View source for Soviet Heavy Draft

{{Short description|Draught horse breed of the former Soviet Union}}
{{Distinguish|Russian Heavy Draft}}
{{use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{use list-defined references|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox horse breed
| name            = Soviet Heavy Draft<br>Советский тяжеловоз
| image           = Soviet_heavy_draft.jpg
| image_size      =
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| image2          = 
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| altname        = {{ubl|{{langx|ru|Советский тяжеловоз}}|Sovetskii Tyazhelovoz|Sovetskaya Tyazhelovozskaya{{r|dad}}|Soviet Heavy Draught}}
| country         = {{ubl|Former [[Soviet Union]]|Russian Federation}}
| distribution    =
| use             = [[Working animal]]
| colour          =  [[bay (horse)|bay]], brown, [[chestnut (coat)|chestnut]]
| male_height   = 163 cm{{r|dad}}
| female_height = 160 cm{{r|dad}}
| male_weight   = average 850 kg{{r|dad}}<br>maximum 1,000 kg{{r|dmit|page=325}}
| female_weight = 700 kg{{r|dad}}
| status          = [[FAO]] (2007): not listed{{r|barb|page=99}}
| note            = 
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}}

[[File:Soviet Heavy Draft. Sevastopol Zoo..JPG|thumb|In the [[Sevastopol Zoo]] (May 2011)]]
The '''Soviet Heavy Draft''' is a Russian [[List of horse breeds|breed]] of heavy [[draft horse]].<ref>Советский тяжеловоз // Большой энциклопедический словарь (в 2-х тт.). / редколл., гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров. том 2. М., "Советская энциклопедия", 1991. стр.374</ref> It derives from the Belgian [[Brabant (horse)|Brabant]] heavy draft breed. It was developed in the former [[Soviet Union]] for [[working animal|agricultural draft work]], and was recognized as a breed in 1952.{{r|dmit|page=324}} It is one of several heavy draft breeds developed in the Soviet Union in the twentieth century, others being the [[Russian Heavy Draft]] – which derived mainly from the [[Ardennais]] – and the [[Vladimir Heavy Draft]], which was derived principally from the [[Clydesdale (horse)|Clydesdale]].

== History ==

The [[Russian Empire]] had no indigenous breeds of heavy draft horse.{{r|edwards|page=277}} The origins of the Soviet Heavy Draft date to the late nineteenth century, at the Khrenovski [[stud farm]] in [[Voronezh Oblast]]. Imported [[Brabant (horse)|Brabant]] draft [[Stallion (horse)|stallions]] from Belgium were [[cross-bred]] with [[Mare (horse)|mares]] of various types: some were of [[Ardennais]], [[Jutland (horse)|Jutland]], [[Percheron]] or [[Suffolk Punch]] draft type, others were [[riding horse]]s.{{r|dmit|page=324}} Breeding was later transferred to the Pochinki Stud Farm in [[Pochinki, Pochinkovsky District, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast|Pochinki]], in [[Nizhny Novgorod Oblast]], with another center at the [[stud farm]] of [[Gavrilov Posad]], in [[Ivanovo Oblast]], and another in [[Mordovia]].{{r|dmit|page=325}}

The breeding range covered a broad area in central-southern [[European Russia|Russia]]. In 1885 there were three Brabant stallions in that area; in 1895 there were fifty-eight, by 1950 almost four hundred, and nearly nine hundred in 1945. There was strong demand for powerful agricultural horses, and the area of influence of the Brabant stallions spread. They were used in the creation of the [[Estonian Draft|Estonian]] and [[Lithuanian Heavy Draft]] breeds.{{r|dmit|page=325}}

The Soviet Heavy Draft was named and officially recognized in 1952.{{r|dmit|page=325}} In 1980 the total population was about 35,000, of which almost 4,000 were [[pure-bred]].{{r|dmit|page=272}}

== Characteristics ==

The selective breeding that created the Soviet Heavy Draft resulted in a massively-built horse with free-moving [[Horse gait|gaits]].

It has a straight or convex profile, and a short neck. The torso is wide and muscular, with a wide strong back and a muscular sloping croup. The abdomen is rounded. The legs are short and sturdy with solid joints and broad rounded [[horse hoof|hooves]].{{r|bongianni|page=111}}

== Use ==

The Soviet Heavy Draft was created for [[working animal|draft work]] in agriculture and industry. It is also used in the production of [[horsemeat|meat]] and [[mare's milk|milk]]. Mares are moderately fertile (65–75%), and foals are fast-growing, reaching {{nobreak|350–400 kg}} when [[weaned]]. The highest recorded milk yield per [[lactation]] is {{nobreak|6,320 kg}}.{{r|dmit|page=325}}

It was among the breeds used in the development of the [[Bulgarian Heavy Draft]] in the later twentieth century.{{r|cabi|page=448}}

== References ==
{{commons cat}}
{{Reflist|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 June 2017.</ref>

<ref name=bongianni>Maurizio Bongianni (1988). [https://books.google.com/books?id=u0pWZ3bmsAkC ''Simon & Schuster's Guide to Horses and Ponies'']. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. {{isbn|0671660683}}.</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://dad.fao.org/cgi-bin/EfabisWeb.cgi?sid=0b1613ebf16355cf65f6a05b9a65fe25,reportsreport8a_50008753 Sovetskii Tyazhelovoz/Russian Federation]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2017.</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>

}}

== Sources ==
* Книга о лошади / сост. С. М. Буденный. том 1. М., 1952.
* Советская тяжеловозная порода // Большая Советская Энциклопедия. / редколл., гл. ред. Б. А. Введенский. 2-е изд. том 39. М., Государственное научное издательство «Большая Советская энциклопедия», 1956. стр.484

{{Horse breeds of the Russian Federation}}

[[Category:Horse breeds]]
[[Category:Horse breeds originating in Russia]]
[[Category:Animal breeds originating in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Draft horses]]