HORSES OF THE WORLD
| SUFFOLK
Origin: |
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History:
The Suffolk or Suffolk Punch was named after the East Anglian country. It
is Britain's oldest heavy breed with historical reference dating back to 1506. The Suffolk
was developed to work the very heavy clay soils of East Anglia.
All Suffolk horses trace back to the stallion Crisp's Horse of Ufford, foaled in 1760 and
were always bred true to color and conformation. The hind feet are set close together
preventing the horse from damaging crops when working in the field. Their enormous
strength made the Suffolk a favourite coach horse.
The Suffolk is
the most popular draught horse of all times combining a great temperament with enormous
strength, soundness, early maturity, longevity and being economical to keep. The breed can
also be seen in the United States, Australia, Africa and Russia. In Pakistan they were
used to produce horses for the army.
Characteristics:
roundly modelled, pleasant appearance
Head: fairly large head; broad forehead; full, bright eyes;
active ears
Neck: deep, powerful, arched, clean cut at throat
Shoulders: long, very strong, muscular, often upright; depth
and thickness from the withers to the leg
Body: deep, well rounded, heavy body; long quarters,smooth to
the root of the tail; the ribs spring high from backbone; hip bones wide apart
Legs: short, straight limbs; plenty of bone; strong, muscular
forearms and thighs; sloping pasterns; no feather
Feet: medium sized, hard, sound; hind feet are set close
together
Mane and Tail: occasionally pale in color
Color: chesnut (without the middle t) in seven recognized
shades from pale mealy to almost brown; most common is a bright reddish shade; sometimes
white face markings
Height: 16 to occasionally more than 17hh
Maturity: matures early; able to do light work at two and
full work at three years of age; lives to almost 30 years
Temperament: good, gentle, willingness to work
Qualities: extremely strong; great endurance; thrives on
smaller feed rations than other heavy working horses; inner determination to push
on; matures early; very sound; longevity
Today:
The Suffolk survived to mechanisation and can still be seen at shows,
pulling drays and occasionally working the land.
