Heavy Horses

Welcome to the forum :-) I share a shire x, he belongs to my best friend but I do all the riding. He is the absolute light of my life xx
 
I think heavy horses are amazing ive had my clydesdale allana since she was 6 months old, she was sooooo good to be broken in and is such a dream to do everything with wouldnt swap her for the world. and on the plus side i no im never going to outgrow her :)
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. Always good to have heavy lovers!

You'll have to give us some more info on Allana, what do you do with her etc.
I live just round the corner from the Cumbrian Heavy Horses and they are gorgeous, I love to see them sitting down as well as trekking out.

I have an Ardennes ( trait Ardennais). Her name is Fany Du Champ De La Petite Ville, Fany or Dude to her friends! She is 15yrs, 14-2hh and is used mainly for hacking as she is bombproof(as much as any horse can be) but not a plod. She has a lovely nature and is the gentlest, kindest and least marish mare I've ever met.

FDC

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Yip I got 2 Percherons. One is 18.2hh 16 yr old gelding and the other is 17.1hh rising 3 yr old who's still entire. They are so laid back and a pleasure to own
 
Fany Du Champ said:
Hi and welcome to the forum. Always good to have heavy lovers!

You'll have to give us some more info on Allana, what do you do with her etc.
I live just round the corner from the Cumbrian Heavy Horses and they are gorgeous, I love to see them sitting down as well as trekking out.

I have an Ardennes ( trait Ardennais). Her name is Fany Du Champ De La Petite Ville, Fany or Dude to her friends! She is 15yrs, 14-2hh and is used mainly for hacking as she is bombproof(as much as any horse can be) but not a plod. She has a lovely nature and is the gentlest, kindest and least marish mare I've ever met.

FDC

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SANY1044.jpg
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is cumbrian heavy horses Annie Rose's by any chance??!! she used to be up here on skye then trecked down with all her clydies and shires! if so thn give max and prince a big hug and a kiss form me! my mum, sister and i learned to drive with them! :D
 
Welcome to the forum, shadylady69. It's good to "meet" another Heavy
Horse fancier. I've had pure Shires for 15 years, 14 of those years with
a pure Clyde, as well (sadly lost him to colic last year). At present, I share
my life with 3 retired champion broodmares and 2 just-turned-two-year-
old geldings (sons of 2 of the broodmares). I neither ride, nor drive (I'm a
bit long in the tooth with a lousy back), but cherish everything involved in
their care, welfare, housing, even their aroma. Looking out across the
paddocks and seeing them grazing, contented and safe, evokes such a
sense of well-being, satisfaction and love it's almost impossible to quantify.

My boys are my last foals. It's been so fascinating watching them slowly
develop and mature, despite going through the tortures of the damned to get there (food for another thread).

I'm a member of the Shire Horse Society, and the British Percheron Horse
Society. The Ardennes has always been of great interest to me because
of their renown placid temperament (I've never met one, though).

I'd love to learn of more of your experiences with Allana.
 
Awwww RutlandH20 you sound like you have the same passion for the heavy horse as i do, Allana is my baby i trust her with my life and we have so much fun together she really is a gem although like me she can be a bit firery at times generally when i wind her up a bit but her attitude is amazing when i race my sister on one of my mums horse if allana is losing the race she will try to reach and bit him its so funny to watch.

Im amazed how much she has grown gradually outgrowing all rugs and tack wish i had a house big enough so she could fit inside to
 
Here's Tyson!

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17.2hh Shire :D

I've been to Cumbrian Heavy Horses a couple of times and LOVED it. We're looking to buy another heavy horse soon and I have them on the agenda!
 
Where have you found your heavy horses? I'm looking for a sensible boy for my husband to learn to ride on - he wants a horse with feathers!
thanks
 
RutlandH2O said:
The Ardennes has always been of great interest to me because
of their renown placid temperament (I've never met one, though).
Click to expand...

Fany has a very calm and pleasant temperament, she is a very easy going horse. However, she is VERY stubborn! I have never, in over 40 years with horses, met a horse as stubborn. If she decides "no" then there is nothing you can do. For example she will not lunge, she understands how, did it once, decided she did not like it and simply will not do it. Plants her feet and that is that, she is not afraid of lunge whips or anything really. We've tried everything, tempting her with food, running round with her. Nothing works. The only other temperament issue they do occassionally have is that they can be bolshy, but that is rare.
One issue we have had with her is she is very stoic. She had issues with a bad mite infection when we bought her, we never realised until she had an abscess. The vet said "well she must have been lame or favouring it" not at all she just put up with it. We now watch her legs like a hawk in case of any other problems.

Overall they are a lovely, kind and gentle breed who are placid but stubborn.
FDC
 
I bought my clyde stright from the breeders in scotland was quite a trek as im in cardiff, I understand what u mean by stubben if we r out hacking and I want to go one way allana will stop and stamp her foot lol she is sooo funny
 
My shire x also throws the most spectacular strops if he doesn't get what he wants (mainly food) they are hysterical!! The thing is he'll always look first or whinny for you so he has a audience first!! :-
)) I don't think he quite gets the reaction he wants as we're normally all falling about laughing. I've never had a horse with such character xx
 
FDC, thank you for the description of your Ardennes. Being horse-mad
and horseless as a youngster, I had dozens of books about equines, particularly the heavies. In every one of those tomes, the chapters on the
Ardennes always described them as having the kindest, quietest of
temperaments. Regarding her refusal to lunge, I had the same experience
with my late Clyde gelding and 2 of my Shire mares. I'm of the opinion
that lunging, which is quite hard on heavies' joints, combined with their
stoicism (possibly "hiding" a touch of arthritis) may be the reason for their
reluctance to lunge. All my horses are as soft as butter, so much so that
my husband, completely unhorsey, has gained such confidence from being
in their presence.
 
RutlandH2O said:
FDC, thank you for the description of your Ardennes. Being horse-mad
and horseless as a youngster, I had dozens of books about equines, particularly the heavies. In every one of those tomes, the chapters on the
Ardennes always described them as having the kindest, quietest of
temperaments. Regarding her refusal to lunge, I had the same experience
with my late Clyde gelding and 2 of my Shire mares. I'm of the opinion
that lunging, which is quite hard on heavies' joints, combined with their
stoicism (possibly "hiding" a touch of arthritis) may be the reason for their
reluctance to lunge. All my horses are as soft as butter, so much so that
my husband, completely unhorsey, has gained such confidence from being
in their presence.
Click to expand...

I agree with your lunging comment. My lad who was a driven comp. horse who had a very hard working life at a professional yard, is rarely lunged because of the pressure on the joints.Overall I am not really that keen on lunging of older horses, only really use it for a quick warm up. Especially, as you said, bigger horses can find it hard on the joints.

However, Fany is different. When we had her vetted, 2 yrs ago ( which was also when we wanted to lunge her) the vet could not believe how well her flexion (sp) test went, he said her joints were the best he had from a horse over 6! ( she was 14) She has never really worked in her life, she was only backed 2 yrs ago. She has been a brood mare/ show horse as she has excellent blood lines. She simply did not like it. She will not school either, but happily hacks out for miles and miles.

She is as soft as butter too, just can be stubborn. Loves to stop and look at the foals in the fields we hack past, she won't move on until she has had her fill of watching them. Still, stubbornness apart, she is a total sweetheart!

FDC
 
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My OH has a 7 year old 16.2 sabino clydesdale mare, Sans Peur Suzi aka Farra. I had my first go at heavy horse showing at the weekend at the East of England which was amazing fun and Farra did very well, so will be doing more with her. Before her we had Cairo, our beloved one eyed old boy.

I have a just over 15 hands gypsy cob, Stinky is not a true heavy horse, but he is a substantial lad.

Our heavies do a bit of everything, they love jumping and the only thing they have not had a go at is being in harness.

This is Farra being got ready for her first Clydesdale in hand class

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and at the end of the day, having also done a heavy horse ridden class - she was exhausted as she had never been to a large show before and so much to see and experience. She didn't put a hoof wrong.

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Not truely heavy, but The Tank is Ardennes x ID (with a tad of TB and WB too).

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I would echo Fany Du Champ's assessments of the Ardennes. Sweet, gentle horses. But NOT plods. Very agile and bags of stamina. But treat them with respect - they won't work for you if you are rude to them.

Fany Du Champ is an excellent example of how they look like giant Exmoor ponies;)
 
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