The Lithuanian Heavy Draught is a

draught horse A draft horse (US) or draught horse (UK), also known as dray horse, carthorse, work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred to be a working animal hauling freight and doing heavy agricultural tasks such as plough, plowing. There are a nu ...

breed created in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

during the 19th and 20th centuries. They are used mainly for heavy draught and farm work, as well as meat production and the improvement of other breeds. The breed is currently near extinction..

History

The Lithuanian Heavy Draught was created during the late 19th century by crossing local Zhmud mares with

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

Percheron The Percheron is a horse breed, breed of draft horse that originated in the Huisne river valley in western France, part of the former Perche province, from which the breed takes its name. Usually gray (horse), gray or black (horse), black in col ...

, Brabant, and other heavy breeds. The breeding was overseen by the Lithuanian Society for Breeding Work and Driving Horses beginning in 1894. In 1923 additional heavy horses were imported from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to re-establish the breed following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and in 1925, 2000, and 2001 additional Ardennes horses were imported from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

."Lithuanian Heavy"
. ''AgroWeb Lithuania''. Referenced February 4, 2008. Initially, Lithuanian Heavy Draughts were included into herd books as Ardennes crossbreds. A breed-specific herd book was issued from 1951 to 1996. The herd books for Lithuanian Heavy Draughts are now issued by the Lithuanian Horse Breeders Association, with purebred Lithuanian Draughts identified by their colour, conformation, and markings. In 1964 there were 62,000 Lithuanian Heavy Draughts in Lithuania. Recently, there has been a dramatic decrease in the breed population, with stallion numbers declining and breeding and working conditions deteriorating. Currently, the breed is close to extinction, with less than 1000 horses thought to exist as of 2003."Lithuanian Heavy Draft/Lithuania"
''Domestic Animal Diversity Information System''. Referenced February 4, 2008.

Characteristics

The Lithuanian Heavy Draught generally stands 15 to 16 hands high, and may be

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

or roan. Overall the breed is large and solid. The head is well-proportioned with a straight profile and heavy jaw. The neck is short, muscular, and arched, the

withers Withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, catt ...

broad and moderately pronounced and the chest wide, deep and muscular. The back is long, and generally straight, although it can be slightly dipped, and the

croup Croup ( ), also known as croupy cough, is a type of respiratory infection that is usually caused by a virus. The infection leads to swelling inside the trachea, which interferes with normal breathing and produces the classic symptoms of "bar ...

rounded, long and muscled. The legs are short, solid, and muscular with broad, strong joints and well-formed hooves. Defects occasionally shown include a coarse head and an excessively dipped back."Lithuanian Heavy Draught"
. ''Oklahoma State University''. Referenced February 4, 2008.Bongianni, Maurizio. ''Simon & Schuster's Guide to Horses and Ponies''. 1988, pg. 114.

Uses

The Lithuanian Heavy Draught is used mainly for heavy draught and farm work. In Lithuania draught capacity testing began in 1857, and since 2002 the Lithuanian Horse Breeders Association has taken over the responsibility of heavy horse testing. Recently, more have begun to be exported for meat. They are also used to improve other breeds. When crossed with native Altai horses, they improved the meat and milk yield and also increased the weight, growth rate, and ability to withstand year-round grazing conditions.

References

{{reflist Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Lithuania