Brabant heavy horse

This is a Brabant heavy horse, giving a demonstration of timber hauling.

The Brabant is also known as the Belgian Heavy Draught, being an ancient horse breed with a pure bloodline. It is noted for its muscular neck, powerful shoulders, compact body and short legs. It is known to be easy-going and amiable. Standing at 16-17 hands and weighing about a ton, the Brabant was traditionally used as a draught horse on farms, but numbers have fallen drastically with the growth of mechanisation.

However, heavy horses now have a new role to play as they have been found to be ideal for use in forests when tree trunks need to be transported along narrow forest paths or across terrain where the use of vehicles is impractical. A horse such as this can haul a ton weight across level ground and remove 25 tons of timber during a working day.

Needing no fuel other than food, and producing nothing more offensive than manure at the other end, the future of heavy horses for forestry use seems assured, given that they cause no damage and can access all sorts of difficult places.

© John Welford