The Belgian draft horse, descended from the ancient "great horse" of medieval Europe, was selectively bred to pull agricultural implements through heavy clay soils. For over a century, these gentle colossi formed the mechanical backbone of Western farming. In 1920, the United States was home to more than 25 million horses and mules, with drafts leading the workforce. Within four decades, internal combustion engines erased their commercial utility.
By 1960, draft horse populations crashed by roughly 90%. Belgian breeding farms shuttered. Commercial studs sold off prize stallions for meat processing or abandoned lineage registrations entirely. Because draft horses consume substantial forage and require specialized stabling, maintaining non-working herds was economically ruinous for smallholders. The few surviving herds faced an acute bottleneck: an aging base of broodmares, a shrinking pool of unrelated stallions, and declining foaling success rates caused by unmonitored herd breeding.
