In the big world of the biggest horses. Bogatyr strength or the largest horses in the world

Since ancient times, as soon as man tamed the horse, he needed massive and hardy animals. Let us at least remember the knightly horses or the faithful steeds of Russian heroes. They were about two meters tall and weighed about one ton. Do such beauties exist today and who is the biggest horse in the world? Find out the answers to these questions with us, and photos and videos will become a fascinating accompaniment while reading.

We can find out what medieval war horses looked like by looking at some modern ones. For example, the powerful Belgian Brabançons or English Shires today are direct descendants of knightly horses. And in such domestic breeds as the Vladimirsky or the blood of heroic horses flows. However, strange as it may sound, even among these giants there are their own record holders. These horses deservedly bear the title of “the biggest” and can be seen in the most interesting videos.

Great Samson

The largest horse was the stallion Samson, whose weight reached 1.52 tons and height at the withers was 2.20 meters. Why was it? Samson lived back in the 19th century and, unfortunately, there are practically no photos of him left today. The Shire stallion was born in 1846 in the English town of Bedfordshire. Already at four years old, this horse was the largest and most powerful not only in all of England, but also in the world. Then it was renamed Mammoth. His record for height has never been surpassed by any horse since.

Giant Digger and Brooklyn Supreme

When talking about the largest horses in the world, it is impossible not to mention Digger and Brooklyn Supreme. Digger is a Shire who, at five years old, weighs 1,200 kilograms and is 2.02 meters tall. Every day this stallion eats more than 25 kg of hay and drinks about 75 liters of water. It is likely that he will be able to approach Samson's record.

The bay roan stallion of the Belgian breed Brooklyn Supreme is also a giant horse. At 10 years old, his weight was 1451 kilograms, and his height at the withers was 1.98. This animal was so enormous that it required horseshoes weighing more than 13 kg.

American record holder Big Jake

Big Jake is a 9-year-old Brabançon, who is listed in the Guinness Book as the tallest horse in the world. In terms of height, he is only 3 centimeters behind Samson, and his weight, according to the latest data, is 2.6 tons. Big Jake has a descendant - a stallion named Einstein. Visitors to the stable are simply delighted with the size of Big Jake. See photo.

Giant of modern times

Today there is also the largest horse. As of 2007, 16-year-old Shire, nicknamed Cracker, has a height at the withers of 1.98 meters and a weight of 1200 kilograms. The stallion lives in the English county of Lincolnshire and also claims to be in the Book of Records. For now, the horse lives peacefully in the stable and has already become a real TV star.

Which breed is considered the largest?

The most large horses of modern times are the well-known heavy trucks. One of the most powerful are the Belgian Brabançons. Their weight already at 5-6 years of age reaches a ton, and sometimes more. The height at the withers of adult stallions reaches 170 centimeters. These horses are excellent workers, so they are successfully used as live tractors in rural work.

Ardennes

The Ardennes are another representative of the Belgian heavy horse breeding. This breed is very ancient and was bred in the 19th century in the Ardennes Highlands. It is known that these horses were used by Napoleon's army to transport heavy cannons and shells. And although this breed today belongs to the type of small draft horses, larger Ardennes are bred in the Baltics. Many of them can be compared in strength to the Brabançons.

Shire

Shires are the descendants of knightly war horses and today they are the largest English heavy horses, as can be seen in the photo. Slow, but very strong and powerful horses, Shires can pull loads up to five times their own weight. The height at the withers of stallions reaches 1.65-1.75 meters, weight - 1000-1200 kilograms. This breed is very elegant and beautiful, so it regularly takes part in various horse exhibitions and shows.

Percherons

Another very large and strong horse, as the photo demonstrates. In addition, with their enormous height and weight, these heavy horses are considered the most graceful and graceful. And this is largely due to the fact that blood flows in this French breed. These horses were bred to early XIX century in the province of Perche. Breton and Boulogne stallions were used in breeding work.

Interesting! Percherons are loved in Russia; they are bred at the Oktyabrsky stud farm in the Ulyanovsk region.

Russian heavy truck

Our country also boasts some of the largest horses in the world. For example, the breed gained fame far beyond the borders of Russia. Bred on the basis of the Ardennes with an influx of Percheron and Brabançon blood, these horses turned out to be powerful and proportional, which is what we see in the photo. Until 1952, our breed was called the Russian Arden. The horse is incredibly strong and is a regular winner of major competitions.

Photo gallery

We invite you to take a closer look at the representatives of the largest breeds in photos and videos.

Video “Top 10 - the biggest horses in the world”

In Medieval times, powerful, hardy horses were revered, capable of easily withstanding Russian heroes, knights in armor and the considerable weight of weapons. The horses weighed more than a ton, and their height at the withers reached two meters. However, such giants still live in our time: who is he, the largest horse in the world, and what breeds break all records with their size?

Among heavy horses, there are real giants even today.

There is an opinion that most breeds of heavy horses are descendants of knightly horses, called “destrie”. So, it is believed that the following breeds came from these stallions:

• Belgian Brabançons;
• English shires;
• French Percherons.

It is among these breeds that the largest horses have been identified. In addition, Arden and Russian heavy trucks are distinguished by their enormous dimensions.

Belgian Brabançons

This species is considered one of the most ancient heavyweight breeds among European countries. Representatives of this breed were obtained by crossing Ardennes and Flemings. The weight of horses of this species reaches a ton already at 5-6 years, and the height at the withers is 170 cm. However, larger individuals are also found. Color - red, bay and gray. Representatives of this breed are strong and hardy horses used for performing heavy work, in particular, they are used in agricultural activities instead of tractors.

English shires

This breed is represented by slow but strong horses, capable of transporting a load weighing 5 times their own weight, i.e., can reach 5–6 tons at the age of three. The height of Shire horses is 170–190 cm (but there are common cases when the height of the horse exceeded 2 meters), and the weight ranges from 1 to 1.2 tons.

It is believed that the breed was developed by mating mares of the local English breed with Friesian and Flandish stallions. Shires are distinguished by their proportionality, baldness on the head and “stockings” on the hind legs. Color: black, bay, red and gray. Thanks to the beautiful appearance English shires often take part in horse shows.

Shires are considered the largest breed in the world, some of its representatives are more than 2 meters tall and weigh one and a half tons.

French Percherons

Representatives of this species, despite their enormous growth, are distinguished by grace and elegance. These big horses were developed at the beginning of the 19th century French province Persh. During the selection, Arabian horses, Boulogne and Breton horses were used. This breed was used for military purposes, agricultural work, and for riding. The height of Percherons at the withers can reach 175 cm.

Ardennes

The Ardennes horse breed is a descendant of one of the most ancient Solutre breeds, living in the territory of modern Europe approximately 50 thousand years ago. Ardennes were bred in the 19th century on the Ardennes Upland, and their height did not exceed 1.4 m. However, under Napoleon, representatives of this breed were used to transport shells and cannons, and to increase endurance they were crossed with Arabian stallions and Belgian Brabançons.

Russian breeds

Among the domestic breeds there are:

1. Russian heavy breed. It was developed by crossing Ardennes, Percherons and Brabançons. This breed, called Russian Ardennes until 1952, is distinguished by its proportionality, power and enormous strength. The height at the withers of representatives of this breed can reach 170 cm, and the weight can reach up to a ton.
2. Soviet heavyweight look. This type of horse was obtained by mating Belgian Brabançon stallions and draft mares of various breeds. The Soviet heavyweight is drier, smaller and more agile than the Brabançons. The height of representatives of this species reaches 175 cm, and their weight is no more than a thousand kilograms.
3. Vladimir heavy breed. The species was obtained by crossing Scottish Clydesdales and English Shires with local breeds horses. The weight of Vladimir heavyweights reaches 750 kg with a height of 165 cm.

Among the domestic heavy breeds, the most distinguished are Russian, Soviet and Vladimir.

The largest horses in the world

Repeated crossing of several heavy breeds with each other was the reason that in the 19th and 20th centuries giant horses appeared, famous not only among horse breeders, but throughout the world.

The tallest horse in the world and the record holder among other giants is a representative of the English Shire - a horse named Samson, owned by Thomas Cleaver. This giant was born in 1846 in the English county of Bedfordshire, and already in 1850 his height at the withers was 220 cm and his weight was 1.52 tons. At the same time, the longest horse in the world, Samson, received a new name - Mammoth.

A horse named Poe, named after Edgar Poe, managed to catch up with Samson and earn the title “the largest horse in the world.” This tallest of all horses reaches 300 cm in length, and 220 cm at the withers. Po's weight is 1.5 tons, he eats tens of kilograms of hay and grain, and drinks 8 buckets of water.

The heaviest horse recorded in the Guinness Book of Records is a Belgian gelding named Big Jake. The weight of the horse reaches 2.6 tons, and the height at the withers is practically equal to the height of Poe and Samson and is equal to 217 cm. Big Jake lives in the United States, in the state of Michigan, where a special stall with an area of ​​36 square meters was built for him. m. The record holder participates in reality and talk shows. This fat horse, despite gigantic size, gracefully performs in front of several thousand people.

Another one of the largest horses in the world was the Percheron stallion Morocco, with a height at the withers of 215 cm and a weight of 1.3 tons.

The tallest horse in the world today is considered to be a horse named Po; his height is as much as 300 cm.

The largest and strongest horses in the world were considered:

1. Doctor Le Ger. This representative of the French Percherons was born in 1902. The horse's height at the withers was 213 cm, and its weight reached 1.4 tons.
2. Stallion Duke. Now the height of this stallion reaches 2.07 meters, while his height continues to increase every year. There is a high probability that the horse will break the record of Samson and Poe and receive the title “tallest horse in the world.” The owner of the stallion claims that her pet achieved its gigantic size thanks to a special diet based on a special apple variety and herbal infusions. In addition, Duke consumes tens of kilograms of grain and hay, more than a hundred liters of water and two dozen liters of herbal tea every day. However, despite its size, this stallion is cowardly and afraid of rodents.
3. Noddy. Nordrem Lascombe is a representative of the English Shire breed. The powerful horse has a height at the withers of 2.05 meters and a weight of 1.3 tons. It is worth noting that Noddy is not the only great horse in the pedigree; his grandfather, named Edward, was also a record holder for height. Since Noddy's owner needs a significant amount of money for his maintenance, the stallion works on the farm.
4. Digger. A stallion of the English Shira breed reaches 2.02 meters at the withers and weighs 1.2 tons. This 12-year-old horse drinks one hundred liters of water every day and eats a haystack that is 1.5 meters high.
5. Cracker. The height of this representative of the English Sheirs at the withers is 198 cm, and his weight is 1.2 tons. This large horse eats 2 stacks of hay and several kilograms of carrots, and drinks 130 liters of water daily. The stallion has been on television since he was a foal and is a popular animal.
6. Brooklyn Supreme. This Belgian Brabançon at the age of 10 weighed 1.45 tons, and his height at the withers was 198 cm. To shoe this giant, you have to use horseshoes that have an increased weight - 3.5 kg each, while an ordinary horseshoe weighs not more than 0.7 kg. This stallion died at the age of 20, having lived his life in the USA, Iowa. It is worth noting that Belgian Brabançons are not only record holders in size, but also in price - they are the most expensive stallions.

Formerly heavyweights different breed helped to win battles; now such giants are often used in agricultural work. But at all times, their power, strength and grace delighted the human eye.

“You, oh you, my good big horse!” Ernest Hemingway. "For whom the Bell Tolls"

Horses are very beautiful and unique animals. For thousands of years they have been close to people, used for work and movement, and some peoples used meat for food. There is no time in the history of a conscious person when these wonderful creatures. There are so many horses in the world! They differ in color and physical characteristics, they have grace, speed, and power. Number different types approaching three hundred. Some of them are small and some are big horses. There are about twenty breeds of large horses - heavy draft horses. With their power and stature they stand out from the rest. All are stocky, with massive chest, with broad-boned legs and huge hooves, two meters high, they involuntarily evoke respect. Among these giants is the largest horse in the world. But it also appeared in the process of development and improvement of breeds.

Draft horses reach two meters in height

Back to the past

Let's go back to the Middle Ages for a moment. City dwellers transport goods and ride horses, rural residents use them to cultivate arable land, everywhere internecine wars and wars for the redistribution of territories, knights-riders in heavy armor and with massive weapons... So how hardy did the horse have to be?

The first information about heavy trucks came from this era. The war horses of that time were called “destrie”; their weight could reach one ton and their height could reach two meters. It’s not easy to move and jump quickly with such a build, but it’s easy to carry heavy loads. It is assumed that the known breeds of draft horses are:

• Percherons (France);
• barbançons (Belgium);
• shires (England) - descendants of these medieval horses.

Percherons

In France, the Percheron breed, graceful and huge horses, is quite famous. Some hippologists consider them to be the ancestors of ancient French horses, but everyone recognizes that in breeding for a long time Arabian stallions were used. In 1830, one of them, the handsome Gallipolo, became the father of the first known Percheron, Jean de Blanc. Distinctive features: height at withers about 162 cm, great endurance, massiveness, lean build, agility, soft movement regardless of gait, good disposition, unpretentious maintenance.

The Percheron horse is one of the heavy-duty breeds

Barbançons have been known since the Middle Ages as the “Flanders Horse.” They were crossed with Shires and Ardens. This is a famous Belgian horse used for heavy work. Over the years, breeders have made it perfect for physical labor. Characteristics: height reaches 173 cm, color red, gray, bay.

In the mid-19th century in Russia they began to mix draft horses (crosses of Bityugs with Ardennes and Percherons) with thoroughbred Barbançons. The foundations were laid by stallions born in the early 20s of the last century: Boje, Endijen de Laval, Clairon Remy and Paulin de Vere. Distinctive characteristics

: height up to 170 cm, weight from 700 to 1000 kg, dry, harmonious, great mobility. Officially, the “Soviet heavyweight” was marked in 1952. The record holder is the stallion Force, who pulled a load of 22991 kg. at 35 meters.

Brabançons are record holders among heavy trucks

Shires are leisurely, powerful, confident, large horses from England.

There is an assumption that even before their use for military purposes in the Middle Ages, they originated from a cross between Friesian and Flemish stallions. Main distinguishing feature– proportional, strong and resilient. Used as draft horses. Main features: height from 165 to 180 cm, stockings on the hind legs, bald spot on the head, color red, black, gray, bay.

The Vladimir draft horse was obtained by breeding English Shires and Scottish Clydesdales with local horses.

The ancestors were born at the beginning of the second decade of the 19th century, these are the famous Lord James, Border Brand, Glen Albin. Characteristics: height 165 cm, weight up to 760 kg, develops greater speed than Soviet heavy trucks, agile, durable in motion with a weight of several tons. The record holder is the Vladimir mare Hungarian, who covered 420 meters with a load of 9 tons.

Shire horses were originally bred as war horses.

Ardennes and Russian heavy draft

The Ardennes horse has been known for many centuries and originates from ancient forest horses, was known in the times of Julius Caesar, Nero, and has always been widely used in military affairs. Napoleon's army fought on these horses. These are the lightest of the heavy draft horses, but very hardy horses. About the breed: height up to 165 cm, weight up to 600 kg, massive and muscular, color roan, bay or steel gray. Used for physical heavy work. Unfortunately, in the mid-18th century this breed was diluted into pure form Ardens are quite rare.

The Russian draft horse was created by selection of Belgian and domestic draft dogs. Its beauty and harmony were recognized in 1900 in Paris - the stallion Karavai (born in 1887), bred at the Khrenovsky stud farm, received recognition and a gold medal at the exhibition. The breed was recognized in 1952. The ancestors are the stallions Karaul (born 1909) and Larchik (born 1918). Characteristics: height only up to 150 cm, harmoniously built, hardy, good disposition, quite playful.

Arden horses are quite short in stature.

Large size horses

Officially, the largest of all known stallions is the Shire stallion from England, Samson (born 1846), who lived in the 19th century. His height at the withers was 220 cm, and his weight reached 1520 kg. Already at four years old he stood out among all the horses and was renamed Mammoth. The record has still not been surpassed.

The American Brabançon Big Jake came very close to him. He took the place of the largest horse in the Guinness Book of Records. His height is 217 cm, which is only three centimeters less than Samson, and his weight is 2600 kg.

The unique horse is featured in charity shows and is popular among visitors to the stable. An ordinary person feels like a small child next to him.

The biggest horse next to a man is simply a giant. Powerful, large and good-natured, she surprises with her size, pleases with her stature and nobility.

Big Jake (217 cm)

Until 2010, the title of the largest horse on Earth was held by Remington, a stallion from Texas, America, whose height is about two meters. However, then his place in the Guinness Book of Records was taken by a Belgian gelding named Big Jake, who is currently 11 years old. The massive stallion is 2 meters 17 centimeters tall!

Big Jake is truly huge and it's not just his height. It weighs like a large SUV - a whopping 2,600 kilograms! Any person who finds himself close to this gelding seems to be simply a midget. Currently, the stallion actively appears on various talk shows, and not so long ago he became the highlight of a television program created for the Ronald McDonald House Foundation, which provides charitable assistance to people around the world.

Interestingly, Big Jake took part in a joint tour with the smallest horse in the world, which we already wrote about.

Doctor Le Ger (213 cm)

in 1902, a Percheron stallion named Doctor Le Ger was born, maximum height which reached 213 cm. The animal weighed almost like a middle-class car - about 1400 kg.

The Percheron is a breed of horse designed for heavy work, although it is often used for trail riding due to its unusually smooth ride. The average height is about 170-180 cm, the color is most often gray.

The first Percherons were bred in the mid-19th century in France, and they were named after the Perche region where they were raised. In our country, Percherons are also raised at the Oktyabrsky stud farm near Ulyanovsk.

Duke (207 cm)

Next on our list is a stallion named Duke, originally from the UK. According to the latest measurements, his height is 2.07 meters. According to the owner of this giant, its growth is associated with a special diet, which consists of an unusual variety of apples, as well as herbal infusion. Over the past few years, the horse has been growing several centimeters per year and the growth does not stop. Perhaps Duke will become the tallest horse in the near future.

The stallion's owner says that his appetite will be the envy of many. So, per day Duke eats more than 8 kg of hay and grain, drinks at least a hundred liters of water and about 20 liters of tea. By the way, they started giving him the herbal decoction after Duke got sick. However, he recovered very quickly and showed unprecedented growth.

Despite the fact that Duke impresses with his size, he has a very cowardly character, as he is afraid of tiny mice. At the same time, he treats other horses very kindly.

Noddy (205 cm)

Meet Noddy, a Shire horse whose height reaches 2.05 m. The horse is currently 5 years old.

Shires are English heavy horses that are very tall. Typically their height is 1.8 m, but some individuals are much taller.

The Shires are descended from Dutch stallions and English mares. Smaller specimens can be used for riding in the saddle, but larger ones are only suitable for carriage. Such horses are characterized by a wide back, chest and rump. And besides, there is a characteristic bald patch on his head, and white stockings on his legs.

Sampson (220 cm)

The world record holder for height of all time is a stallion named Sampson, who was born back in 1846 in Toddington Mills, which is located in the English county of Bedfordshire. Its owner's name was Thomas Cleaver. If you believe historical references, the height of this horse reached 2 meters 20 centimeters when she was 4 years old, while her weight was relatively small - just over 1.5 tons. At the age of one and a half years, Sampson was castrated and even then his testicles could be compared in size to a baseball.

Igor Nikolaev

Reading time: 3 minutes

A A

The largest representatives of the horse tribe are heavy horses.

One of the most common heavy trucks are shires. Such breeds of these horses as Percheron and Brabançon are also widely known. There are also domestic breeds of heavy horses in our country.

This type of horse traces its history back to the times of chivalry. One knight in heavy armor weighed a lot, and in order to carry such an “iron tower”, a very strong animal was needed. Knight's horses were called "destrie", and one such heavy horse weighed about a ton and was about two meters tall at the withers.

And in the era of horse-drawn transport, moving heavy carts also required strong draft horses. And the French Percherons, and the Belgian Brabançons, and the English Shires - all these breed varieties are descendants of the medieval “Destrieux”.

Draft horses are powerful, large animals that are still used in agricultural work to this day. Where a tractor or other modern equipment cannot pass vehicle– a heavy truck will always come to the rescue. Plowing land and transporting goods to hard-to-reach areas are the main areas of application for these horses. In Great Britain, shires are regular participants in traditional “beer” parades. They are the ones who solemnly carry heavy vans advertising various brewing companies in England.

Large horses from Belgium – Arden and Brabançon

The Brabançon draft horse is a very large representative of the horse breed. No wonder they received the nickname “living tractor” in their homeland. The live weight of these Belgian giants varies from seven hundred kilograms to one ton, and their height at the withers reaches one meter and seventy centimeters.

Young foals have a rapid growth rate. This heavy-duty breed is very popular in countries North America. Brabançons are considered one of the strongest horses in the world.

Another breed of draft horse from Belgium is called the Arden.

It belongs to a very ancient variety of horses. Despite their relatively small height - about sixty meters, these horses are distinguished by their remarkable strength and endurance. These horses owe their name to the mountainous regions of the Ardennes, which are located on the Belgian-French border. In order to increase size and improve working qualities, Ardennes began to be crossed with Brabançons in the nineteenth century. Historical fact: It was horses of this breed that took part in the fighting in Napoleon’s army and in the battles of the First World War.

English Shire

This is the most popular breed of draft horse in the UK. The homeland of these animals is the central regions of England. These tall horses are distinguished by their slowness and enormous physical strength.

Many representatives of this breed weigh about a ton, and their height at the withers varies from one meter seventy to one meter ninety centimeters, making them the largest horses in the world.

The history of the appearance of this breed is not reliably known. Experts only know for sure that their ancestors were large knightly horses that took part in medieval knightly campaigns. Already a three-year-old Shire can carry a load that is five times their own weight! Despite the fact that horse-drawn transport and live draft power have been replaced almost everywhere by machinery (tractors and trucks), these powerful animals are still widely popular. Especially often, such horses can be found at various exhibitions and show programs that are constantly taking place in European countries.

France also has something to boast about in terms of large breeds of horses. French draft horses are called Percherons. Experts call them the most “graceful” heavy trucks in the world. The first Percheron stallion to become a world celebrity was named Jean de Blanc. The year of his birth is 1830. Interestingly, the father of this mighty horse was an Arabian stallion named Gallipolo.

Percheron

It is not for nothing that Percherons are considered the most beautiful among all heavy trucks. A considerable amount of the blood of Arabian horses flows in the veins of these horses, which makes their exterior beautiful and memorable. Obtained through long and painstaking breeding work, this breed was widely used for both agricultural and military purposes. Breeding work with horses of this breed is carried out not only in their homeland, but also in other countries of the world.

Modern Percherons have an average height at the withers of about 162 centimeters, and some representatives grow up to one meter and seventy-two centimeters.

Domestic breeds of heavy trucks

The most famous horses in Russia are the breed of horses called Russian draft horses.

Its breeding began at the end of the nineteenth century by crossing Belgian Ardennes with Russian draft horses. The first “Russian Arden” was presented to the general public at an exhibition in Paris in 1900. And immediately a stallion named Karavai, bred at the Khrenovsky stud farm, received the highest score and the first award here.

The official registration of this horse breed took place in 1952, more than half a century after their first appearance. Despite the rather small average height at the withers (only one and a half meters), these Russian heroic horses are distinguished by their extreme physical strength. This is the largest horse breed in our country.

The horse breeding of the Russian Federation also did not ignore heavy horses. Another domestic heavy-duty breed is the Soviet heavy-duty breed. During its creation, the blood of Percherons, Ardens and Russian draft bityugs was used. These animals differ from their ancestors in having a drier constitution and greater mobility.

The maximum height at the withers of the Soviet heavy truck is 170 centimeters, and the maximum weight is about a thousand kilograms.

These animals are considered a fairly young breed of heavy trucks.

There are also such large horses in Russia as the Vladimir draft horses. Domestic breeders bred them by crossing English Shires and Scottish Clydesdales with local breeds of draft horses. Average height Vladimir horses - 165 centimeters. The average body weight is approximately seven hundred and sixty kilograms.

On this moment The largest horse known to horse breeders is the great stallion named Sampson from the English Shire breed, who was born in England in 1846.