Lithuanian Heavy Draft

Origin: Lithuania.

Color: Commonly chestnut, although bays, sorrels, roans, blacks, and grays also occur.

Avg Height: 15 to 15.3 hh

Avg Weight: 1970 to 2030 lbs

Build: This breed is a strong, massively built animal, with a thick, arched neck, a long, deep, broad body, rounded, drooping croup, and short, powerful legs carrying some feather. There is also a finer, narrower, but taller type of horse of this breed, having a light head and a comparatively short body.

Temperament: Calm and good-natured.

Main use: Farm work and city transport.

Special abilities: The animals do not require much feed and mares are good milkers. The animals show excellent gaits, a high endurance as well as strength and working capacity.

History: Composite of Zemaitukai with Arab, Ardennes, Brabancon and Shire developed from 1879 onwards. The Lithuanian Heavy Draft was used for breed development and improvement in Altai, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. It was based on the native Zhmud. This small, hardy horse was crossed with various breeds, including (from about 1918) the Finnish horse and the Swedish Ardennes, to produce larger horses of a heavier stamp. The resultant crossbreds were used in a long program of selective breeding that resulted in the emergence of a fixed type, officially registered in 1963. The Lithuanian Heavy Draft is similar in origins and build to the Latvian Harness Horse.