I should add, that sort of like dog breeds, you can find old fashioned types in the draft world. But they are not in fashion. Here are my two, deliberately chosen for the old style, and no surprise not registered.
They are absolutely massive! Why is that song running through my head? āI like big butts and I can not lieā¦ā
By the way, That is a lovely horse! Love the bay dapples.
On the other hand, they have their drawbacks: riding the gray is like riding a barrel crossed with a tank. And, he is useless when it gets too hot. There is a reason all the heavy draft breeds are from Northern Europe and not Northern Africa! Modern Shires are bred more and more for heavy riding horses not for farm work. And if the breed survives at all, it will be because of that trend. The increase in height also reflects an increase in the luxury versus necessity nature of horses: no one wants to throw a harness over an 18 hand horse every day, unless you either: have a groom or arenāt working all day. Draft horses from 1900 would have been closer to 16 hands, today 18+ is a selling point. The same is true of riding horses, 16 hands used to be BIG.
I do agree with other posters that there are a lot fewer trainwreck horses out there in terms of confirmation, which is a good thing, but there are also a lot fewer horses out there as well. There will be breeds that go extinct, the specialized types of horses are simply not needed today and horses are simply too expensive to have viable breeding populations of specialized types that are not popular. Kills me to say it, butā¦
Yeah, no. Her dogs do win in the show ring, and have for years, She also has been invited to judge puppy sweeps classes on multiple occasions. The JH titles are simply a way to prove that her āshow dogsā still have the proper instincts. She had nine dogs when she was instructing me on their conformation, (some were going to be retired soon). She pulled them each out and went over their strengths and weaknesses. The head I liked, the big blocky head, was incorrectly shaped, lacking the two parallel planes. She said that is what was currently winning in the ring.
These almost make me want to cry, having grown up in 4H. I swear I know all these horse and rider combos-- I was the girl who needed a quiet horse and got the raving lunatic.
Fair enough. I have JH titles on my dogs too. But there are a lot of ringside critics that are kennel blind to only their own breeding and/or against the ātop winningā dogs for various reasonsā¦and often those are because their own dogs are not very good.
That said, while a head may have some traits that are not exactly as stated in the standard, itās really unlikely they are entirely āincorrect.ā The judge chooses the dogs which fit the standard as they deem best, but there is never a time when even a single dog in the ring has no faults. And, Iād say for a breed like labs, there are usually a lot of good dogs in the ring every time.
Sadly, the Suffolk horse is also changed (I suspect by the illicit addition of some Percheron) and it is considerably taller and so less āpunchyā than it was in the mid 20th century. In the 1950s every farmer in Britain was being encouraged and pushed by the Government to modernize (food security was a big issue and rationing remained in place until 1953). Vets of my fatherās generation told me of going out to farms and shooting tens of draught horses as the replacement tractor arrived. Fortunately, some of those same vets became instrumental in the survival of the breeds. It was the show ring that shaped the modern horses, as height and yet more height won the prizes. Now, as people turn back to horse power, such a logging in environmentally sensitive sites, the horsemen complain about how unworkable the UK heavy horses have become and go off to Europe to buy more user-friendly breeds.
As to the picture of the handsome King of Spades, very happily the Australian fashion for shaving the tail off to the dock has almost disappeared again in Britain. Iām glad to see it go.
Correct me if Iām wrong, but I believe both AMHA & AMHR now recognize Stock-Type minis.
So there is a place for the more solidly-built mini.
The tinier, lightly-built horses are certainly not rideable*, but some could very well be driven. They are a lot stronger than they look!
*I am not in favor of any mini being ridden, unless itās leadline with a toddler.
Horses can pull a lot easier than they can handle a riderās weight.
Apologies to all whose kids are riding minis.
Gorgeous Shires!
Not often seen in my neck of the woods.
But when they do appear, not much different than your pics.
AND most often used for farmwork by the local Amish.
Agreed, not BAD, just purpose-bred.
The Belgian stands out in my area.
Hitch horses are bred for height (friend has a 19H ex-Wheeler - used in a 10-Horse hitch) & flashy movement for the Leaders.
Pulling horses are just massive in width, stockier all around.
Farm horses are more traditional - no exaggerated height or movement to waste energy getting frm work done.
a lot of the breeds we see as āriding horseā these days were farm horses in the 40s and 50s still, and Hannovarians were quite stout as well.
My 1982 model.
Pic from 1996-ish
I got asked if he was QHā¦ a lotā¦
No tattoo as he failed the Speed Test as a 2yo.
I honestly donāt know; I just remember her saying that the AMHA had āruined minisā by accepting/encouraging the delicate type of mini. They look like deer to me. 
My mini looks like a little bear. LOL.
Iām not exactly sure what she looks like.
Just kidding. Sheās 30 this year; maybe when she was younger and body clipped she looked like your mini.
Itās such a wonderful book. And yes, the horse descriptions have stayed with me all my life! They make you feel like you know the horses.
My impression was that the original standard was for the mini to look like a miniature horse. If you see a photo with the right background you think itās a light horse breed. These are actually really good for harness work and competitions like combined driving
Most minis especially backyard bred ones however more or less show signs of dwarfism. They have big heads and short legs. Some of course are actually deformed. These might look stouter but I think they are less athletic and useful than the true miniature horse type.
Edited to add: yes, the stock type mini in the video still above does look like a miniature horse, very nice.
First she must be breeding field dogs, and now she is a bitter breeder of crap dogs that canāt win? You really want to put your own spin on this donāt you?
Love the braid. I wish we could ban tail docking. I turned down a beautiful mare precisely because her tail was docked and told the breeder why, didnāt seem to make an impression though. Braid it up if it is in the way, there is no excuse for docking.
Funny you should mention logging! My old type Shires are exactly for that purpose. A 19 hand, leggy animal is a liability in the woods. In the US, a small dedicated group of breeders is breeding Suffolk Punches for logging and farmwork, and are trying to preserve the short, short heavy horse. I hope they have avoided the Percheron or modern Belgian influence.
Actual ādockingā, as in cutting off some of the actual bones in the tail, was banned in 1952 in Britain. The fashion in Australia is to shave off all the hair on the dock, leaving a strange bristly thing with a few wisps of hair at the top in which to fix the ribbons. As a child at the National Shire Horse Show I never saw it. Then every Shire in the country suddenly went naked and I was firmly told āItās traditionalā when I asked why. The splendid braided tail was at a show 2 weeks ago and all the heavy horses there had full tails, thank goodness.
Excellent news about the American Suffolk Horse Breeders.
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