Percherons

[Equi]

Lets put it this way, i would not like to see it pulling a cart.

 

[RutlandH2O]

My horse isn't a heavy, but a warmblood bred for driving (Dutch harness horse, or "Tuigpaard"). He does, however, have some very "heavy" characteristics - huge shoulder, high head carriage, incredibly close hocks and ginormous, flared feet. He's also pretty pigeon-toed, but that's just him!

He's obviously used as a riding horse with me, and I know that to others on the yard, he looks odd. I'm not bothered about his shape, though and his trot is to die for (as long as you are not trying to sit to it).He is unshod and trimmed regularly by my excellent farrier, who lets him grow the flare he needs, because without it, he wouldn't cope. He's not that huge height-wise (16.3), but there's a lot of him. His feet are almost circular in shape and not far off 7 inches in diameter.

The best bit? He's 23, and only now are we beginning to encounter mild soundness issues in the form of a touch of fetlock arthritis. When I took him to the vet for a work up, they were amazed at how well he trotted up and how well he did in the flexion tests. Sometimes a deviation from what we view as the norm - at least in terms of riding horses - can be a good thing. Just because you are not used to seeing certain characteristics being viewed positively, does not automatically make them something to he reviled

I very much enjoyed your post. I adore Dutch Harness Horses!! I was following a Dutch stallion on YouTube, but his videos seem to have disappeared within the last 2 years. I think his name is Saaffron. Their action is so extravagant...watching the foals gambolling in the fields and then breaking into their natural trot is such a treat to observe!!

It was interesting reading about your farrier's approach to the flare of your horse's hooves. Do you have photos of your boy you could post? I'd love to see them.

The last sentence of your post is a lesson from which many people could profit. Good luck with your boy and I hope you are able to manage his arthritis successfully.

 

[ozpoz]

Whenever I have seen shires shown, and I have judged them in amongst other horses a few times, they have been stallions, and they were shown without exception by little old blokes. Wily handlers they may have been but they were all of 5 ft 2 and generally claiming a pension and never had to resort to waving sticks in the horses faces to retain control. I've seen little old blokes (sorry to sound sexist or ageist here) also handling 2 shires side by side in the showring with no overt gestures or rough handling.

The stallion in that video is only happy when he's allowed to stop. He keeps trying to canter as he finds trot uncomfortable. He is really stressed and confused by the way he is being handled and would fail a vet on the basis of that trot. He is having to sway his hips excessively to accommodate his feet. Poor Poor thing. RH20, if you think that is good horse handling then I despair.

Excellent post!
I totally agree. I hate to see that pained, anxious look - bad for the horse, the breed, and for horsemanship.

 

[doriangrey]

The biggest horse we ever owned was Vladimir Heavy Draft. He was 16.3hh grew eventually to 17hh and weighed a metric tonne. We bought him aged 7 and he was initially shod, but our farrier said he had excellent feet and no need to shoe. That was it, he seemed able to grow feet in proportion for his size without any help from us really.

 

[fburton]

The biggest horse we ever owned was Vladimir Heavy Draft. He was 16.3hh grew eventually to 17hh and weighed a metric tonne. We bought him aged 7 and he was initially shod, but our farrier said he had excellent feet and no need to shoe. That was it, he seemed able to grow feet in proportion for his size without any help from us really.

Just wanted to say that I really appreciate your input into this discussion, DG. Your posts have been very informative. While my own pov may not coincide with yours in every respect, it's helpful to have an insider's perspective on these issues. Thank you for that!

 

[doriangrey]

Just wanted to say that I really appreciate your input into this discussion, DG. Your posts have been very informative. While my own pov may not coincide with yours in every respect, it's helpful to have an insider's perspective on these issues. Thank you for that!

My husband's uncle was a farrier (many years ago and before they built the M18 through his forge!), anyway he mainly shod Shires and just with regular (though enormous) shoes. Until I saw the video of the Percheron I had no idea that they would be shod that way to encourage the hoof to 'flare'. Our VHD had massive feet, but I also think that allowing him to go unshod enabled his feet to grow in the right way to compensate for his weight. He just had them trimmed when needed.