The longest horse in the world. The largest horse in the world

Noticeable, fleet-footed, elegant, but at the same time hardy, strong and powerful, a real giant and heavyweight among his relatives. Weighing up to 2 tons and growing up to 3 meters. The biggest horse in the world, who is it?

Everyone knows the sweet, kind little ponies - from young to old, but almost no one has seen the antipode of these tiny horses - real giants of the equestrian world, horses of gigantic size, descendants of knightly war horses and favorites of Russian heroes. Shire horses can rightfully be considered the owners of all the above-mentioned advantages.

Breed: English draft horses. It was bred in Great Britain by crossing geldings and Flanders with ordinary mares. Because of their power and stature, shires were used mainly in military and military affairs, and only a few years later they began to be used as ordinary ones, as well as in agricultural matters.

The ancestor of modern shires was a gelding with the strange name Packington Blind Horse. In the stud book of the Shire breed, published in 1878, the animal is recorded as a Shire horse. Unfortunately, it still remains unknown whether the stallion was really blind, or whether his nickname was just a figment of the owner’s irrepressible imagination. In the 80s of the 19th century, this breed was called the “English draft”, and horses began to be called shires much later.

Shires were actively used in farming and plowing land, but with the development of civilization, the construction of asphalt and cobblestone roads, and the advent of stagecoaches, horses began to be actively used as draft horses. During the same period, breeder Robert Bakeville crossed Shires and Friesians, which significantly influenced the future development of the breed. After this experiment, this breed became more flexible, resilient and fast, despite its bulk. This breed is characterized by a large, wide, powerful back and chest, the same rump, but the main distinguishing feature is the “hairy stockings” on the front and rear hooves - the frieze.

List of giants' horses

History has preserved many nicknames for horses that can be called giants without a twinge of conscience, even among their fellow breeders.

So, the largest horse in the world is a Belgian stallion named Big Jake, who was awarded an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. This is a giant among giants. His height from the ground to the tips of his ears is 217 centimeters, and he weighs like a jeep - 2600 kg. At the moment, the horse has crossed the eleven-year mark. Today, Big Jake gives paid performances around the world and is the star of the Ronald McDonald House Foundation television talk show. Profits from the giant's performances go to charity.

Remington

Until 2010, Big Jake's predecessor was a Shire horse from Texas (USA) named Remington. The handsome man's height reached two meters.

Dr. Le Ger

But in the 1910s, the title of the largest horse in the world was held by a Percheron stallion named Doctor Le Ger. The “French” reached a height of 213 centimeters and weighed, like a small family pickup truck, about 1400 kg.

When talking about the largest horse in the world, one cannot fail to mention the handsome Duke. Today he lives in the UK, reaches a height (according to the latest data) of 207 cm, and continues to grow at a very good pace - 8 cm per year, according to the owner. So Duke has every chance of taking the championship from Big Jake in the near future.

The secret of Duke's power lies in his special diet, which the horse's owners prefer not to disclose, only mysteriously hinting that they feed the animal with special varieties of apples and herbal infusion. Any horse can envy the appetite of this “machine”. Duke eats 8 kg per day. grains, drinks about 100 liters of water and, like every Briton, loves tea. A stallion drinks about 2 liters of this drink per day.

Despite his colossal size, Duke is quite cowardly. He is very afraid of tiny mice, but is friendly with other horses.

By

Full namesake of the famous mystical writer Edgar Allan Poe. But the owner decided not to bother with her pet’s long name and shortened it to a simple “Po.” Record holder for growth. Poe is as much as three meters tall and weighs almost 1.4 tons! On a day, Poe eats 5 kilos of grain and drinks 75 liters of water.

Sampson

The Shire named Sampson, born in 1846 in Bedforshire in England, can also be called the largest horse in the world. For his four-year-old age, he was a giant among horses - height 220 centimeters and weight 1.4 tons. Now he was surpassed only by Big Jake in weight, and by Poe in height, but at that time he had no competitors.

Speaking about the largest horse in the world, one cannot fail to mention the stallion named Noddy. This handsome Shire has already celebrated his fifth anniversary, and today has grown to 2 meters 5 centimeters in height.

Digger

And the last horse that is worth mentioning on this list is a stallion named Digger, 2 meters 2 centimeters tall and 1200 kilograms of live weight. Now the animal is five years old, and he may well grow up. Digger's daily diet is 75 liters of water and about 30 kilograms of hay.

Video: The largest horse in the world

Igor Nikolaev

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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. Knightly 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 vehicle cannot pass, 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 breed is very popular in 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 human 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 selection work, this breed was widely used both for agricultural needs and for 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. The average height of Vladimir horses is 165 centimeters. The average body weight is approximately seven hundred and sixty kilograms.

At the 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.

One of the largest breeds of horses can be safely classified as shire .

A long time ago, there was a need to transport non-lifting loads. How heavy the knights were in their iron armor. The knight's horses were nicknamed destrie. Their height exceeded two meters, and their weight was more than a ton.

Horses of the Middle Ages are the ancestors of our modern heavyweights, such as French Pcherons, English Shires and Belgian Brabançons. Today, such heavyweights are very useful in agricultural work. They are engaged in transporting goods and plowing lands.

2nd place

Brabarson This is the most powerful horse breed in the world. Their weight can reach up to a ton, and their height reaches up to a meter and ten centimeters. They grow very quickly and also develop quickly. They are especially popular in areas of North America.

3rd place

Arden – the breed is one of the most ancient. Their height does not reach above the mark of one meter sixty-five centimeters. Their breed comes from the borders of Belgium and the borders of France. To improve the breed, in the nineteenth century they were transfused with the blood of Brabançons. They were also popular with Napoleon's army, and were present in the First World War.

4th place

Percheron

This is a large breed of French horse. This breed of horse began to be considered the most graceful among all heavyweights. The first most famous was Jean de Blanc, a Percheronian stallion. Which was born in 1830.

For a long time they were instilled with Arabian blood, so there are many horses with Arabian blood in the breed. The resulting breed became popular both for military purposes and for rural work.

The height of a representative of this breed is no more than one hundred and seventy-two centimeters.

5th place

Russian heavy trucks

At the end of the century before last, the heavy Russian breed began to appear. By crossing the Ardennes with harness horses, Russian heavyweights began to emerge. The Russian Ardenne appeared at the Paris Exhibition in 1900. One of those representing Russia at the exhibition, nicknamed Karavai, received the highest award. The breed was officially registered in 1952. The heavyweight is over one and a half meters tall, but he stands out for his special strength.

The Soviet heavy truck is one of the Russian breeds. The breed was created after crossing Brabarson stallions with traction horses. It differed from the Braborsons in that the horses were smaller, but moved faster. Height up to one hundred and sixty centimeters, weight no more than a thousand kilograms.

The largest horse in the world

Among all the horses of different breeds, the Shire is considered the largest. The horse was born in England in 1846. His name was Sampson. When he was no more than two years old, they began to call him a mammoth. His height reached two meters twenty-two centimeters, he weighed one thousand five hundred and thirty kilograms. No matter how much I would like to see him, unfortunately there is no photo left with his image.

Large breeds of horses include massive and strong draft horses. The most common are shires, Brabançons and Percherons have long been known, younger breeds were bred in Russia.

Large horse breeds

Medieval war horses are the progenitors of such modern heavy horses as the French Percherons, powerful English Shires and the widespread Belgian Brabançons. Today, heavy trucks are used in agriculture. They help in transporting goods and plowing land. In England they can be seen at parades, where they ceremoniously pull brewery promotional vans.

Belgian Draft and Arden

Arden is a very ancient breed. Height usually does not exceed one meter and sixty centimeters. Representatives of the breed come from the mountainous regions of the Ardennes (border between Belgium and France). To improve the breeds, an influx of Brabançon blood was introduced in the nineteenth century. It is known that the Ardennes were used by Napoleon's troops in the First World War.

Shire

Nothing is known for certain about the appearance of the breed, except that these horses are clearly descendants of the “big horses” on which medieval knights made campaigns. Already at the age of three years, they are able to pull a load that is five times their weight. Despite the fact that tractors and trucks have now replaced heavy trucks, shires are still popular. Representatives of the breed can often be seen at shows and horse shows in Europe.

Percheron

There is a lot of Arabian blood in this breed, as it has been grafted for a long time. The resulting horse became popular and was used for both military purposes and agricultural work. Breeding work was carried out with Percherons in several countries.

The height of a modern representative of this breed is no more than one hundred and seventy-two centimeters, but on average the height at the withers is about one hundred and sixty-two centimeters.

Heavy Russian horse breeds

Another Russian breed of heavy trucks is the “Soviet heavy truck.” It was obtained by crossing Brabançon stallions imported from Belgium with draft horses of different origins (crosses of Bityugi, Percherons and Ardennes). The resulting breed differed from Brabançons in that it was much drier, more agile and smaller. The height of the representative of the “Soviet heavy truck” is up to one hundred and seventy centimeters, and the weight does not exceed a thousand kilograms.

The Vladimir heavy truck was also bred in Russia. He was obtained by crossing representatives of English Shires and Scottish Clydesdales with his local horses. With a height of one hundred and sixty-five centimeters, the weight is on average seven hundred and sixty kilograms.

The largest horse in the world The record holder among all the horses known in the world is considered to be a heavy draft horse of the Shire breed, which was born in 1846 in England. His name is Sampson. At the age of four they began to call him “Mammoth.” The champion's height reached two meters and twenty centimeters; he weighed one thousand five hundred and twenty kilograms. Unfortunately, there is not a single photograph of this giant. Cricket Cracker is the biggest horse in the world today

The modern record horse is a heavy draft horse of the Shire breed, living in England in the county of Lincolnshire. The stallion is sixteen years old. His nickname is Cracker. The stallion's head is above the ground at a height of more than two meters, the height at the withers is a little more than one hundred and ninety-eight centimeters. Cracker's weight is one ton two hundred kilograms.

Meanwhile, another breed - the Przewalski's horse is considered one of the rarest species on Earth. .
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It is known that horses are not particularly fragile animals. But even among the horses there are real giants who, despite their impressive height, have no less impressive weight. It is worth noting that there are simply big horses, and there are record holders.

Who is bigger

Now there are several thousand horse breeds, but they are divided into 3 main categories:

1. Ornamental horses are animals bred through lengthy crossbreeding of breeds with a certain difference in appearance in order to create an animal with an attractive appearance, rather than strength and musculature.
2. Sports. The breeds were specially created for high speeds. Typically, runners have modest body sizes, but highly developed muscles.
3. Working horses or draft horses are a type of breed that is the progenitor of the other two. Initially, selection was carried out exclusively to create strong and hardy horses for working in the fields. Then the ancient hippologists began to be interested in speed.

It is not difficult to guess what type of breed the largest horse will belong to - heavy draft horses. Almost all representatives of this type have impressive body sizes, but among them there are also those whose photos adorn the pages of the Guinness Book of Records.

The largest breed of draft horses

There are more than a hundred breeds of heavy trucks in the world. Some were bred by experienced horse breeders, others appeared as a result of chaotic crossing of local breeds. The average weight of any heavy-duty stallion reaches 900 kg, and its height is 160 cm.

The differences between the breeds are minor, but most horse breeders from around the world agree that the largest horse breed in the world is the Shire. These animals not only performed the most difficult work in the field, but were also under the saddle of knights with halberds and heavy armor.

Interesting! Shire, nicknamed Samson-Mammoth, is still considered the absolute record holder in the world. The weight of the animal reached 1520 kg, and this with a height at the withers of 220 cm. A real Mammoth among horses.

What does the animal look like? He had a cream color from the cremello gene (Ccr), and his hands, head and tail were much darker. The stallion had a very soft and affectionate character. This is rightfully the largest and most beautiful horse in the world. The mammoth has long since passed away.
Every year new breeds of heavy trucks appear and are included in the Guinness Book of Records. What kind of horses are these?

Record breakers

The size of most record holders cannot be determined, since their difference from the “standard” of the breed is very large. The surprising thing is that such an anomaly occurs only in heavy-duty breeds.

The note! Initially, it was impossible to do without heavy trucks in agriculture. Now all the hard work is done by tractors and combines, which means that working horses began to be bred more for decorative purposes, although the proud name “working” is still applied to these breeds today.

The list of the 10 largest horses in the world will include stallions whose measurements have been documented.

10 largest horses in the world

Digger - Shire. Member of the Royal Horse Guards. His height is 196 cm. Digger’s weight is 1200 kg. This horse is included in the Guinness Book of Records because it continues to grow, although it is already 12 years old. Such abnormal development of the skeleton and muscle mass could not leave hippologists from all over the world indifferent to Digger.

Cracker - English stallion. The horse's height is 198 cm, and its weight is 1200 kg. The animal eats 2 bales of hay, several kilograms of grain and drinks up to 130 liters of water per day.

Brooklyn Supreme has a height of 198 cm, but the weight of the animal is as much as 1451 kg, which seems almost unrealistic given the height at the withers of the animal.

Nordram Lascombe is a Shire horse. Noddy's weight is as much as 1300 kg, and the horse's height is 205 cm. Not every rider can ride such a giant.

Gelding from Great Britain, nicknamed Duke became a record holder due to his enormous body height - 207 cm. Duke's weight exceeds 1310 kg, the animal has a bay color, and the absence of a mane is replaced by long and lush bangs.

Dr. Le Ger is a purebred Percheron. Throughout history, representatives of this breed have not even come close to the performance of the doctor from France. This Percheron reaches a weight at the withers of as much as 213 cm, and the horse’s weight is 1400. This is the largest horse in France in the entire history of horse breeding in the country.

A horse named Morocco at one time it was considered the largest animal in the world of horse breeding. The animal's height was 215 cm and its weight was approximately 1300 kg. Why approximately? A very meager amount of information and one photo in not the best quality have survived to this day about Morocco.

Belgian Gelding Big Jake ("Big Jake")- This is the standard of strength and endurance. The horse's height is 217 cm and its weight is 1600 kg. For the sake of this stallion's seed, hippologists from all over the world shell out thousands of dollars in order to take on the size of this giant.

He also went down in history with his enormous growth. The animal's height is 220 cm, and its weight reaches 1500 kg. He is lighter than Big Jake due to his exterior. Poe's body is much shorter.

Purebred Shire Samson. Oh no, already mentioned above. Due to his weight (1520 kg) and height (220 cm), he is an absolute record holder.

This is the top largest horses in the world. In order to achieve such results from animals, they are properly fed, customized diets are built, and hundreds of dollars a day are spent on maintaining such horses. It is precisely because of the high cost that in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus there are no record holders among horses, since in the CIS countries they are bred for industrial or sporting purposes.

Eventually

The Guinness Book of Records is regularly updated with new names of horses. One gets there as the largest horse in the world, a breed that is revered by most hippologists, another ran a long marathon without stopping, and the third showed the best speed result over a specific distance. And all this thanks to horse breeders, who, even despite (as often happens) unprofitability, still raise horses, since they have become part of their life.

Interesting! Of course, there is the biggest and smallest horse in the world. At the moment, the Belgian gelding Big Jake is considered the largest living record holder; his absolute opposite is the horse Einstein. This is the smallest foal in the history of horse breeding.

Einstein belongs to the Pinto breed, his height is 36 cm, and his weight is only 28 kg.
All horse records are divided into 3 categories: weight and height, speed and endurance, but the black stallion Frederick the Great received his own niche among the records of his fellow horses as the most beautiful horse in the history of horse breeding.

Now it has become known what the largest horse in the world is and how much the most fragile horse in the book of records weighs. But this is clearly far from the limit.