Suffolk Punch
Encyclopedia
The Suffolk Punch, also historically known as the Suffolk Horse or Suffolk Sorrel, is an English breed
of draught horse
. The breed takes the first part of its name from the county of Suffolk
in East Anglia
, and the name "Punch" from its solid appearance and strength. It is a heavy draught horse which is always chestnut
in colour, although the colour is traditionally spelled "" by the breed registries
. Suffolk Punches are known as good doer
s, and tend to have energetic gaits
.
The breed was developed in the early 16th century, and remains similar in phenotype
to its founding stock
. The Suffolk Punch was developed for farm work, and gained popularity during the early 20th century. However, as agriculture became increasingly mechanised, the breed fell out of favour, particularly from the middle part of the century, and almost disappeared completely. Although the breed's status is listed as critical by the UK Rare Breeds Survival Trust
and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
, there has been a resurgence in interest, and population numbers are increasing. As well as being used for farm work, the breed pulled artillery
and non-motorised commercial vans and buses. It was also exported to other countries to upgrade local equine stock.
in colour. The traditional spelling, still used by the Suffolk Horse Society, is "" (with no "t" in the middle of the word). Horses of the breed come in many different shades of chestnut, ranging from dark to red to light. Suffolk horse breeders
in the UK use several different colour terms specific to the breed, including dark liver
, dull dark, red and bright. White markings
are rare and generally limited to small areas on the face and lower legs. 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."
The Suffolk Punch tends to be shorter but more massively built than other British heavy draught breeds, such as the Clydesdale or the Shire
, as a result of having been developed for agricultural work rather than road haulage. The breed has a powerful, arching neck; well-muscled, sloping shoulders; a short, wide back
; and a muscular, broad croup
. Legs are short and strong, with broad joints; sound, well-formed hooves
; and little or no feathering
on the fetlock
s. The movement
of the Suffolk Punch is said to be energetic, especially at the trot
. 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. They are hard workers, said to be willing to "pull a heavily laden wagon till [they] dropped."
In the past, the Suffolk was often criticised for its poor feet, having hooves that were too small for its body mass. This was corrected by the introduction of classes at major shows
in which hoof conformation
and structure were judged. This practice, unique among horse breeds, resulted in such an improvement that the Suffolk Punch is now considered to have excellent foot conformation.
is the oldest English breed society. The first known mention of the Suffolk Punch is in William Camden
's Britannia, published in 1586, in which he describes a working horse of the eastern counties of England that is easily recognisable as the Suffolk Punch. This description makes them the oldest breed of horse that is recognisable in the same form today. They were developed in Norfolk and Suffolk
in the east of England, a relatively isolated area. The local farmers developed the Suffolk Punch for farm work, for which they 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.
The foundation sire
of the modern Suffolk Punch breed was a 15.2 hand (62 inches (157 cm)) stallion
foaled near Woodbridge
in 1768 and owned by Thomas Crisp of Ufford
. At this time the breed was known as the Suffolk Sorrel
. This horse was never named, and is simply known as "Crisp's horse". Although it is commonly (and mistakenly) thought that this was the first horse of the breed, by the 1760s, all other male lines of the breed had died out, resulting in a genetic bottleneck
. Another bottleneck occurred in the late 18th century.
In 1784, the breed was described as "15 hands (60 inches (152 cm)) high, short and compact with bony legs, often light sorrel in color, gentle, tractable, strong" and with "shoulders loaded with flesh". During its development, the breed was influenced by the Norfolk Trotter
, Norfolk
Cob
, and later the Thoroughbred
. The uniform colouring derives in part from a small trotting stallion named Blakes Farmer, foaled in 1760. Other breeds were cross bred in an attempt to increase the size and stature of the Suffolk Punch, as well as to improve the shoulders, but they had little lasting influence, and the breed remains much as it was before any crossbreeding took place. The Suffolk Horse Society, formed in Britain in 1877 to promote the Suffolk Punch, published its first stud book in 1880. The first official exports of Suffolks to Canada took place in 1865. In 1880, the first Suffolks were imported into the United States, with more following in 1888 and 1903 to begin the breeding of Suffolk Punches in the US. The American Suffolk Horse Association was established and published its first stud book in 1907. By 1908, the Suffolk had also been exported from England to Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Sweden, various parts of Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and other countries.
By the time of the First World War, the Suffolk Punch had become a popular work horse on large farms in East Anglia due to its good temperament and excellent work ethic. It remained popular until the Second World War, when a combination of the need for increased wartime food production (which resulted in many horses being sent to the slaughterhouse), and increased farm mechanisation which followed the war decimated population numbers. Only nine foals were registered with the Suffolk Horse Society in 1966, but there has been a revival of interest in the breed since the late 1960s and numbers have risen continuously. The breed did remain rare, and in 1998 there were only 80 breeding mare
s in Britain, producing around 40 foals per year. In the United States, the American Suffolk Horse Association became inactive after the war and remained so for 15 years, but restarted in May 1961 as the draught horse market began to recover. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the American registry allowed some Belgian
s to be bred to Suffolk Punches, but only the fillies
from these crosses were permitted registry with the American Suffolk Horse Association.
As of 2001, horses bred with American bloodlines were not allowed to be registered with the British Association, and the breed was considered the rarest horse breed in Britain. Although the Suffolk Punch population has continued to increase, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust
of the UK considers their survival status critical, with between 800 and 1,200 horses in the United States and around 150 in England. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
also lists the breed as critical. The Suffolk Horse Society recorded the births of 36 pure-bred foals in 2007, and a further 33 foals as of March 2008.
in wartime. Like other heavy horses, they were also used to pull non-motorised vans and other commercial vehicles. Today, they are used for commercial forestry operations, for other draught work, and in advertising. They are also used for crossbreed
ing, to produce heavy sport horse
s for use in hunter
and show jumping
competition. As a symbol of the county in which they are based, Ipswich Town F.C. incorporate a Suffolk Punch as a dominant part of their team crest.
The Suffolk Punch contributed significantly to the creation of the Jutland
breed in Denmark. Oppenheimer LXII, a Suffolk Punch imported to Denmark in the 1860s by noted Suffolk dealer Oppenheimer of Hamburg
, was one of the founding stallions of the Jutland. Oppenheimer specialised in selling Suffolk Punches, importing them to the Mecklenburg Stud in Germany. The stallion Oppenheimer founded the Jutland breed's most important bloodline, through his descendant Oldrup Munkedal. 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 and donkey
s to create army remounts and mule
s. Suffolks have adapted well to the Pakistani climate, despite their large size, and the programme has been successful. The Vladimir Heavy Draft
, a draught breed from the former USSR, is another which has been influenced by the Suffolk.
Horse breed
Horse breed is a broad term with no clear consensus as to definition, but most commonly refers to selectively bred populations of domesticated horses, often with pedigrees recorded in a breed registry. However, the term is sometimes used in a very broad sense to define landrace animals, or...
of draught horse
Draft horse
A draft horse , draught horse or dray horse , less often called a work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred for hard, heavy tasks such as ploughing and farm labour...
. The breed takes the first part of its name from the county of Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
in East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, and the name "Punch" from its solid appearance and strength. It is a heavy draught horse which is always chestnut
Chestnut (coat)
Chestnut is a hair coat color of horses consisting of a reddish-to-brown coat with a mane and tail the same or lighter in color than the coat. Genetically and visually, chestnut is characterized by the absolute absence of true black hairs...
in colour, although the colour is traditionally spelled "" by the breed registries
Breed registry
A breed registry, also known as a stud book or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders when they are still young...
. Suffolk Punches are known as good doer
Easy keeper
An easy keeper, easy doer or good doer is a livestock animal that can live on relatively little food. The opposite of an easy keeper is a hard keeper , an animal that is prone to be too thin and has difficulty maintaining adequate weight.Easy keepers tend to be found most often in breeds...
s, and tend to have energetic gaits
Horse gait
Horse gaits are the various ways in which a horse can move, either naturally or as a result of specialized training by humans.-Classification:...
.
The breed was developed in the early 16th century, and remains similar in phenotype
Phenotype
A phenotype is an organism's observable characteristics or traits: such as its morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties, behavior, and products of behavior...
to its founding stock
Foundation bloodstock
Foundation bloodstock or foundation stock are horses that are the progenitor, or foundation, of a new horse breed or a given bloodline within a breed. The term is also used in a similar manner when discussing purebred dogs...
. The Suffolk Punch was developed for farm work, and gained popularity during the early 20th century. However, as agriculture became increasingly mechanised, the breed fell out of favour, particularly from the middle part of the century, and almost disappeared completely. Although the breed's status is listed as critical by the UK Rare Breeds Survival Trust
Rare Breeds Survival Trust
The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation charity, whose purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the United Kingdom’s native farm animal genetic resources...
and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting genetic diversity among rare breeds of livestock...
, there has been a resurgence in interest, and population numbers are increasing. As well as being used for farm work, the breed pulled artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
and non-motorised commercial vans and buses. It was also exported to other countries to upgrade local equine stock.
Characteristics
Suffolk Punches generally stand 16.1 to 17.2 hands tall (65 to 70 in (165.1 to 177.8 cm)), weigh 1980 to 2200 lb (898.1 to 997.9 kg), and are always chestnutChestnut (coat)
Chestnut is a hair coat color of horses consisting of a reddish-to-brown coat with a mane and tail the same or lighter in color than the coat. Genetically and visually, chestnut is characterized by the absolute absence of true black hairs...
in colour. The traditional spelling, still used by the Suffolk Horse Society, is "" (with no "t" in the middle of the word). Horses of the breed come in many different shades of chestnut, ranging from dark to red to light. Suffolk horse breeders
Horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...
in the UK use several different colour terms specific to the breed, including dark liver
Liver (color)
Liver is a term used to describe certain types of dark brown color in dogs and horses.In dogs, it is a dark brown shade.In horses, "liver chestnut" is a term used to describe a chocolate-colored chestnut horse. A liver chestnut is the same genetically as a regular chestnut, but the shade is a dark...
, dull dark, red and bright. White markings
Horse markings
Markings on horses usually are 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 course of the horse's life...
are rare and generally limited to small areas on the face and lower legs. Equestrian author Marguerite Henry
Marguerite Henry
Marguerite Henry was an American writer. Henry inspired children all over the world with her love of animals, especially horses. The author of fifty-nine books based on true stories of horses and other animals, her work has captivated entire generations of children and young adults and won...
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."
Shire horse
The Shire horse is a breed of draught horse or draft horse . The breed comes in many colours, including black, bay and grey. They are a tall breed, with mares standing and over and stallions standing and over. The breed has an enormous capacity for weight pulling, and Shires have held the world...
, as a result of having been developed for agricultural work rather than road haulage. The breed has a powerful, arching neck; well-muscled, sloping shoulders; a short, wide back
Back (horse)
The back describes the area of horse anatomy where the saddle goes, and in popular usage extends to include the loin or lumbar region behind the thoracic vertebrae that also is crucial to a horse's weight-carrying ability. These two sections of the vertebral column beginning at the withers, the...
; and a muscular, broad croup
Rump (animal)
The rump or croup, in the external morphology of an animal, is the portion of the posterior dorsum that is posterior to the loins and anterior to the tail. Anatomically, the rump corresponds to the sacrum....
. Legs are short and strong, with broad joints; sound, well-formed hooves
Horse hoof
A horse hoof is a structure surrounding the distal phalanx of the 3rd digit of each of the four limbs of Equus species, which is covered by complex soft tissue and keratinised structures...
; and little or no feathering
Feathering (horse)
Feathering, or feather, is a term used to describe the long hair on the lower legs and fetlocks of some breeds of horse and pony. On some horses, especially draft breeds, the hair can almost cover the hooves...
on the fetlock
Fetlock
Fetlock is the common name for the metacarpophalangeal and metatarsophalangeal joints of horses, large animals, and sometimes dogs. It is formed by the junction of the third metacarpal or metatarsal bones proximad and the proximal phalanx distad...
s. The movement
Horse gait
Horse gaits are the various ways in which a horse can move, either naturally or as a result of specialized training by humans.-Classification:...
of the Suffolk Punch is said to be energetic, especially at the trot
Trot (horse gait)
The trot is a two-beat diagonal gait of the horse, where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time. There is a moment of suspension between each beat....
. The breed tends to mature early, be long-lived, and is economical to keep, needing less feed
Fodder
Fodder or animal feed is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin...
than other horses of similar type and size. They are hard workers, said to be willing to "pull a heavily laden wagon till [they] dropped."
In the past, the Suffolk was often criticised for its poor feet, having hooves that were too small for its body mass. This was corrected by the introduction of classes at major shows
Horse show
A Horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer for major, all-breed events or national and...
in which hoof conformation
Equine conformation
Equine conformation evaluates the degree of correctness of a horse's bone structure, musculature, and its body proportions in relation to each other. Undesirable conformation can limit the ability to perform a specific task. Although there are several universal "faults," a horse's conformation is...
and structure were judged. This practice, unique among horse breeds, resulted in such an improvement that the Suffolk Punch is now considered to have excellent foot conformation.
History
The Suffolk Punch registryBreed registry
A breed registry, also known as a stud book or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders when they are still young...
is the oldest English breed society. The first known mention of the Suffolk Punch is in William Camden
William Camden
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
's Britannia, published in 1586, in which he describes a working horse of the eastern counties of England that is easily recognisable as the Suffolk Punch. This description makes them the oldest breed of horse that is recognisable in the same form today. They were developed in Norfolk and Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
in the east of England, a relatively isolated area. The local farmers developed the Suffolk Punch for farm work, for which they 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
Purebred
Purebreds, also called purebreeds, are cultivated varieties or cultivars of an animal species, achieved through the process of selective breeding...
and unchanged.
Foundation bloodstock
Foundation bloodstock or foundation stock are horses that are the progenitor, or foundation, of a new horse breed or a given bloodline within a breed. The term is also used in a similar manner when discussing purebred dogs...
of the modern Suffolk Punch breed was a 15.2 hand (62 inches (157 cm)) stallion
Stallion
A Stallion is a male horse.Stallion may also refer to:* Stallion , an American pop rock group* Stallion , a figure in the Gobot toyline* Stallion , a character in the console role-playing game series...
foaled near Woodbridge
Woodbridge, Suffolk
Woodbridge is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. It is in the East of England, not far from the coast. It lies along the River Deben, with a population of about 7,480. The town is served by Woodbridge railway station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Woodbridge is twinned with...
in 1768 and owned by Thomas Crisp of Ufford
Ufford, Suffolk
Ufford is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 808 people.-External links:*...
. At this time the breed was known as the Suffolk Sorrel
Sorrel (horse)
Sorrel is an alternative word for one of the most common equine coat colors in horses. While the term is usually used to refer to a copper-red shade of chestnut, in some places it is used generically in place of "chestnut" to refer to any reddish horse with a same-color or lighter mane and tail,...
. This horse was never named, and is simply known as "Crisp's horse". Although it is commonly (and mistakenly) thought that this was the first horse of the breed, by the 1760s, all other male lines of the breed had died out, resulting in a genetic bottleneck
Population bottleneck
A population bottleneck is an evolutionary event in which a significant percentage of a population or species is killed or otherwise prevented from reproducing....
. Another bottleneck occurred in the late 18th century.
In 1784, the breed was described as "15 hands (60 inches (152 cm)) high, short and compact with bony legs, often light sorrel in color, gentle, tractable, strong" and with "shoulders loaded with flesh". During its development, the breed was influenced by the Norfolk Trotter
Norfolk Trotter
The Norfolk Trotter is an extinct horse breed once native to East Anglia and Norfolk, England. It was said to be "a large-sized trotting harness horse originating in and around Norfolk"....
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
Cob
Cob (horse)
A cob is a small horse, usually of a stout build, with strong bones, large joints, and steady disposition; it is a body type of horse rather than a specific breed...
, and later the Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
. The uniform colouring derives in part from a small trotting stallion named Blakes Farmer, foaled in 1760. Other breeds were cross bred in an attempt to increase the size and stature of the Suffolk Punch, as well as to improve the shoulders, but they had little lasting influence, and the breed remains much as it was before any crossbreeding took place. The Suffolk Horse Society, formed in Britain in 1877 to promote the Suffolk Punch, published its first stud book in 1880. The first official exports of Suffolks to Canada took place in 1865. In 1880, the first Suffolks were imported into the United States, with more following in 1888 and 1903 to begin the breeding of Suffolk Punches in the US. The American Suffolk Horse Association was established and published its first stud book in 1907. By 1908, the Suffolk had also been exported from England to Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Sweden, various parts of Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and other countries.
By the time of the First World War, the Suffolk Punch had become a popular work horse on large farms in East Anglia due to its good temperament and excellent work ethic. It remained popular until the Second World War, when a combination of the need for increased wartime food production (which resulted in many horses being sent to the slaughterhouse), and increased farm mechanisation which followed the war decimated population numbers. Only nine foals were registered with the Suffolk Horse Society in 1966, but there has been a revival of interest in the breed since the late 1960s and numbers have risen continuously. The breed did remain rare, and in 1998 there were only 80 breeding mare
Mare
Female horses are called mares.Mare is the Latin word for "sea".The word may also refer to:-People:* Ahmed Marzooq, also known as Mare, a footballer and Secretary General of Maldives Olympic Committee* Mare Winningham, American actress and singer...
s in Britain, producing around 40 foals per year. In the United States, the American Suffolk Horse Association became inactive after the war and remained so for 15 years, but restarted in May 1961 as the draught horse market began to recover. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the American registry allowed some Belgian
Belgian (horse)
The Belgian Draft horse or Belgian, also known as Belgian Heavy Horse, Brabançon, or Brabant, is a draft horse breed from the Brabant region of modern Belgium, where it is called the or Flemish: . It is one of the strongest of the heavy breeds...
s to be bred to Suffolk Punches, but only the fillies
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
from these crosses were permitted registry with the American Suffolk Horse Association.
As of 2001, horses bred with American bloodlines were not allowed to be registered with the British Association, and the breed was considered the rarest horse breed in Britain. Although the Suffolk Punch population has continued to increase, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust
Rare Breeds Survival Trust
The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation charity, whose purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the United Kingdom’s native farm animal genetic resources...
of the UK considers their survival status critical, with between 800 and 1,200 horses in the United States and around 150 in England. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting genetic diversity among rare breeds of livestock...
also lists the breed as critical. The Suffolk Horse Society recorded the births of 36 pure-bred foals in 2007, and a further 33 foals as of March 2008.
Uses
The Suffolk Punch was used mainly for draught work on farms, but was also often used to pull heavy artilleryArtillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
in wartime. Like other heavy horses, they were also used to pull non-motorised vans and other commercial vehicles. Today, they are used for commercial forestry operations, for other draught work, and in advertising. They are also used for crossbreed
Crossbreed
A crossbreed or crossbred usually refers to an animal with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. Crossbreeding refers to the process of breeding such an animal, often with the intention to create offspring that share the traits of both parent lineages, or producing...
ing, to produce heavy sport horse
Sport horse
Sport horse, or Sporthorse, is a term used to describe a type of horse, rather than any particular breed. The term generally refers to horses bred for the traditional Olympic equestrian sporting events of dressage, eventing, show jumping, and combined driving. The precise definition varies...
s for use in hunter
Show hunter
The show hunter is a type of show horse that is judged on its movement, manners, and way of going, particularly while jumping fences. The horses are shown in hunt seat style tack, and are often of Warmblood or Thoroughbred type, though a hunter-style pony is also seen in youth classes...
and show jumping
Show jumping
Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...
competition. As a symbol of the county in which they are based, Ipswich Town F.C. incorporate a Suffolk Punch as a dominant part of their team crest.
Jutland (horse)
The Jutland horse is a draft horse breed originating in Denmark, named after the Jutland Peninsula where Denmark lies. Usually chestnut in color, they are a compact, muscular breed known for their calm and willing temperament. The breed was originally developed for use in agriculture, but today...
breed in Denmark. Oppenheimer LXII, a Suffolk Punch imported to Denmark in the 1860s by noted Suffolk dealer Oppenheimer of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, was one of the founding stallions of the Jutland. Oppenheimer specialised in selling Suffolk Punches, importing them to the Mecklenburg Stud in Germany. The stallion Oppenheimer founded the Jutland breed's most important bloodline, through his descendant Oldrup Munkedal. 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 and donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
s to create army remounts and mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
s. Suffolks have adapted well to the Pakistani climate, despite their large size, and the programme has been successful. The Vladimir Heavy Draft
Vladimir Heavy Draft
The Vladimir Heavy Draft is a breed of draft horse which comes from Vladimir, in the former USSR, in Russia. It is a strong horse that is an all-around draft horse of medium size.-History:...
, a draught breed from the former USSR, is another which has been influenced by the Suffolk.