 - 18 hands and a weight of one tonne (1000kgs) is common.
This magnificent chesnut-coloured draught horse is perhaps the ultimate agricultural horse, indigenous to East Anglia and is as such part of our living heritage.