Ardennes
The Ardennais is among the oldest draft breeds in Europe, from the Ardennes region spanning Belgium, France and Luxembourg.
Horses of this type were described in the region in Roman accounts, and the breed was used as artillery haulage by Napoleon's armies and through both world wars.
It stands 15.3 to 16 hands but weighs 700 to 1,000 kilograms — compact, immensely thick-set and heavily muscled, usually bay, roan or chestnut, with a kind expression and moderate feathering. It is still a working horse in forestry, where a horse can extract timber from ground that machinery would damage, and it is used for driving and, in parts of Europe, for meat.
- Origin
- Ardennes region of Belgium, France and Luxembourg
- Height
- 15.3–16 hands
- Lifespan
- 18–25 years
- Weight
- 700–1,000 kg — very heavy for its height
- Best known for
- Forestry work, draft and driving
- Health
- Chronic progressive lymphedema and PSSM1
2 ardennes photos, newest first
Living with a ardennes
Manage the lower legs from the start. Chronic progressive lymphedema is a persistent problem in the heavy feathered drafts: keep the feathers clipped or the legs scrupulously clean and dry, and inspect the skin underneath every few days.
PSSM1 appears in the breed. A horse that ties up, sweats and stiffens after light work should be tested; management is a low-starch, high-fat diet with consistent daily turnout.
They are extraordinarily easy keepers — bred to work hard on poor forage — and become obese on good grazing with alarming speed. Laminitis is the consequence.
They are calm and willing, which is what makes an animal of this weight workable, and they respond badly to being rushed.
Specialist farriery, every six to eight weeks.
General guidance, not veterinary advice. Individual horses vary, and anything about a specific animal is a question for a vet who has seen it.
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