Clydesdale

History
 The Clydesdale is the United Kingdom's youngest draft breed, with it becoming a breed only 150 years ago. To create the breed, calm mares from Lanarkshire(the Clyde Valley) were bred with the type of English draft stallions that were often found carrying knights bravely into battle. Also in the bloodline was several Flemish stallions imported to Scotland in the late 1700s.

 Several stallons are noted to have had a great influence on the breed. One includes a brown imported by the Duke of Hamilton in the 18th century. The other two include a black Flemish with white stockings and a white face, as well as Blaze, a 16.1 hand high black horse thought to have the blood of a coach horse. He marked the Clydesdale with his flashy knee action.

 In 1806s, a filly, the descendant of the black flemish stallion, was foaled. She became very influential to the breed, producing sturdy offspring with strong legs. These offspring, too, made a mark on the Clydesdale we know today.

 In the early 1900s, the Clydesdale had reached its peek. There were an estimated 140,000 horses, with about 1,600 stallions being exported in 1911 alone. However, things began to look down for the famous draft by the end of World War I. The '20s brought on the use of machines for farm work, and, consequently, drafts were simply left to run free in certain countries. By the end of World War II, only 200 hundred Clydesdales were licensed to work in England. By 1949, the number plummeted to 80.

A team of Clydesdales pull a wagon. source

 In the '60s, the breed took another hit as more and more machines were used, and their numbers began to swiftly decline. Only several hundred existed in the UK. In 1975, the breed was categorized as "vulnerable," though over the past four decades, the number has increased a little. Now, with approximately 5,000 Clydesdales registered worldwide, the breed has advanced to "at risk."

 Today, Clydesdale are extremely popular throughout North America due to the famous Budweiser horses.

Breed Description and Uses
 Clydesdales, unlike most other draft breeds, are more slim than burly, though don't underestimate their strength. They were bred to work hard a carry heavy loads of coal, produce, and even beer. Their gaits are high-stepping and flashy, their neck high-set, and their stockings and blaze eye-catching, making them elegant enough to be nice carriage horses. Also, their feet are huge, which complicates using them to pull plows. Because of that, these tall, 16 to 19 hands high drafts were commonly found in cities.

 Most commonly, Clydesdales are bay with white stockings, a blaze, and heavy feathering around the fetlocks. Sometimes, sabino coloring occurs, with white stretching up as far as the belly. Other colors include roan, black, and gray.

 Clydesdales are mostly used for driving, though if crossbred with another breed, like the Arabian, a common choice, they make prized eventing horses.

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The Belgian Draft

History:
 The ancestor of all draft horses, the Flemish, a heavy black horse much like the Friesian, originated in the small European country of Belgium. From him came another draft in the early 1800s–one sharing similar traits to the Flemish.

 To encourage the breeding of this new breed, the Belgian government started making district shows, all of which were qualifying rounds for the great National Show In Brussels. They began offered generous cash prizes for well-bred mares and stallions. They even had inspection committees examine stallions that were in public stud service so they could control the type of horses that were produced. It was a huge-scale operation, set to produce the best new type of draft horses. These "Belgians," as they came to be called, were like a treasure and national heritage to the people of Belgium.

 In 1866, Dr. A. G. Van Hoorebeke from Monnouth, Illinois imported the first Belgian horses to the United States. Several businessmen in Wabash, Indiana, became interested in the breed and began importing them and selling them to the Midwest in 1885. In February of 1887, they founded the American Association–breed offices–for the Belgian in that city.

 The gentle nature, strength, and willingness to work made the breed the perfect choice as a foundation for many other draft breeds. In 1891, Belgians were exported to government stables in countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Twelve years later, they breed had it's first official public appearance in America when some were sent St. Louis World Fair and the Chicago Livestock Exhibition. From there, the popularity of the breed steadily increased and Americans "Americanized" the breed, as they sometimes do for other breeds. However, all that changed as the twentieth century wore on. Once World War I started in 1914, importation halted. 

 During the '20s, draft breeds everywhere began to decline. Parts of certain countries that were still in need of drafts bought Belgians, which were imported in small numbers. By the mid 1930s, things began to look up for drafts. Belgians were once again exported in massive numbers. The last group to be imported were sent from Iowa to New York on January 15, 1940, just four months after the start of World War II. Four months later, the Germans invaded Belgium. 

I can't believe she's riding that beast! source

 Throughout World War II, with the push for mechanization, draft horses once again began to decline, and the Belgian was no exception, At one point, under 200 were being registered a year. Then, slowly, ever so slowly, the number of Belgians increased. During the first half of the '80s, the average number of Belgians registered a year was a whopping 4,000! Today, the Belgian remains the most popular draft breed. 

Breed Characteristics and Uses:
 Belgians are strong, hefty horses, standing 16.2 to 17 hands high, and built to work hard for hours at a time. They can haul a load of 6,000 to 8,000 pounds! At first, the breed was a farm horse used to pull plows, but later on they found themselves in cities working at warehouses, freight stations, and fishing wharfs alongside other draft breeds. Today, they are used for hobby farming, logging, pleasure driving, and sometimes even riding.  Unlike most other horses, they mature quickly and can begin working at a mere eighteen months.


When the breed was new, it was commonly bay, roan, black, gray, and chestnut/sorrel. As time went on, though, they changed to how they are today: sorrel with a blaze, four white stockings, and white manes and tails.

The Irish Draught Horse

 During the early 1900s, Irish farmers needed a strong, versatile horse lighter than the common draft horse that could plow fields during the week, leap gracefully over obstacles in a fox hunt on Saturdays, and still take the family to church on Sunday morning. With the help of Ireland's Department of Agriculture, quality stallions were selected to be bred with each farmer's stock. Those stallions are considered the breeds foundation stock, and only foals with at least one foundation stallion in its pedigree would be registered. In 1978, the Irish Horse Board closed the registry book to any new stallion bloodlines, only registering pureblood offspring of existing registered horses. All of the registered horses became a breed known as the Irish Draught(pronounced "draft) Horse, "draught" being the Irish word for "draft."

 Later, crossing the Irish Draught Horse with Thoroughbreds to create a sporty horse with the Draught's soundness and unflappable nature came into fashion. This breed came to be known as the Irish Sport Horse, or the Irish Hunter. Soon, however, Draught mares were no longer producing purebred foals, and the breed's survival became at risk.

Irish Draught Horses are powerful horses with strong legs
and pleasant faces. credit

Since then, many people and groups  have done all they can to encourage people to breed pureblood Irish Draughts. In 1993, the Irish Draught Horse Society of North America(IDHSNA) was created to preserve the purebred Irish Draught Horse. Furthermore, Horse Sport Ireland operates a scheme called Irish Draught Rare Bloodline, encouraging people to maintain genetic diversity within the breed, as well as breeding their best stallions to purebred mares. In recent years, due to the strong efforts of these many groups, the number of purebred Irish Draught foals has increased.


 Like most any breed, Draughts have breed standards. They should have a pleasant face with bold, wide-set eyes, a broad forehead, and plenty of room at the throat. Their their neck should be held high, withers well-defined. The forearms should be long and muscular, the knees large, and the cannons short and straight; the bone should be clean and flat, not coarse and round. The pasterns must be be strong and the hooves solid. Their backs are required to be powerful and their girth deep. Mares should have plenty of room to carry a foal. Everything from the croup to the buttocks must be rounded, not flat-topped, and the hips shouldn't be very wide and plain. The thighs are strong and powerful. The hocks are near the ground and should be in line with the hindquarters, the heel, and the ground. All in all, the Irish Draught shouldn't be weak or bent over in any way, but strong and standing tall.

 The average height for a Irish Draught is 15.1 to 16.3 hands high. Often, they come in a solid color with white markings, although socks that are above the knees or hocks are not desirable.

 Because of their smooth, eye-catching, ground-covering stride and powerful haunches, they make excellent jumpers and hunters.