by Taylor White

Created on: September 11, 2008   Last Updated: June 25, 2009

===Horse Breeds: Belgium Horse===

A.K.A. (also known as) the Belgian Heavy Draft

Today your going to learn about the Belgium Breed. This is a very big horse, you will notice that as you read on.
===

-Names: Belgium, Belgian Heavy Draft, Brabant, or Flanders horse.
-Date & Place of origin: ancient times (100 B.C.); Native to the part Western Europe that is now Belgium.

-Usual Height: 16 to 18 hands
-Usual Weight: 1,800 to 2,200 pounds
-Main Characteristics: short, muscular neck and legs; broad, powerful chest; thick body; shaggy hair on legs above hooves.
-Colors: Chestnut, red roan, dun, brown, or gray.

About the Names:
*Brabant is a province in central Belgium
*Belgian Heavy Draft refers to the horse's ability to pull heavy loads as well as where it was bred
*Flanders was the medieval name for an area that included all of Belgium and parts of France and the Netherlands.

Weatherproof Workhorse:
Known as the "Great Horse" during medieval times (A.D. 900-1,500), this powerful work horse long earned its keep. A Belgian horse's great strength enables it to pull heavy loads, even through deep snow or mud.

Rear:
Massive hindquarters are typical of the breed. You can often find these horse with docked tails.

Attitude:
The Belgium is an impressive horse, combining great strength with a gentle temperment and willingness to work. Despite its size, it is economical to keep.

Body:
Small, rather plain head but with intelligent expression; short, muscular neck; massive shoulders; short, deep, compact body; rounded, powerful hindquarters; short, strong limbs with plenty of feather and well-shaped, medium-sized feet.

There isn't much information about the Belgium breed. You know its big, heavy, and intellegent. I hope you had fun reading this and learning about this big breed. It is a very interesting and sometimes exciting horse. You might even want to go onto google or something to find pictures of this horse. Then you can see the different colors of the breed and figure out more to it. The world is open for your opinion so go on and take it for a spin. And for people out there that may have friends that think that you are stupid for looking up stuff like that, they are really missing out on the fun and probally do the same thing but don't tell others about it. Be yourself and have fun searching fun facts about the Belgium breed. Thanks for reading!

Learn more about this author, Taylor White.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.