Suffolk Punch
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| Suffolk Punch | ||
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 Suffolk Punch horses |
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| Alternative names: | Suffolk | |
| Country of origin: | England | |
| Breed standards | ||
| Suffolk Horse Society (England): | Stds | |
| American Suffolk Horse Association (US): | Stds | |
The Suffolk Punch is an English breed of draft horse that dates back to the early 1500s. They are a heavy draft breed used in the past for farm work and pulling artillery, brewers' drays and omnibuses.
It takes its name from the county of Suffolk in East Anglia and a Suffolk Punch is the emblem of Ipswich Town Football Club.
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[edit] Characteristics
The Suffolk Punch generally stands 15.3 to 16.1 hands high, and weighs 1,980 to 2,200 lbs (about 1 tonne).[1] They are always chestnut, and no other color is considered for admission to the Stud Book. The traditional spelling, still used by the Suffolk Horse Society, is "chesnut" (with no "t" in the middle of the word), and the Society recognizes seven distinct variations: dark approaching brown-black, liver colour or mahogany chesnut, dull dark chesnut, light mealy chesnut, red, golden, lemon, bright chesnut.[2] White markings are extremely rare, and are generally limited to small markings on the face and lower legs.[3] Marguerite Henry described the breed by saying:
"His color is bright chestnut --- like a tongue of fire against black field furrows, against green corn blades, against yellow wheat, against blue horizons. Never is he any other color."[4]
The Suffolk Punch has a powerful, arching neck; well-muscled, sloping shoulders; a short, wide back; and a muscular, broad croup. Their legs are short and strong, with broad joints; sound, well-formed hooves; and little or no feathering.[1]
[edit] History
The breed may descend from the medieval “Great Horse”. The Suffolk Punch is believed to date back to 1506, and a specific reference to the breed appearing in William Camden's Britannia, published in 1586. The "Punch" in the breed's name refers to their compact, powerful appearance.[5] Ancestry of the breed also has contributions from the Norfolk Trotter, Norfolk Cob, and later the Thoroughbred. The uniform coloring of the breed derives in part from a small trotting stallion named Blakes Farmer (1760).[1] They were developed in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk in England. In this isolated area[citation needed], the local farmers developed the Suffolk Punch to plough the heavy clay soils of the region. The farmers needed a horse with power, stamina, health, longevity, and docility, and they bred the Suffolk to comply with these needs. The foundation sire of the breed, Crisp's horse of Ufford, was foaled in 1760. Because the farmers used these horses on their land, they seldom had any to sell, which helped to keep the breed pure and unchanged.[3]
Although the Suffolk Punch gained popularity in the 1930s, it was hit hard by the mechanization that followed World War II. The Suffolk Horse Society ceased to function for 15 years, but restarted in May 1961 with the beginning of the draft horse market recovery. Recent decades have seen an increase in the interest in Suffolk Punches, and their numbers have been expanding.[3]
[edit] Uses
The Suffolk Punch was used in the past for mainly heavy draft work. They were well suited for farm work, and were also often used to pull heavy artillery in wartime. They were also used to pull brewers' drays and omnibuses.[1]
[edit] Population
The Suffolk Punch is considered critically endangered, with there being only an estimated 400 in Britain. There are currently more Giant Pandas in the world than there are Suffolk Punches, but there are plenty of breeding programmes trying to help this situation. One of the reasons for their numbers decreasing is the use of machinery, and heavy horses such as these are not needed any more, so they have become less of a priority.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Bongianni, Maurizio (1988). Simon & Schuster's Guide to Horses and Ponies. Simon & Schuster, Inc., p. 95. ISBN 0671660683.
- ^ The Suffolk Punch. Equiworld. Retrieved on December 19, 2007.
- ^ a b c Suffolk. Oklahoma State University. Retrieved on December 19, 2007.
- ^ Suffolk Punch. International Museum of the Horse. Retrieved on December 19, 2007.
- ^ Suffolk Punch. Horse Breeds. Retrieved on December 19, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Suffolk Horse Society
- American Suffolk Horse Association
- The International Museum of the Horse: Suffolk Punch
- The Suffolk Punch
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