View source for Russian Heavy Draft

{{short description|Russian breed of draught horse}}
{{Distinguish|Soviet Heavy Draft}}
{{Infobox horse breed
| name            = Russian Heavy Draft
| image           = HetRussischeWerkpaard.jpg
| image_size      =
| image_alt       = 
| image_caption   = Painting by [[Otto Eerelman]] of a Russian draft horse; ''Paardenrassen Kunstalbum'', 1898
| image2          = 
| image_size2     = 
| image_alt2      = 
| image_caption2  = 
| altname        = {{ubl|{{langx|ru|Русский тяжеловоз}}|Russkii Tyazhelovoz|Russkaya Tyazhelovoznaya|Russian Draft|Russian Ardennes{{r|dad}}}}
| country         = [[Russian Federation]]
| distribution    = {{ubl|[[Belarus]]|Russian Federation|[[Ukraine]]}}
| status          = [[FAO]] (2007): not at risk{{r|barb|page=99}}
| use             = {{ubl|[[draft horse|draft]]|[[horsemeat|meat]]|[[Mare's milk|milk]]}}
| colour          =  {{ubl|[[bay (horse)|bay]]|[[chestnut (coat)|chestnut]]|[[strawberry roan]]{{r|edwards|page=277}}}}
| weight          = 580–700 kg{{r|elise|page=268}}
| male_weight   = average: 650 kg{{r|dad}}
| female_weight = average: 575 kg{{r|dad}}
| height          = 144–152 cm{{r|cabi|page=499}}
| male_height   = average: 152 cm{{r|dmit|page=323}}
| female_height = average: 149 cm{{r|dmit|page=323}}
| note            = 
| group1          =
| std1            = 
}}

The '''Russian Draft''' or '''Russian Heavy Draft''' ({{langx|ru|Русский тяжеловоз}}, Russkii Tyazhelovoz) is a Russian [[list of horse breeds|breed]] of [[draft horse]]. It was bred in [[Imperial Russia]] in the second half of the nineteenth century, and until after the [[Russian Revolution]] was known as the '''Russian Ardennes'''. It is one of a number of draft breeds developed there at approximately the same time, others being the [[Lithuanian Heavy Draft]], the [[Soviet Heavy Draft]] and the [[Vladimir Heavy Draft]]; it is both the oldest and the smallest of them.{{r|cabi|page=499}} The present name dates from the [[Soviet Union|Soviet era]], and was used from 1952.{{r|edwards|page=277}} 

== History ==
[[File:Russian Ardennes stallion at the Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1900.jpg|thumb|Russian Ardennes stallion at the [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|Exposition Universelle]], Paris, 1900]]
[[Selective breeding]] of what would become the Russian Ardennes began in the 1860s at the [[Petrovsky Agricultural and Forestry Academy]] in [[Moscow]] and at various [[stud farm]]s including the [[Khrenov Stud]] in [[Voronezh Oblast]], and the [[Derkul Stud]] in Ukraine. From about this time, [[stallion]]s of the Franco-Belgian [[Ardennais]] heavy horse were imported to the [[Russian Empire]] from Sweden in increasing numbers; between 1875 and 1915, their number grew from nine to almost six hundred.{{r|edwards|page=277|dmit|page2=323}} These were put to local mares; some [[Brabançon (horse)|Brabançon]], [[Percheron]] and [[Orlov Trotter]] blood was also introduced.{{r|elise|page=268}} The aim was to produce a compact draft animal suitable for farm work.{{r|edwards|page=277}} The Russian Ardennes was presented at the [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|Exposition Universelle]] in Paris in 1900.{{r|dmit|page=323}}

As with other Russian horse breeds, the events of the [[First World War]] and the [[Russian Revolution]] caused a severe decline in numbers; in 1924, fewer than a hundred stallions remained. By 1937 the breed was re-established;{{r|dmit|page=323}} the name was changed in 1952 to "Russkii Tyazhelovoz" or "Russian Heavy Draft".{{r|edwards|page=277}} In the 1980s a population of almost fifty thousand was recorded,{{r|dmit|page=272}} distributed in many parts of the Soviet Union – in [[Belarus|Byelorussia]], the [[North Caucasus]], [[Udmurtia]] and [[Ukraine]], in [[Western Siberia]], and in the [[oblasts of Russia|oblasts]] of [[Archangel Oblast|Archangel]], [[Kirov Oblast|Kirov]], [[Perm Oblast|Perm]], [[Sverdlovsk Oblast|Sverdlovsk]] and [[Vologda Oblast|Vologda]].{{r|dmit|page=323}}

== Characteristics ==

The Russian Heavy Draft is a small powerful horse of heavy [[cob (horse)|cob]] [[equine conformation|conformation]], with lively [[gait (horse)|gait]]s. The legs are short in comparison to the length of the body, and have little or no [[feathering (horse)|feathering]];{{r|edwards|page=277}} [[cannon-bone]] circumference is approximately {{nobreak|22 cm.}}{{r|dmit|page=323}} Perhaps as a result of the Orlov Trotter influence, the head is not heavy.{{r|edwards|page=277}} The horses are usually either [[chestnut (coat)|chestnut]] or [[strawberry roan]],{{r|edwards|page=277}} but may also be [[bay (horse)|bay]].{{r|elise|page=268}} Among common defects are [[sickle hocks]] and weakness of the back.{{r|edwards|page=277}}

The horses are fast-growing, [[fertility|fertile]] and [[longevity|long-lived]]. Stallions have a [[fertility rate]] in the range of 80–85 percent, and may continue to stand at stud after the age of twenty.{{r|edwards|page=277}} Foals weigh about {{nobreak|250 kg}} when [[wean]]ed,{{r|cabi|page=499}} and reach approximately 75% of full adult weight and 97% of full adult height in their first eighteen months of life.{{r|edwards|page=277}}

== Use ==

The Russian Heavy Draft was originally bred for [[draft horse|draft]] work in agriculture. In modern times, it is kept for its high [[Mare's milk|milk]] yield. Mares may give approximately {{nobreak|2500 kg}} of milk in a normal [[lactation]] lasting six or seven months; the highest yield recorded for one lactation is {{nobreak|5540 kg.}}{{r|cabi|page=499}} The milk is much used in the production of [[kumis]].{{r|elise|page=268}} The Russian Heavy Draft is also raised for slaughter to supply [[horsemeat|meat]].{{r|elise|page=268}} It has been used in [[cross-breeding]] in attempts to improve other breeds such as the [[Bashkir (horse)|Bashkir]].{{r|dmit|page=333}}

== References ==
{{commonscat}}
{{reflist|45em|refs=

<ref name=barb>Barbara Rischkowsky, D. Pilling (eds.) (2007). [ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources]{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, annex to [ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a1250e/a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{ISBN|9789251057629}}. Accessed January 2017.</ref>

<ref name=cabi>Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). [https://books.google.com/books?id=2UEJDAAAQBAJ ''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''] (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{ISBN|9781780647944}}.</ref>

<ref name=dad>[http://www.fao.org/dad-is/browse-by-country-and-species/en/ Breed data sheet: Russkii Tyazhelovoz / Russian Federation (Horse)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed April 2019.</ref>

<ref name=dmit>N.G. Dmitriev, L.K. Ernst (1989). [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20091113044601/ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/ah759e/ah759e.pdf ''Animal genetic resources of the USSR'']. FAO animal production and health paper 65. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{ISBN|9251025827}}. Archived 13 November 2009. Also available [https://web.archive.org/web/20170929123942/http://www.fao.org:80/docrep/009/ah759e/AH759E13.htm here], archived 29 September 2017.</ref>

<ref name=edwards>Elwyn Hartley Edwards (1994). ''The Encyclopedia of the Horse''. London; New York; Stuttgart; Moscow: Dorling Kindersley. {{ISBN|0751301159}}.</ref>

<ref name=elise>Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Eus9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA176 ''Horses of the World'']. Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|9780691167206}}.</ref>

}}

== Further reading ==

* И.И.Сорокина. [http://www.ruhorses.ru/horse/tyag/tyag.html Русская тяжеловозная порода]. Всероссийский научно-исследовательский институт коневодства.
: = I.I. Sorokina. [http://www.ruhorses.ru/horse/tyag/tyag.html Russian Heavy Draft] (in Russian). Moscow: All Russian Scientific Research Institute of Horse Breeding.

{{Horse breeds of the Russian Federation}}
__NOTOC__
[[Category:Horse breeds]]
[[Category:Horse breeds originating in Russia]]
[[Category:Animal breeds originating in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Draft horses]]