Suffolk Punch
 Suffolk Punch horses | |
| Other names | Suffolk |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | England |
| Traits | |
| Distinguishing features | Heavy draft horse, always chestnut in color |
| Breed standards | |
The Suffolk Punch is an English breed of draft horse that dates back to the early 1500s. It is a heavy draft horse that is always chestnut in color, although the color is traditionally spelled "chesnut" by the breed registries. The breed is an easy keeper, and tends to have energetic gaits. The Suffolk Punch takes its name from the county of Suffolk in East Anglia.
The breed was founded in the early 1500's, and today remains very similar to the founding stock. The Suffolk Punch breed was created by Suffolk farmers to work in the heavy clay soils that predominate in the area. The breed gained popularity in the early 20th century, but fell out of favor during the mechanization of the middle part of the century, which resulted in the Suffolks almost becoming extinct. There has been a resurgence in interest in the breed during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and population numbers are growing. The breed was used in the past for heavy farm work, pulling artillery, brewers' drays, and omnibuses. It was also exported to other countries to use in upgrading the local equine stock.
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, and bright chesnut.[2] White markings are extremely rare, and are generally limited to small markings on the face and lower legs.[3] Equestrian author 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]
Although often grouped with the other British heavy draft breeds, including the Clydesdale and the Shire, the Suffolk Punch tends to be shorter but more massively built, having been developed for agricultural work rather than road haulage.[5] The Suffolk Punch has a powerful, arching neck; well-muscled, sloping shoulders; a short, wide back; and a muscular, broad croup. The legs are short and strong, with broad joints; sound, well-formed hooves; and little or no feathering.[1] The breed tends to mature early, be long-lived, and is economical to keep, needing less feed than other horses of similar type and size. The movement of the Suffolk Punch is said to be energetic, especially at the trot.[6]
History
The Suffolk Punch breed registry in England is the oldest English breed society.[7] The first known mention of the Suffolk Punch is in John Camden's Britannica published in 1506, where he describes it as originating in East Anglia in Suffolk county and the surrounding counties. This description makes the Suffolk Punch the oldest British heavy horse breed.[2] The foundation sire of the modern Suffolk Punch breed was a stallion named "Crisp's Horse of Ufford," foaled in 1786. Although it is commonly (and mistakenly) thought that this was the first horse of the breed, in reality, at this date all other male lines of the breed had died out and a genetic bottleneck occurred.[7] Another bottleneck occurred again in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and again around 1940.[2][7] During its development, the breed also received 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, 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. Because the farmers used these horses on their land, they seldom had any to sell, which helped to keep the bloodlines 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.[3] In 1966 only nine foals were registered, but since the late 1960s the breed has experienced a revival of interest and numbers have continuously risen. However, the breed remains rare, and in 1998 there were only 80 breeding mares, producing approximately 40 foals per year.[8] Although their population has continued to rise, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust considers their survival status critical, with between 800 and 1200 horses in the United States and around 150 in England.[9]
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] Today, they are used for commercial forestry operations, for draft work and in advertising.[8]
The Suffolk Punch significantly contributed to the creation of the Jutland breed in Denmark. One of the founding stallions of the Jutland was Oppenheimer LXII, a Suffolk Punch imported to Denmark in the 1860s by noted Suffolk dealer Oppenheimer of Hamburg. Oppenheimer consistently dealt with Suffolk Punches, importing them to the Mecklenburg Stud in Germany. The stallion Oppenheimer founded the most important bloodline of the Jutland breed through his descendent Oldrup Munkedal.[10] Suffolks were also exported to Pakistan in the 20th century to be used in upgrading native breeds, and they have been crossed with Pakistani horses to create army remounts and mules. This has been a successful program, with Suffolks adapting well to the Pakistani climate, despite their large size.[11]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d Bongianni, Simon & Schuster's Guide to Horses and Ponies, Entry 95
- ^ a b c "The Suffolk Punch". Equiworld. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
- ^ a b c "Suffolk". Oklahoma State University. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
- ^ "Suffolk Punch". International Museum of the Horse. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
- ^ Sponenberg, "The Proliferation of Horse Breeds", Horses Through Time, p. 157
- ^ Edwards, Horses, p. 232
- ^ a b c Ryder-Davies, "The Suffolk", The Working Horse Manual, p. 18
- ^ a b Ryder-Davies, "The Suffolk", The Working Horse Manual, p. 19
- ^ "Frequently Asked Suffolk Questions". American Suffolk Horse Association. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
- ^ Edwards, The Encyclopedia of the Horse, p. 274
- ^ Edwards, The Encyclopedia of the Horse, p. 288
References
- Bongianni, Maurizio (editor) (1988). Simon & Schuster's Guide to Horses and Ponies. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc. ISBN 0671660683.
{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help) - Edwards, Elwyn Hartley (2002). Horses (Second American Edition ed.). New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0789489821.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - Edwards, Elwyn Hartley (1994). The Encyclopedia of the Horse (1st American Edition ed.). New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 1564586146.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - Ryder-Davies, Philip (1998). "The Suffolk". The Working Horse Manual. Tonbridge, UK: Farming Press. ISBN 0852364016.
- Sponenberg, D. Phillip (1996). "The Proliferation of Horse Breeds". Horses Through Time. Boulder, CO: Roberts Rinehart Publishers. ISBN 1570980608.