On the farm (11) : Ardennes Draft Horse
The Ardennes Draft Horse (also known as the Ardenner) belongs to the world famous Belgian draft horse breeds and is the ancestor of most draft horses in Europe (its history reaches even back to Ancient Rome).
The animal was and is primarily and historically bred in the region of the abundant forested Belgian Ardennes (a low mountain range), where his name comes from.
Even in our high-tech society, this draft horse is regularly used for work in forestry, especially in very dense forest areas.
With their heavy muscling, tireless Ardenners are often used for dragging trees out of the forest in places that tractors can not reach or would cause too much damage to the fragile soil.
In the war (1812) between the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte and Russia, 13000 of his horses did not survive due to the icy harsh weather conditions.
However, the Ardenners were so strong that none of them died and they all survived the military expedition.
Dutch name : Ardenner
German name : Ardenner
Latin name : Equus caballus
My shot shows a mare with two beautiful foals and the stallion can be seen in the picture below :
I close with pictures of 2 other famous Belgian draft horse breeds ;
dreamcat 1. September 2015, 11:09
Ist das eine herzliche Aufnahme!Ich mag diese Tierfotos und diese hübschen Pferde!
LG aus Düsseldorf
Gisela
Brigitte Hoffmann 30. September 2014, 23:05
Was für eine wunderschöne Idylle! Ich liebe diese Ardenner Pferde, sie sind so kraftvoll und gutmütig.Dein Foto gefällt mir sehr, Mark.
Salut Brigitte
Vincenzo Gabbanelli 30. September 2014, 18:02
Wonderful family.carinart 29. September 2014, 16:20
Eine rührende Familienszene!L.G. Karin
aline64 29. September 2014, 10:22
un joli moment de tendresse bien saisi pour ces chevauxamicalement
Gaby Falkenberg 29. September 2014, 9:24
Eine Szene die das Herz berührt.Hier hast du einen wunderbaren Augenblick erwischt.
LG.Gaby
emen49 29. September 2014, 7:01
Total süß ... genau der richtige Moment!VG Marianne
Sinnombre 29. September 2014, 0:02
Sehr schön!!Zwei Fohlen- Zwillinge??
Sehr schöne Aufnahme!
L.G.Carva
Mohr Wilfried 28. September 2014, 19:40
Wunderbares Pferdeidyll.Gruß Wilfried
Lawson McCulloch 28. September 2014, 19:30
Horses are possibly my favourite animal, and in this wonderful image you have me smiling in delight.best wishes,
Lawson
Mirjam Burer 28. September 2014, 15:30
most beautiful image of my favourites animals Mark...warm and bright colours, super sharpness and still tender at the same time...to my favourites..
lg, Mirjam
de ceulaer 28. September 2014, 11:19
really wonderful !super shot
br
Angelika El. 27. September 2014, 23:46
Oh, welch schöne Pferde - herrlich, die Fellfarben und Du zeigst eine anrührende Szene - so schön, wie die Stute still hält...
Wieder eine rundum gelungene Aufnahme...
LG! a.
archiek 27. September 2014, 17:25
A beautiful shot Mark. I like how the little one on the right mirrors the pose of the larger horse.-Regards,
Archie
Philomena Hammer 27. September 2014, 10:06
sie strahlen - auch als Fohlen - richtig Kraft aus :-)) Danke für diese schöne Aufnahme.LG