As I have mentioned in other posts, I am currently living in the Flanders region of Belgium. This area is primarily Dutch-speaking and is jokingly referred to as the "farmer's corner" of Belgium. Flanders comprises about 80% of Belgium's agricultural exports. On my 20-minute bus ride to lab every day, I am able to see several of these farms with their cattle, goats, chickens and horses. Most of the farms within my area are small family-owned farms (compared to larger, corporate, profit-based farms). On these farms, Belgian horses are the most common farm animal I see.
The Belgian breed of horse is a very tall, sturdily-built horse, generally light brown in color and with white-blond mane and tail. These horses are some of the tallest in the world; in fact, the tallest horse alive today is a Belgian horse that is nearly 82 inches tall. That is almost 7 feet! Naturally, these horses come in many different colors, but historically they have been bred to be a chestnut-color. Thus, this is the predominant color of Belgian draft horses.
