AY Honors/Belgian

Belgian draft horse from the Maryland State Fair

Belgian

The Belgian has a small head, thick and muscular neck, powerful shoulders and quarters, short legs with small amount of feathering. Chestnut or red roan in color, they can stand up to 17 hh (1.7 m).

On average the Belgian will grow to be slightly over 1 ton or 2,000 pounds. Colors normally are a type of light chestnut with a flaxen mane. They are considered a draft horse. Historically their main use was as a farm horse. They are still used as working animals, but have also become popular as show horses, gaming horses, and even as trail riding horses.

They are able to pull tremendous amounts of weight. At the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado, a team of two horses in the Heavyweight class pulled 17,000 pounds a distance of 7 ft 2 in (7,700 kg a distance of 2.18 m). The team of Belgians weighed 4,800 pounds (2,200 kg).