The Vladimir Heavy Draft is a Russian

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

of heavy draught horse. It was bred in the early twentieth century in farms and collectives in

Ivanovo Oblast Ivanovo Oblast (russian: Ива́новская о́бласть, ''Ivanovskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It had a population of 927,828 as of the 2021 Russian Census. Its three largest cities are Ivanovo (the ...

and

Vladimir Oblast Vladimir Oblast (russian: Влади́мирская о́бласть, ''Vladimirskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its closest border 66 Meter, km east of central Moscow, the administrative cen ...

, to the east of Moscow. The most important influence on the development of the breed was from three

Clydesdale Clydesdale is an archaic name for Lanarkshire, a traditional county in Scotland. The name may also refer to: Sports * Clydesdale F.C., a former football club in Glasgow * Clydesdale RFC, Glasgow, a former rugby union club * Clydesdale RFC, South ...

stallions foaled between 1910 and 1923. The Vladimir was officially recognised in 1946.

History

The Russian Empire had no indigenous breeds of heavy draught horse. The Vladimir was created at about the same time as the development of the Russian Heavy Draught in Ukraine. The foundations of the Vladimir breed were laid between 1886 and 1924. Initial breeding began at the stud farm of

Gavrilov Posad Gavrilov Posad (russian: Гаври́лов Поса́д) is a town and the administrative center of Gavrilovo-Posadsky District in Ivanovo Oblast, Russia, located on the Voymiga River at its confluence with the Irmes River, southwest of I ...

, in

, where local horses were

cross-bred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

with imported

stock, with some limited influence from

Cleveland Bay The Cleveland Bay is a breed of horse that originated in England during the 17th century, named after its colouring and the Cleveland district of Yorkshire. It is a well-muscled horse, with legs that are strong but short in relatio ...

Percheron The Percheron is a breed of draft horse that originated in the Huisne river valley in western France, part of the former Perche province from which the breed takes its name. Usually gray or black in color, Percherons are well muscled, and k ...

and Suffolk Punch. Some use was made of

Shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

mares between 1919 and 1929. The three

foundation stallion Foundation bloodstock or foundation stock refers to animals that are the progenitors, or foundation, of a breed or of a given bloodline within such. Many modern breeds can be traced to specific, named foundation animals, but a group of animals ma ...

s of the breed were all Clydesdales. Two of these – Border Brand and Lord James – were foaled in 1910, while Glen Albin was born in 1923. The amount of cross-breeding was progressively reduced during the 1920s, and over the next twenty years the character and type of the breed were fixed. Official recognition came in 1946.

Characteristics

The Vladimir is a draught horse of medium power, with energetic and active gaits. It is more solidly built than the Clydesdale, and unusually deep in the girth – thoracic circumference may reach It is usually clean-legged, though feathering can occur.

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

is the most usual colour, with

white markings Markings on horses are usually distinctive white areas on an otherwise dark base coat color. Most horses have some markings, and they help to identify the horse as a unique individual. Markings are present at birth and do not change over the co ...

to the face and legs.

Use

The Vladimir was bred for agricultural draught work. It may be reared for

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

. It is fast-growing: at six months, foals may reach a weight of Because of its lively trot movement, it is found suitable for pulling the three-horse '' troika'' of the region.

Notable records

The speed record set by the Vladimir heavy draught for the urgent delivery of cargo at a trot pace is an absolute speed record for heavy draught of all breeds. - In 1968, the 10-year-old heavy draught Grozny / Грозный (translated as Fearsome) set a record for the urgent delivery of cargo at a trot pace, covering a distance of 2 km with a load of 1.5 tons in 4 minutes and 21 seconds. - In 1988, the five-year-old Pevets / Певец (translated as Singer) set a record for urgent cargo delivery at a walk pace, covering a distance of 2 km with a load of 4.5 tons in 12 minutes and 24 seconds.

References

Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Russia Draft horses {{Horse-breed-stub