Suffolk

The Suffolk is one of two British draft breeds that are clean-legged - that is without feathers.

It has been bred in the County of Suffolk since the early 1500’s. It has a history of being a fine work horse with exceptional strength. This draft horse matures early and enjoys a long life which has made it valuable to farmers. The Suffolk despite its large size is a very economical horse to keep as it can do very well on smaller rations than usually expected for a horse of its size.

Amazingly, all of the Suffolks in existence today can trace their lineage back to a single stallion foaled in 1760.

The Suffolk is always coloured chesnut (chestnut but with this breed spelled chesnut) with perhaps a little white on the face. Its head is big with a broad forehead. The ears are short. The neck is deep and tapers gracefully towards the head. The shoulders are long, strong and muscular. The body is large, deep and ribbed well from front to back. The legs are straight and short giving the impression of being small for a horse of this size. The knees are large. The hocks are clean with short cannons free from coarse hair. The feet are large with solid hooves without feather, this being an important quality for a horse working in fields of heavy clay.

The Suffolk’s action is good in both walking and trotting. It is known to be with few exceptions very docile.

The Suffolk ranges in height from 16 to 16.3 hands in height.