You should totally talk about the Suffolk punch! They are my favourite breed
oouhh and reasonably so!! thats such a cool horse :D
The Suffolk Punch is a critically endangered breed of draft horse that originates from England. Specifically, East England (the county of Suffolk, its namesake. :) ). Its breed history goes as far back as the 1500s, but according to the Suffolk Horse Society every paternal lineage of a Suffolk Punch can be traced back to a stallion (male breeding horse) foaled (born) in 1768 named "Crisp's Horse of Ufford". They are recorded as being the first established native breed of horse in England.
They were bred and used throughout their history as farm work horses (and in WW1, were also used as artillery horses.), but once agriculture and farming started to become automated, the horse began to have less use towards people and populations began to fall, thus leading to its current endangered state.
The Suffolk Punch is always going to be chestnut brown, with room for shade variation along the coat color. Rarely, they can occasionally have different kinds of facial and leg markings like blazes, stars, socks, boots, etc. They don't tend to have any feathering, and usually have short legs. This leads to them being shorter than most other English draft breeds. In order to be able to efficiently work in fields and carry carts, they have a large and wide back; The reason for their short legs.
They're known to be very determined and tame horses, and don't usually require as much food.
ty for submitting this breed, it was very fun to look into it :)
(Size reference for the Suffolk Punch, both foal and adult. Image sourced from horsebreedpictures.com)
