Rare and elegant heavy horses

THE Heavy Horse Village is the place where visitors can get up close to the horses and talk to the exhibitors about how they are preparing their animals.

The horses will cover many of the heavy horse breeds, including the very rare Suffolk punch whose numbers are now fewer than 500.

It is the smallest of the draft-horse breeds, which originated in Suffolk and is descended from the medieval “great horse”. Suffolks are unusually compact and rotund, with thick, short necks, legs and backs. They are docile but powerful and weighs from 1,600lb to 2,000lb. They are always chestnut-coloured.

The shire draft horse, the largest breed of heavy horse native to the UK, will also be present and the breed descended from the English “great horse” which carried men in full battle armour that often weighed as much as 400lb.

Shires weigh as much as 2,000lb and are generally coarse in build and characterised by lots of hair, called feather, on their legs and are usually bay, brown, black, grey or chestnut in colour.

There will also be the magnificent horses from Europe with the Comtois draft horses that originated in the Jura Mountains on the border between France and Switzerland.

The Comtois horse was used to pull carriages, for the cavalry (dragoons), for artillery and other draft uses. Now they are used in areas such as forest logging and work in vineyards. They have a calm disposition, a great deal of energy and elegance.

The Comtois horse can be bay or a dark or coppery chestnut colour with a light mane and a small mark on the head and can weigh anything between 1,430lb and 1,760lb.

Visitors are welcome to come and learn more about these wonderful creatures and watch the horses being plaited and braided during preparation for their entrance to the grand parade in the Main Ring at 12.45pm.