On the farm (13) : Ardennes Draft Horse

On the farm (13) : Ardennes Draft Horse

The Ardennes Draft Horse (also known as the Ardenner) belongs to the world famous Belgian draft horse breeds and is the ancestor of most draft horses in Europe (its history reaches even back to Ancient Rome !)

The animal was and is primarily and historically bred in the region of the abundant forested Belgian Ardennes (a low mountain range), hence its name.

Even in our high-tech society, this draft horse is regularly used for work in forestry, especially in very dense forest areas.
With their heavy muscling, tireless Ardenners are often used for dragging trees out of the forest in places that tractors can not reach or would cause too much damage to the fragile soil.

In the war (1812) between the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte and Russia, 13000 of his horses did not survive due to the icy harsh weather conditions.
However, the Ardenners were so strong that none of them died and they all survived the military expedition.

Dutch name : Ardenner
German name : Ardenner
Latin name : Equus caballus