From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (February 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Two pairs of Shire horses and a pair of Suffolk Punches pulling dray wagons decorated with the livery of their home breweries.

A farmer (ploughman or plowman) works the land with a horse and plough.

A draft horse, draught horse or dray horse (from the Anglo-Saxon dragan meaning to draw or haul) is a large horse bred for hard, heavy tasks such as ploughing and farm labour. Draught horses are versatile breeds used today for a multitude of purposes, including draft horse showing, farming, and for pleasure, but all share the traits of strength, stamina, health, longevity, patience and a docile temperament which made them indispensable to generations of pre-industrial farmers. They are also commonly used for cross-breeding, especially to breeds such as the Thoroughbred.

Draft horses are recognizable by their tall stature and extremely muscular build. In general, they tend to have a more upright shoulder, producing more upright movement and conformation that is better-suited for pulling. They tend to have short backs with very powerful hindquarters, again best suited for the purpose of pulling. Additionally, the draft breeds usually have very thick bone, and a good deal of feathering on their lower legs. Many have a "Roman nose" (a convex profile) as well, although this Roman nosed trait is not wanted in the draft horse breeds.

These Shire horses are used to pull a Wadworth Brewery dray delivering beer to pubs in the Devizes area of Wiltshire, England. In this picture, the public are being given a ride.

The Shire horse holds the record for the world's biggest horse; Sampson, foaled in 1846 in Bedfordshire, England, stood 21.2½ hands high (i.e. 7ft 2½in or approx 2.2m at his withers) and weighed approx 3,300lb or over 1.5 tonnes.

Main article: List of horse breeds

A number of horse breeds are used as draft horses, with the popularity of a given breed often closely linked to geographic location. Examples include:

• American Cream
• Ardennes
• Belgian
• Boulonnais
• Breton
• Clydesdale
• Dole Gudbrandsdal
• Irish Draught
• Percheron
• Shire
• Suffolk Punch
• Gypsy Vanner horse

See also: Driving (horse)

The terms harness horse and light harness horse refer to horses of a lighter build, such as traditional carriage horses and show horses, and are not terms generally used to denote "heavy" or draught horses. Harness horse breeds include Oldenburg, Friesian, Cleveland Bay, the Hackney, other warmblood breeds and in some disciplines, such as combined driving, riding breeds such as the Thoroughbred or Morgan may be seen.

The vast majority of horses used in harness racing are of yet another breed, the Standardbred.