Belgian Draft Horse in Dressage?
February 11th, 2009 | by drafthorse |
Bre asked:
Could a Belgian DRAFT Horse (not Belgian warmblood), if given the right training and time, be used for dressage above the lower levels? I’ve seen a Fjord do higher level dressage as well as a Percheron. I know Belgians don’t necessarily have the natural talent like a warmblood, but could they still perform a piaffe or passage or half-pass or anything upper-level if given the proper training and lots of patience and time?
ROYAL
Could a Belgian DRAFT Horse (not Belgian warmblood), if given the right training and time, be used for dressage above the lower levels? I’ve seen a Fjord do higher level dressage as well as a Percheron. I know Belgians don’t necessarily have the natural talent like a warmblood, but could they still perform a piaffe or passage or half-pass or anything upper-level if given the proper training and lots of patience and time?
ROYAL
7 Responses to “Belgian Draft Horse in Dressage?”
By <3 Gypsy Vanner <3 on Feb 14, 2009 | Reply
of course if ponys can carry fully grown men and shetlands can pull like double if nt triple their weight then i dont see y not!
he might need more training and time than others but i dont see y not?!
go for it. film it den post it or send it id love 2 see it!
this clip its bout half way through but….it goes to show..you stand a chance!
watch it please. it will give ur answer of yes!
6year old belgian mare. if she can do it so can you. =]
xox
By Mulereiner on Feb 15, 2009 | Reply
The difference between belgiums and perch’s other than color is their body type. Perch’s tend to be leaner, leggier and belgiums tend to be more box like and stout.
All horses can benefit from dressage, but as far as crossing over and really reaching under themselves for extensions, your horse may have problems.
I have seen some boxy wheel horses and some leggy lead belgiums.. so it also depends on the build of your horse.
I would just try it, you aren’t going to hurt anything by trying.
If you get a piaffe.. I want a video
By Ponygirl on Feb 18, 2009 | Reply
I have an English Belgian draft horse (It is a slightly smaller than an American Belgian) in training now. He has a lovely walk and balanced trot, I have him working in a mullen mouth happy mouth bit. He can canter about 4 strides now sort of balanced, then he drops in front and runs because he has lost his balance. So, we only canter 5 strides, which is 3 strides farther than we were doing 3 months ago.
In the 8 months I have had this guy, his muscling has begun to change. Belgian Drafts have heavy shoulders and somewhat slight rumps. It has taken all that time to both get some topline built, and some muscle in the ****. He still has the slightly rotated pelvis that causes him to have difficulty getting his back legs “under himself” so he can balance to canter.
Basically, draft horses aren’t built to canter. It’s hard for them do do something other than gallop, and it’s probably going to take a couple years to get some balance going sufficient enough to do training level dressage, and I don’t see first level in my guys future.
If the horse you are looking at can kind of do a western lope, and not a cartwheeling canter, you might have a chance.
By Horses5 on Feb 18, 2009 | Reply
probably not there too heavy weighted
By Wayfarer on Feb 19, 2009 | Reply
I’ve seen a Clydesdale (usually a vaulting horse) doing second level. And I’ve seen Belgian/TB crosses (popular sporthorse crosses in some parts of this country) do it for eventing at least.
The piaffe and passage and other highly collected movements might be the hardest on them, they don’t typically have the leg structure to make that easy. The angles at which the draft horse bones come together (better designed for better pulling) and the amount of weight borne by the joints just aren’t ideal for the really springy, high tension, movements. They can do it with a lot of patience and conditioning and encouragement and training, but they will tire of it more easily and doing it a lot could cause them to break down faster.
By Kashmir on Feb 19, 2009 | Reply
Although not entirely out of the question, draft horses are genetically pre-disposed for longer pasterns- it is what gives them the ability to pull such heavy loads- but it can also limit their dressage/jumping ability. It’s generally why they’re crossed with TBs or other lighter horses. However, you might find some luck, it’s not like it hasn’t been done before, but I wouldn’t expect any draft to get to prix st. george or grand prix or anything.
good luck though, I would love to see an upper level dressage draft!!!
By ewolfbalto on Feb 19, 2009 | Reply
It is possible for any horse to perform such movements. However, with Belgians and any draft horse or draft-cross, the extended movements might not be as good as the European warmbloods. The draft horse has different kind of shoulder than that of the warmbloods.
Just compare the shoulders of these big guys:
to this guy:
The Belgians’ shoulder is very straight and has very little slope. This was developed as a way to strength when the horses would be working in the field. Have you ever been to a draft pulling contest? When the horse pulls it takes small paddle-like steps, which gives it more power than lets say taking a big a stride as possible, and it saves energy so the horse can pull heavy objects for a long period of time. And if you’ll notice, the warmblood has a sloping shoulder, which allows in to really pick up his feet and stretch out his legs that a draft horse naturally couldn’t really do.
But all in all, a draft horse could easily beat out a fancy, expensive warmblood in a dressage any day. I have a Belgian/TB mare that almost always ends up in the top five in recognized competitions against professionals and people training under professionals and their fancy, expensive warmbloods!