German Draft Horses - Hard Worker With A Gentle Soul

German Draft horses are real "gems" amongst heavy horses.
Their origin is the farmland and the woodlands of different regions in Germany. They have been bred for hundreds of years for the heavy work in the fields and woods.

Farmers bred them for their needs: they wanted strong, durable, healthy and long-living, good natured horses.
With the use of tractors some breeds disappeared already, others survived just.
Nowadays a lot of people discover old heavy breeds upon their versatility again.

The Black Forest Horse or Schwarzwaelder Fuchs

This is a very good natured and versatile horse with a history dating back to the 14th century. It is one of the ancient native German drafthorse breeds. Its origin is in the Black Forest, a hilly, rough region in Baden-Wuerttemberg, in the Southwest of Germany.
It resembles a bit the Haflinger because of its haircolour and farmers of that region created the term "Perl of the Black Forest" meaning that it is a beautiful and very gentle, elegant and positive natured, hard working horse.

It is a very strong and durable draft horse with a strong neck, a short back and strong legs. The usual hair colour is sorrel with light mane and tail, and many of them are dark silver dapple, the so called "Kohlfuchs". Its bodysize is 15 - 16 h.h. and it weighs about 500 - 600 kg.
The Black Forest Horse is a very fertile horsebreed. It is easy to keep and long-lived.
This representer of German draft horses has got a lovely positive and lively nature, a good character and is very versatile.

The population of this German drafthorse breed decreased scaringly during the mechanization of agriculture and especially the state stud Marbach in Gomadingen/Baden-Wuerttemberg is actively saving the breed. They have got this year (2007) 21 stallions available for breeding! This German breed gains more and more on popularity as it makes a superb driving horse and can also be used under the saddle.

More Heavy Horse Breeds