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A draft horse (US) or draught horse (UK), also known as dray horse, carthorse, work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred to be a working animal hauling freight and doing heavy agricultural tasks such as plowing. There are a number of breeds, with varying characteristics, but all share common traits of strength, patience, and a docile ...
The horses have been used throughout history as war horses, both as cavalry mounts and to draw artillery, and are used today mainly for heavy draft and farm work, meat production and competitive driving events. They have also been used to influence or create several other horse breeds throughout Europe and Asia.
Although some breeds of draft horses have declined in weight in modern times, the Trait du Nord has remained relatively large. [5] The average size in the breed is 16.1 hands (65 inches, 165 cm) for mares and 16.2 to 16.3 hands (66 to 67 inches, 168 to 170 cm) for stallions, weighing 1,800 to 2,000 pounds (800 to 900 kg) for mares and 1,870 to ...
The Comtois horse breed is an old breed of horse that is believed to have descended from horses brought by the Burgundians of northern Germany to France during the fourth century. [1] It is believed that they have been bred in Franche-Comté and in the Jura Mountains since the sixth century. In the Middle Ages they were used as war horses. [3]
The modern Percheron draft breed may in part descend from destriers, though it is probably taller and heavier than the average destrier. Other draft breeds such as the Shire claim destrier ancestry, though proof is less certain. Modern attempts to reproduce the destrier type usually involve crossing an athletic riding horse with a light draft type.
While the destrier is the most well-known warhorse of the Medieval era, it was the least common, and coursers were often preferred for battle.Both were expensive, highly trained horses prized by knights and nobles, while a poorer knight, squire or man-at-arms would use a rouncey for fighting.
In the Sevastopol Zoo (May 2011). The Soviet Heavy Draft is a Russian breed of heavy draft horse. [4] It derives from the Belgian Brabant heavy draft breed. It was developed in the former Soviet Union for agricultural draft work, and was recognized as a breed in 1952.
The Dutch Draft was created in the years after the First World War by cross-breeding the heavy draft mares of the province of Zeeland with Ardennes and Brabant stock from neighbouring Belgium. [ 4 ] : 273 [ 3 ] : 462 Until after the Second World War , it was the most important Dutch horse breed, but with the mechanisation of agriculture , it ...