RARE BREEDS TRUST OF AUSTRALIA
powered by TidyHQHorses: Belgian Draught
Horses: Belgian Draught
Country of Origin
Indiana, North America; developed from the breed from Belgium.
Australian Status
International Status
Recovering/Safe; the most popular draught horse in America.
Uses
Draught uses: ploughing, harvesting, timber carting, harness
Breed traits
A good-natured draught of 16 plus hands. In fact Zeus, the tallest horse in the world at one point (he died in 2014) at over 21 hands was a Belgian Draught. Characteristics:
- Active and four square, not cow hocked like a plough breed.
- Some feather but not as much as a Clydesdale or Shire.
- Common colours are 'blonde, sorrel, roan with light points, chestnuts' (from the BDHCA site). Bay, grey, black, brown, roan with black points were once seen, but are rare now. The light colours are a hallmark of the breed now.
- Upright neck/head carriage.
History
Originally from Belgium where they are also known as Trait Belge, these strong horses went to America in the nineteenth century and were popular with the Amish as well as other farmers. The Belgian horses in their country of origin are heavier than the American lines. In the past in Australia and elsewhere, they were called the Flanders or Flemish draughts. The old Flemish breed contributed to the development of the Clydesdale and other English draughts.
The Belgian Draught became very popular in the USA, with the first probably taken to New York in 1625 by the Dutch East India Company.
The first studbook was started in Indiana USA and registered both imported Belgians and those bred in North America. The advantages of the breed in America were often written up in USA publications. The Americans liked a strong active, powerful and adaptable draught in response to the heavy work of pioneering agriculture.
History in Australia
A few Belgians, called Flemish Draughts at that time, came to Australia via England in colonial days. In 1827 a "famous imported Flemish draught horse named “Black Jack" was stabled at Clarendon, the notable grazing property of James Cox, in Tasmania (then Van Diemen's Land), which property is now a National Trust property. Two imported stallions and three mares followed, arriving in Hobart in 1829. A Flemish stallion was sold in Adelaide in 1849. In 1860 the Woolnorth property in Tasmania advertised a Flemish stallion at stud, also noting that they owned an imported mare.
No doubt others, including subsequent imports from England, came in those early days that aren't recorded. Tasmania had a lively horse trade to the mainland in colonial days and some Flemish blood went into those horses. In 1848 it was reported crosses of blood horses to Flemish horses from Australia sold well in India. In 1849 a Flemish mare was sold in Adelaide. The breed was never widely used in Australia.
In more recent times, Marlie Draught Horse Stud (https://marliedraughthorsestud.com/) imported a stallion (Wondersprings Rubis Jim) from Cortland, New York to Australia in 1982. Later, Carbery Estate Stud (https://carberycarriageandharness.com/449690615.html) imported another chestnut stallion (L.A. Millies Marquis) from the USA.
The Australian Draught horse owes some of its genetics to the Belgian Draught. The Australian Draught was developed in the 1800s through the cross-breeding of the Clydesdale, Pecheron, Suffolk and the Shire. Belgian genes were included post the Great Depression of the 1930s with the Australian Draught Horse and Stud Book Society (ADHSBS) subsequently formed in 1978.
Breed Organisation
None found in Australia. The Belgian Draft Horse Corporation of America is the breed body in the country of origin, beginning in 1887; they have a website http://www.belgiancorp.com/.
Australian Population
2017: Mares 5; Stallions 5
2022: Mares 6; Stallions 1
2025: Mares 3; Stallions 1
Additional Notes
Some lines of Belgian Draught carry JEB - Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa - the new name for the disease once called E.I. (Epitheliogenesis Imperfecto) or hairless foal. Foals lose hair after being born, sicken and die from 3 to 8 days old. There is a test for this, to ascertain whether a stallion or mare is a carrier or non-carrier.
Photo credit
Photo from the blog by Denzil 'Discovering Belgium - The rise and fall of the Belgium Draught.'
Page by Janet Lane
Updated 2022 Janet Lane
Updated 2026
