Horse Breed and Color of the Day!

Horse Breed of the Day! 

The Russian Heavy Draft! Oh, this beautiful coldblood is gorgeous! Its head almost looks Arabian, thanks to the breeding of Orlov Trotter blood, with a body that almost looks more Cob than draft horse. They have a little feathering on their fetlocks, sturdy hooves, and lush manes and tails. They can be in colors strawberry roan and chestnut, as well as sorrel and chocolate.

They are 14.2 to 14.3 hands high, which is very TINY for a coldblood! They originated in Ukraine and was known as the Russian Ardennes until the 1920s, and then it started to be registered as the Russian Heavy Draft. I don't know about you, but "Heavy Draft" doesn't really fit this breed, LOL 

Russian Heavy Drafts have a very thick, arched neck and a high crest. They look much like a Welsh Cob but heavier, shorter, and "coldbloodier." 

At stud, Russian Heavy Draft stallions can be used for breeding until 20 YEARS OLD and over!! 

Unlike other breeds, Russian Heavy Drafts mature early, meaning  they reach nearly their maximum height at only 18 months old.  This can be very helpful, as it means a young two or three year old can already be used for whatever it needs to be used for. They live long, and mares can produce good milk. 

Horse Color of the Day! 

Let's do chestnut to follow up with sorrel. 

Chestnut is a coppery, golden, or red-brown horse with usually the same color mane and tail. There are liver chestnuts, which are rich chocolate or purplish horses with flaxen or copper manes. 

Chestnut can have flaxen manes, but a blond one usually indicates it is a sorrel. 

Chestnut is a beautiful color, and it is a recessive color, meaning that when bred, it passes its color trait on, but dominant colors can override it. Bay and gray are the two most dominant colors, and if you breed a bay with a chestnut, the offspring can be either bay or chestnut, while a gray and a chestnut almost always end up gray.

If a chestnut horse and a chestnut horse are bred together, the offspring will always be chestnut. 

Chestnut can be found in lots of breeds, most, actually. It is a solid color, so it ranges very wildly. It can also be found in broken colors like spotted and pinto. Chestnuts sometimes can have darker manes and tails, making them look bay, but they really are chestnut. A friend of mine used to raise and compete on Arabians. I saw one of their horses, a charming chestnut gelding, and thought it a bay, when it was really a chestnut with a dark mane and tail.