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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.
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.
Shire horses hold the title of the world's largest horse breed. When fully grown, these English draft horses can measure up to 19.2 hands high. One hand equals 4 inches, so that makes Shire horses ...
Horses were sent to the rear, and kept ready for pursuit. [31] By the Late Middle Ages (approx 1300–1550), large battles became more common, probably because of the success of infantry tactics and changes in weaponry. [32] However, because such tactics left the knight unmounted, the role of the war horse also changed.
The medieval war horse was of moderate size, rarely exceeding 15.2 hands (62 inches, 157 cm). Heavy horses were logistically difficult to maintain and less adaptable to varied terrains. [ 128 ] The destrier of the early Middle Ages was moderately larger than the courser or rouncey, in part to accommodate heavier armoured knights . [ 129 ]
At this time the breed also became larger, with horses from other French districts being imported to Perche to change the Percheron from a coach horse averaging 1,200–1,400 pounds (540–640 kg) to a draft horse averaging 2,000 pounds (910 kg). [14] The Percheron stud book was created in France in 1893. [1]
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.