AY Honors/Belgian

Belgian draft horse from the Maryland State Fair

The Belgian horse, Belgian Heavy Horse, or Brabant is a horse breed comes from the West-Brabantian region of Belgium. They are one of the strongest of the heavy breeds. The world's Largest Belgian Horse was named Brooklyn Supreme, who weighed 3,200 pounds, and stood at 19.2 hands. On average the Belgian will grow to be slightly over 1 ton or 2,000 pounds. Colors normally are a blonde or sorrel/ chestnut, with a flaxen mane. In history their main use was to work farms, or ranches. They are considered a working horse, and wagon horse. They are able to pull tremendous amounts of weight-up to over 4,500 pounds for a pair. They are still used as work horses and wagon horses, but have become increasingly popular as show horses, gaming horses, and trail riding horses. Although the overall percentage drafts among American horses has declined, the number of Belgians has increased.

The worlds tallest living horse is a Belgian Draft named Radar. Radar is a gelding, he was born in 1998 in Iowa. He stands at 19.35 hands, which means he is approximately 6 foot 7 inches tall at the withers. He weighs over 2400 lbs. He is currently used by Priefert Ranch Equipment for promotions.

References

Picture of Brooklyn Supreme at Rural Heritage http://www.ruralheritage.com/horse_paddock/horse_large_bs.htm