Latvian Harness Horse (Heavy type)
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Latvian breed, despite having been established only since 1952, has ancient ancestry. Descended from the original stock that produced the European heavy horses—the prehistoric Forest Horse of Northern Europe—the Latvian is closely related to the Dole Gudbrandsdal, the North Swedish Horse, and other draft horses. During the 17th century, the Latvian had German riding horse, Thoroughbred, and Arabian blood added to it, but the most influential breeds on the Latvian have been the Hanoverian, the Oldenburg, and the Holstein.
From the 1920s until the 1940s, there was an especially large amount of Oldenburg blood infused, and 42 mares and 65 stallions were imported from the Groningen stud in Holland. Hanoverian, Norfolk Roadster, Oldenburg part-breds, East Friesian, and Ardennes blood was then added.
There are three types of Latvian horse: the Heavy Latvian Harness Horse, the Standard Latvian and the lightweight Latvian Horse. The Heavy Latvian is a heavy draft most close to the original type established. It possesses great strength and pulling power. The riding type is much more popular than the heavy type, which is now rarely seen.
The breed is a middleweight type, with a rather large head set to a muscular, elegant neck. The shoulders are nicely sloping and powerful, the chest broad and deep, the hindquarters muscular, and the legs short and strong with good joints and hard hooves. The breed tends to be prone to cow hocks, and ringbone is also occasionally seen more often than in most other breeds. The horses usually bay, although black and chestnut is also seen, and stand 15.3 to 16.1 hh.
