The Great Horse: A History of the European Brabant Draft Horse

Tune into Season 1, Episode 1, "A Great Horse: The History of the European Brabant." Your host, Stacy Pearsall, takes you back to 54 BC when Julius Caesar mentioned our favorite heavy horse by name. She then provides a fun history of the breed over the centuries, all the way up to modern day! Be sure to visit www.EuropeanBrabant.com for all things Brabant Draft Horse! READ MORE ON OUR BLOG!

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Transcript

“Breakfast!” I call to my herd of European Brabant draft horses clustered at the far east end of the pasture. I can just make out their forms in the fog, silhouetted by the rising sun. One head pops up from grazing and nickers an acknowledgment. The ground rumbles when they turn and break into a trot in my direction. Rays of light fan skyward through the swirling mist creating translucent fingers of red, orange, and yellow behind them. It’s as if God’s outstretched hand is passing me His most prized possession.

You may think I’m being hyperbolic, but I personally think the European Brabant really is God’s gift to mankind. They are the original heavy horse from which nearly every draft horse breed was developed. Without them, we would not have heavy horses to plow fields, carry goods, and pull wagons. Imagine how different human civilization would be if the European Brabant never existed.

Hi, I’m Stacy Pearsall – journalist, equestrian, and current President of the European Brabant Registry of America (EBRA). I own a small farm, LowCountry Acres, named after the coastal region in South Carolina, where I live. Coincidentally, the lowland marshes of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, where the European Brabant breed originates, are also called “The Low Countries.”

On my farm, we have five European Brabants – four mares and one stallion. Aside from being harness and saddle horses, they are ambassadors and play a critical role in breed conservation through our breeding program. Though a formal census of the breed has not been conducted in recent years, according to Trekpaard.net a survey of the studbook in Belgium reveals just 5,000 purebreds living there today, and there are less than 50 purebred European Brabants (>93.75% traceable and verifiable bloodlines) registered with the EBRA in North America. To better understand and appreciate the need to preserve this rare draft horse, I want to share their story with you.    

"One website indicates there are 3,000 Belgian (Brabant) Draft Horses in The Netherlands today," explains Ton van der Weerden, author of 'A Life with Draft Horses' and coauthor of 'Het Trekpaard.' "That seems really high to me. The same site claims there are 7,000 in Belgium. I believe the numbers are much less due to several influences. I think the number is closer to 5,000 Belgian (Brabant) Draft Horses in The Netherlands and Belgium combine. The Royal Belgian Draft Horse Society (KMBT) says there are 7,405 Belgian (Brabant) Draft Horses worldwide, who are alive and included in the studbook."

The European Brabant Registry of America recognizes the Belgisch Trekpaard, Nederlandse Trekpaard, Trait Ardennes, Trait Auxois, Trait Luxembourgeois and Trait Nord as "European Brabants" collectively.

The modern-day European Brabant (pronounced BRAH+BAHNT) in America is a heavy horse with ancient origins that’s believed to be one of the oldest draft horse breeds in the world (particularly the Trait Ardennes lines). Its evolution in origin, phenotype and name, is long and multilayered. Author G. Skinner noted, “The history of the Brabant breed is fascinating in itself and requires a Ph.D. in genealogy to understand.”

In this account, I’ve done my best to simplify this breed’s extraordinarily long, fascinating history without diluting it. I first encountered the Brabant in 2000 while living abroad and was captivated. Inspired to know more, I dove into historical documents, books, articles, and registry archives. Given most were in Latin, Dutch, French, and Old English, I relied on academic translations where possible and resorted to using Google translate when those weren’t available. Please remember as you read this account that I’m no doctor or historian; I’m just a journalist with a tiny, or in this case draft-size, horse obsession.

I feel it’s important to apologize up front to the incredible people of Northwest Europe whose stories are so closely intertwined with this horse. The myriad of early settlements and tribes from Germanic to Celtic were vast and nuanced and some, mainly the Romans (yeah, I’m looking at you Julius Caesar), lumped them together when these communities couldn’t be more different. It’s kind of like the thousands of culturally distinct indigenous peoples first encountered by Europeans, who wrongly labeled them all “Indians.” Alas, I will be referencing some archaic terms and hope you won’t judge me too harshly.

Like all horses found in Europe, the European Brabant’s ancestors migrated from North America, across the Eurasian Steppe and eventually found their way to Northwest Europe. It’s said their progenitors grazed in the hilly Ardennes Forest that stretched 4,300 square miles from France to Germany before they made their way to the alluvial plains of the Rhine River Delta in what’s today the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. 

FUN FACT – Historians maintain the proto-heavy horse evolved from the Solutrian horse circa 50,000 BC. Remains of a Paleolithic 17,000-year-old Solutré horse were found in modern-day Burgundy, France, in the 1800’s. Though extinct today, the Solutré horse lives on as the progenitor to the Ardennes, Brabant, Boulonnais, Breton, and Percheron heavy horses.

These ancient horses developed distinct characteristics to survive the region's climate and terrain. They became sturdy little horses, ponies by today’s standards standing between 13 and 14 hands tall, with broad hooves, thick bones, compact bodies, short-wide backs, short legs, and heavy, double-muscled croups. Their dense coats, double manes and thick tails protected against extreme weather and their ability to sustain on little food made them hardy survivors. 

As these stout, formidable horses continued to evolve, so too did human civilizations of the region. People communalized, developed languages, began farming, discovered the wheel, built houses, and made pottery. Yes, this is the abridged version of human history for the sake of expediency because, let’s face it, we’re here for the horse stories!

Though there is well-dated remains of human habitation from the Paleolithic Era, according to Professor C. van de Kieft, evidence of early farm settlements in the Rhine River delta, also commonly referred to as the lowlands, developed around 4500 BC.  From that time through the 1st millennium BCE, the people and horses of the region mingled, and the horses went from being a food source to being domesticated partners. Horses were used for farming, packing, riding, and warring. Grave goods unearthed by archeologists from an Iron Age chieftain's burial contained snaffle bits and axle caps from war chariots, which are currently on display at the Dutch Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen.

Since people love names and labels, I must address both head-on as they correlate with the European Brabant’s history. Tribes of Celtic peoples, known for their agricultural prowess, dotted across modern-day France, through the Rhine River delta into parts of Germany. They were collectively referred to as Gauls, but each tribe had its own unique origins, cultures, chieftains, and horses.

Julius Caesar wrote extensively about the Belgae and their amazing horses after the conquest, noting their horses as, “Most willing and untiring workers,” and he recommended their acquisition to the heavy cavalry. By some accounts it is said the Roman cavalry, fastidious horse breeders, indeed took some of the stout, powerful horses from the now-latinized Gallia Belgica to breed strength into their stock and to pull supply carts for the roving legions. Likewise, it’s purported the Belgians used some of the Roman legion’s taller Italian stallions to increase the height of their own mounts. Through the intervention of man’s selective breeding, the horses of the 'Braec Bant,' or marshy region, began to take shape. 

FUN FACT – Brabant is derived from the old high German words brahha and bant. The word brahha, and the past tense verb braec, means newly broken land and the word bant means region.  

Between continuous trade and migration, other horses were brought into the mix and influenced the regions’s work horse stock. Vice versa too. These hardworking, cold-blooded horses made their way into Scandinavia, Britain and other, more far afield, parts of the world.

The Belgae (pronounced BELL+GEE by some and BELL+GAY by others) were a conglomerate of tribes, among them were very accomplished horsemen, who resided in the lowlands, says historian Dr. John Koch. They were formidable fighters whose Proto-Celic name roughly translated to “The people who swell with anger.” Now here’s where one outsider’s perspective, for better or worse, forever shaped modern-day terminology. Upon the Roman conquest of Northern Gaul in 57 BC, Julius Caesar divided the region into three parts: Celtica, Belgica, and Germania. Yup, you guessed it - Belgae, Belgica, Belgian…. The Belgian draft horse. Eureka, we’re done! Just kidding.

FUN FACT – A historic site dating from the mid-second century BC excavated in southeast United Kingdom demonstrates evidence of the horse-worshiping Belgic culture in the area. Whether through migration, conquest or trade, they left their mark both figuratively and literally. A 374’ by 130’ horse illustration carved into the Oxfordshire hillside dates back to as early as 50 BC. One might theorize the Belgae people brought their beloved horses with them, thereby influencing the horses of the British Isles.   

After the Roman Empire fell in 476 AD, the geographical home of the heavy horse did not change, but the area's man-made borders morphed into ever-changing dynasties, kingdoms and empires over the next 1,000 years. Boundary lines were drawn and redrawn, and countries, counties, and duchies were established. While horses of that era were not known as “breeds” so much as “types,” the proto-draft horse of the lowlands adopted informal breed names based on the areas from which they resided. For instance, the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire in 800 AD gave rise to the County of Flanders in 862 and the Duchy of Brabant in 1183 AD. 

"Crossbreeding took place extensively without a clear purpose," explains Paul De Brauwer. "There were regional differences, so horses were also named according to their geographical origin."

Thereafter, the horses were referred to as the Flanders (or Flemish) horse and Brabant horse respectively. At the same time, there was the Ardennes horse, so named for the Ardennes region, the Comtois for the Franche-Comte region, and the Trait du Nord for the County of Hainaut (pronounced HAH+NO). Regardless of the names humans labeled them, they were all derived from the same ancestral proto-heavy horse. Each region continued to selectively breed their horses to best suit their purposes and needs. With the introduction of the heavy pulling collar in the 9th century, and the subsequent innovations in plows, harnesses, and horseshoes, these now-draft-horses were bred heavier for maximum pulling power. 

FUN FACT – Draft is derived from the Old English word dragan meaning to drag or haul. Dragan is also very similar to the Dutch word dragen, which is the same definition. So you can see how the term "Draft Horse" or "Drag Horse" came about.

"Despite the fact that horses were indiscriminately crossed with each other until the eighteenth century, Flanders was always historically known for its [heavy] horses," explains Paul De Brauwer. "Charlemagne once sent a pair of 'Belgian' draft horses to the Caliph of Baghdad in 807 AD."

The Flanders horse of the lowlands gained much notoriety during the early Medieval period - a time best known for chivalry and knighthood. The Flanders horse, sometimes called the Flemish horse, stood between 14.2 and 15 hands and was a stoutly built, strong-backed horse that was coveted by knights throughout Christendom for their ability to carry heavy loads over great distances. It’s believed the Flanders horse was crossed with hot-blooded Spanish horses to create the ideal war horse referred to as a destrier. These warmbloods had the spirit and stamina of their hot-blooded progenitors and the level-headedness and strength of the cold-blooded ones. They could easily convey man and armor weighing an excess of 400 pounds, and the fact that they stood around 15 hands at this time made them easily mountable from the ground - a necessity for any knight who found themselves unseated on the battlefield. 

"The 'Flanders' draft horse was so successful that the government imposed an export ban to prevent all good genes from being withdrawn from the native pool and also because they did not want the enemy to have their good horses," explains Paul De Brauwer.

The term “breed” is a relatively modern concept, says Katrin Boniface, author of Horse Power: Social Evolution in Medieval Europe. So just to reiterate, during this period horses were mainly referred to by their working purpose and not necessarily by distinct breeds per se. There were the destriers, as well as chargers, hackneys, sumpters, palfreys, rouncys, and coursers. Think of these classifications of horses the same way we classify our cars today. You’ve got the truck, meant for hauling heavy loads and pulling. You’ve got the sedan, which is great for economical everyday driving. Then there’s the sports car that gets you anywhere fast. 

FUN FACT – Breed is derived from the Old English word bredan meaning to bring to birth or procreate. By the 1550s, the word breed became synonymous with animals’ lineage, stock and, parentage.  

Written accounts of breeds and cross breeds used for each purpose are somewhat limited to law codes, receipts, letters, and breeding records of the time, according to historian R.H.C. Davis. During this period, the Flanders horse was essentially a medieval truck that was mainly used as a pack and draft animal. There are historical references that show the “Great Horse of Flanders” and Brabants were imported to England for breeding purposes, as noted in Sir Walter Gilbey’s “The Great Horse,” published in 1899. He writes that somewhere between 1199 and 1216 AD, England’s King John imported 100 Brabant stallions, which were then crossed with English lowland mares, the SUV of the day, to develop what was to become the renowned Shire draft horse, or semi-equivalent. Consequently, these horses were used to breed destrier warhorses and were known by the English as their own “Great Horse,” as Sir Gilbey’s book implies. 

SIDE NOTE – An engineer from Brabant was appointed by King Henri IV of France in 1599 to work on a land reclamation project in Marais Poitevin, the marshlands of Poitou in France. The job required a lot of specialized labor, so the engineer, Humphrey Bradley, recruited skilled workers from the Low Countries, who brought their working horses with them. Their heavy horses were crossed with local stock to create the Poitevin Horse. Later, these draft horses were crossed with large Baudet du Poitou donkeys to create some of the most sought-after mules in the world.

SIDE NOTE – In the 1700s, Brabant broodmares were imported once again to England and bred back to Shire stallions to improve the bloodlines. Also, of note in the 1700’s, John Paterson the 6th Duke of Hamilton and Marquess of Clydesdale, imported Flemish stallions to Scotland and bred native Lanarkshire mares to establish the famed Clydesdale draft horse - the very same ones made famous by the beer company, Budweiser. 

Coincidentally, Clydesdale is also the name that every non-horse person refers to any draft-type horse. 

As widely used for breeding as they were in the Medieval period, and the progenitor of so many draft-type breeds, it’s easy to see how the Flemish (Brabant) horse earned the moniker, “Father of all draft horses.”

As long as a horse has not been fully bred, it was called a 'variant' or 'type' rather than a 'breed,' explains saul De Brauwer. "In the 1880s, the Flemish horse, the Ardennes and the Brabander (Brabant) were considered the same breed."

By the 1800s, the Flemish (Flanders) Horse, Brabant Horse, Ardennes Horse, and other heavy horses of the region had diverged ever-so-slightly from one another in phenotype due to the introduction of foreign stock and the establishment of formal breed standards. Some, like the 14 hand Ardennes horse, had introduced Arabian bloodlines to improve endurance, while the Flemish Horse was selectively bred to increase height, according to Maurizio Bongianni, author of Guide to Horses and Ponies of the World. Each region's heavy horse had their unique attributes. 

As time ushered on, horses became emblematic of status, wealth, and refinement. Not to belabor my car analogy, but just as cars reflect one’s personality, so were the horses a reflection of their nation. Royal and State-run stud farms cropped up across Europe and “breeds” as we know them today began to take shape. The main purpose of such farms was to accelerate and improve the evolution of local horses while also offering discounted or free stud services for their citizens. All governments love records and red tape, so the establishment of such institutions ushered in the era of studbooks, and thus pedigrees began. Before you historian-types get excited, I openly acknowledge that many cultures such as the Romans, Assyrians, and Sumerians kept breeding records, as did clerical monks with breeding programs.

They all did a myriad of jobs ranging from forestry to farm work, and other more unique occupations. For instance, the Trait du Nord worked in the mines, while the Brabants dragged shrimp nets through the North Sea and barges along the canals. The Comtois hauled pine trees and plowed vineyards. The Auxios worked in teams on the farm and the Ardennes pulled artillery for the Army. Despite their minor phenotypic differences, they all had the same endearing qualities as their ancestors being calm, tolerant, flexible, and active. In the early 1800's, enterprising draft horse breeders recognized that combining these subtly divergent qualities would innovate and reinvigorate the regions' heavy horses.

In 1821, the provincial Agricultural Society of East Flanders was the first to take the initiative to scientifically study the improvement of native horse breeds. Shortly afterwards, the other provinces followed with similar regulations for "horses of the heavy native breed." After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the government incentivized the breeding of Brabant draft horse and prize camps with cash prizes were organized all over the Low Countries. 

The horses produced during this time created the lines we know today. For instance, in 1838, the "Oude Dikke van Wijnhuyze" was born and it's from his line we got the famed Orange I, Brillant, Jupiter, Brin d'Or, Indigène du Fosteau and Albion d'Hor stallions. These are some of the primary progenitors of the entire breed of Belgian "Brabant" drafts. 

FUN FACT  - In 1866, Auguste Oreins bought a stallion, nicknamed Gugusse, which he rode from farm to farm for stud service. At the age of 14, Gugusse was purchased by Jules Hazard, who ultimately registered him as Orange I. Gugusse, aka Orange I, died at the age of twenty-one, but left behind quiet a legacy as nearly all modern-day Brabants are descended from him. Orange I had two best-known sons, Brillant (see picture below) and Jupiter. Born in 1868, the golden chestnut stud colt Brillant (son of Orange I) developed into a fine stallion and at aged nine, he was purchased by Remi Vander Schueren. Remi was a recognized heavy horse breeder from Flemish Brabant in Vollezele, Belgium, who made waves alongside Brillant after he was crowned champion at draft horse competitions in Brussels, Amsterdam, London, Paris, and Hanover. 

By 1879, the Belgian Department of Horses was established followed by the Société Nationale du Cheval de trait Belge, in 1886. This studbook had three categories: Flemish, Brabant, and Ardennes. By 1888, the Flemish horse, or at least the name, fell out of fashion due to political and national identity issues. References to the Flemish (Flanders) horse thereafter were scarce. Just the Brabant and Ardennes horses in name remained. 

Five people took the initiative to establish a national studbook. This unity brought Brussels, Liège, and East Flanders’ studbooks together. In 1890, the merged studbook was recognized. After 1919, the Association became Koninklijke Maatschappij Het Belgisch Draft Horse (KMBT). Over time, “daughter studbooks” such as the Vlaamse Fokkers van het Belgisch Trekpaard, Association Wallonne du Cheval de Trait Belge, and Eleveurs Wallons du Cheval de Trait Belge were recognized by the mother studbook, KMBT. 

Suddenly global demand was resurgent, reminiscent of the Medieval period, for powerful Brabant draft horses, referred to then as Brabants and Belgians interchangeably. By 1891, breeders from Brabant had exported Belgian stallions to the governments of Russia, Italy, Germany, France, and the former Austria-Hungary Empire. Just as in centuries past, the heavy stallions were crossed with native horses from each country to create brand new, or to enhance existing, draft breeds. From those new breeds, other heavy horse breeds were developed and so on. The late 19th and early 20th centuries were truly a renaissance for draft horses.  

SIDE NOTE – The Brabant was used to establish draft breeds throughout the world. Take the Soviet Heavy Draft as a case in point. There were no indigenous heavy horses in Russia, so in 1885, three Belgian stallions were imported into Oblast, eastern Russia, according to historian A.N. Kosharov. Over the subsequent ten years, another 54 studs were added. They were crossed with native light harness and saddle horses such as the Orlov Trotter and other imported heavy breeds such as the Breton from France, the Suffolk Punch from England, and the Jutland from Denmark. All three breeds are ancient in their own right but are genetically linked to those hearty, proto-heavy horse progenitors of the Brabant. 

The Breton is from the region of modern-day Brittany in northwest France. They’re believed to be descended from the same strain of horses used by Celtic Belgae peoples. “The [Breton] breed comes from smaller horses that were bred and improved by the Celtic warriors on their conquest of what is now Great Britain,” explains Bonnie L. Hendricks.

It’s essentially the same story for the Jutland of Denmark. While the breed's written history is not fully documented, it’s said the same heavy horse progenitor of the Brabant was used by Vikings raiders throughout Britain, according to Johannes Erich Flade, author of The Compleat Horse. Some were left behind in Britain and it was purported that those horses were the foundation of the Suffolk Punch. Don’t forget when I mentioned before that migrating Belgae Celts also brought their horses to Britain centuries earlier. So you see, all of these heavy breeds in some distant way can be traced back to the ancient horse of the Low Countries.

But I digress. The Brabant created the Soviet Heavy Draft, which in turn contributed to the development of the Lithuanian Heavy, Estonian Heavy, and Bulgarian Heavy Draft. Each of these newly formed studbooks also directly imported Brabants and Ardennes of their own to improve their stock.  

In the 1800s, Ardennes, Brabant, and Breton heavy horses were imported to Poland and were crossed with the native Mirezyn to develop the Stzumski Heavy horse. Later in 1860, the Italians imported Brabants to cross with the heavy native horses, thus creating the Italian Heavy Draft, also known as the Cavallo Agrico Itialiano da Tiro Pesante Rapido.

In 1876, Brabants were imported into Prussia leading to the development of the “Belgian type” Rhenish German Coldblood (aka Rheinisch-Deutsche Kaltblut) and the establishment of the subsequent Rhinelander Studbook in 1892. Ever popular, Rhenish draft numbers made up 50% of the horse populations in Germany by the 1940’s. From the Rhenish German Coldblood sprung the Pfalz Ardenner, which also boasted Comtois, Ardennes, and Brabant bloodlines. Sweden got in the game too, importing Ardennes in 1872 to cross with their North Swedish Horse to form the Swedish Ardennes breed. 

Documents show that AG Van Hoorebeke of Monmouth, Illinois, was the first to import Brabants to the USA in 1866. From there, the floodgates were opened. The influx of Ardennes, Brabants and their close draft cousins, the Boulannais and Percheron, were so prevalent that breeders in the USA formed the Anglo-Norman Horse Association (later renamed, and now defunct, National French Draft Horse Association) in 1876 and the tongue twister, The American Association of Importers and Breeders of Belgian Draft Horses, which thankfully was renamed the Belgian Draft Horse Corporation of America, in 1887. 

“During WWI, occupied Belgium made many sacrifices including the loss of many Belgian (Brabant) Draft Horses, who were taken by the German Army,” explains Ton van der Weerden. ”The Dutch studbook was founded in 1914, and some forward thinking Belgian (Brabant) breeders smuggled their best horses across the border from Belgium to Zeeuws-Vlaanderen in The Netherlands, thus saving what viable breeding stock was left. After the war ended, breeding of the Belgian (Brabant) Draft Horse resumed in earnest in Belgium and The Netherlands. Thereafter, it was common to hear them referred to as the farm horse, the Belgian, the Brabant, the Brabander, the Dutch Draft and the Zealand Draft Horse - all different names for the same breed.”

Importations of Brabants continued steadily all the way up to the onset of WWI. While imports resumed after the war’s conclusion, it was more of a trickle than a firehose. The American Belgian and the European Brabant remained relatively similar in type until World War I, when American breeders began selectively breeding for taller, lighter horses with more sloping shoulders. Just look at the American Belgian stallion, Brooklyn Supreme, as an example. He stood 19.2 and held the record for being the heaviest and tallest horse in the world, according to Stanley Jepsen, author of The Gentle Giants: The Story of Draft Horses. Indeed, by the 1920’s the American Belgian became a breed, independent of the Brabant, with unique phenotype and standards.

In the United States, during the late 1960's, Albert Stankiewicz imported stallions from Belgium because he was disturbed by the changes in the American Belgian [draft] horse in the USA, according to the American Brabant Association. Stankiewicz used his imported stallions on old-style domestic American Belgian mares in an effort to preserve the old pre-war work type draft horse. From there, others followed suit. By 1999, the modern American Belgian was decidedly different from the modern European Brabant, and the American Brabant was very different from both - a new breed all its own. In 2016, the Belgian Draft Horse Corporation of America officially closed its books to European Brabants and in 2018, the American Brabant Association launched a registry to recognize their own new breed of work horse. That left European Brabant owners and breeders with an opportunity to establish a dedicated registry of their own. In October 2021, the European Brabant Registry of America was founded with the mission to preserve and promote the purebred European Brabant in the Americas.

The 1920s was the heyday of draft horses, with some 95,000 registered in the USA alone, but that wasn’t to last. They were replaced by stronger, time-efficient, modern tools and just like Henrys Ford’s Model T, their services were no longer required. After WWII, US draft horse populations plummeted. Likewise in Germany, their once-booming herd of 26,990 Rhenish German Coldblood mares had plummeted to just eleven by 1972. In France, the nearly 600,000 Boulonnais were diminished to just around 1,000 head, according to Jean-Paul Labourdette, author of Le Petite Fute Cote d’Opale. The famed herd of 50,000 Poitevin draft mares decreased to 300. As for ancient Brabant, who fought through two world wars on their home soil, they went from 278,000 head of horses to just a few thousand at most

The Brabant, along with their progeny of other breeds, were on the verge of a global extinction event. Thanks to dedicated breeders, studbooks, and associations who’ve invested manpower and resources in the genetic preservation of the breed, there will be Brabants for future generations. However, the Brabant is not “out of the woods” yet. As I mentioned at the beginning, Trekpaard.net estimates just 5,000 purebred European Brabants are in Belgium today and they are producing less than roughly 550 foals annually. Compare that to the 80,000 Quarter Horse foals born in the USA alone each year for context and you can see how dire the situation is for the European Brabant breed.

The European Brabant Registry of America was founded with the mission to preserve and promote the purebred European Brabant in the Americas. While the EBRA has less than 50 registered purebred Brabants in the premier studbook, there are just as many >50% Brabants who are registered in the European Brabant Stock studbook. These horses of mixed heavy horse lineage are vital to the propagation and preservation of the European Brabant draft horse in North America. 

To avoid inbreeding and to broaden the gene pool, the European Brabant Registry of America (EBRA) developed the “Breed Up” program where breeders can selectively cover outside phenotypic draft breeds with purebred Brabants and “Breed Up” to the purebred threshold of 15/16, or 93.75% European Brabant bloodlines. These qualifying “Breed Up” Brabants are then evaluated and scored against breed standards by a panel of independent judges trained by our counterparts in Belgium. Those who pass inspection are included in the EBRA’s premier purebred European Brabant Studbook. This program allows us to preserve the heritage of the Brabant breed, while also introducing fresh, outside blood to the genetic mix. This conservation approach is widely used by other heritage livestock breed associations across many animal species.

Today, the European Brabant can be found doing a myriad of jobs in North America. There is a sizable movement underway toward environmentally sound forest management practices called restorative forestry. European Brabants have been working in forests for hundreds of years and their skills are still used today. Likewise, the 21st century finds more farmers turning to regenerative farming that includes organics, crop rotations, small-scale farming, and the use of horsepower. European Brabants have been tilling land for well over a thousand years and they are still the best choice for any-scale farm.

In addition to their conventional work, European Brabants are making waves in the dressage arena as well as single, team, and four-in-hand driving competitions. They’re used in circus acts and vaulting programs as well as riding school and therapy programs. While they’ll likely never become a top-class jumper, the European Brabant is an outstanding pleasure riding horse. Their large stride, ambling gate, and round build are extremely comfortable. They have great stamina for long treks too. Don’t forget that while plowing fields, they are known to cover over 40 miles while pulling heavy farm equipment. A long ride on the beach, in the mountains or around the farm is considered light work for these easy keepers.

As for my European Brabants at LowCountry Acres, they compete at local and regional open shows and are handled by neighborhood kids with an interest in equine activities. My Brabants help teach youth responsibility, build their confidence, and encourage bonding between horse and human. My horses’ roles as breed ambassadors cannot be understated. Through their community involvement, they bring much needed attention to the breed and provide an opportunity to educate the public about this very rare, yet all too important heritage breed and the EBRA’s preservation efforts. 

To learn more about the European Brabant, please visit www.EuropeanBrabant.com. Join our community by becoming a member and join us in our mission to preserve and promote the European Brabant – The Father of all Draft Horses.