I know all equestrians are very curious to learn new things about horses because they are our favorite creatures on earth, so it is always very interesting to read about them. Horses have come a long way from the small, pony-sized wild animals they once were, and as we determined how to use them for more and more tasks, the more variety in sizes we got, becoming one of the largest animals. Let’s take a look at the top 10 of the largest horses in the world:
-Sampson. Sampson is a Shire gelding horse born in 1846, in Toddington Mills, Bedfordshire, England. He was owned by Thomas Cleaver and was gelded at nearly one and a half years old. His top weight was measured at 3,360 lb (1,524 kg). It became known because it measured 84.8 inches on height, being at his time the tallest and heaviest horse in the world ever recorded.
-Zeus. Zeus was a giant Belgian Draft horse. This horse had the name of the god of Greek mythology, Zeus, thanks to its unbelievable 86 inches and its 3100 pounds of weight. During his early years, this Belgian draft horse lived with its owner, a farmer in Maine but he was too big to control so they moved him at Omni Mount Washington Resort horseback riding stable.
-Sovereign. Sovereign is considered Britain’s tallest horse, who stands at a huge 10 feet tall. His owners did not think he was intended for such largeness when they rescued him four years ago. He was abandoned and underweight at that time that all it would have taken was a small push and he would fall to the ground. But now everything has changed, because of his new owner, Paul Evans, who has taken such good care of him. The ten-year-old shire horse proudly stands at an incredible 21 hands from his hoof to the bottom of his neck (which is just under 7 feet). And if you measure to the top of his head, he’s an astounding 10 feet tall. When its owner, Paul Evans tried to ride it, it was a challenge. He says that his charming Sovereign can’t use a horse seat because of its size.
-Big Jake. Big Jake is a Belgian Gelding horse who has earned international fame for his exceptional height. He carries the unbelievable majestic 20 hands 2.75 in (210.19 cm, 82.75 in) and officially became the Tallest horse living when he was measured on 19 January 2010. Since he won the Guinness World Records title nine years ago, hundreds of visitors have crowded the Smokey Hollow Farm in Poynette, Wisconsin, USA to see the beautiful horse with their own eyes.
-Poe. Poe is a Clydesdale horse who was thought to be the world’s tallest horse and in 2009 his owner Shereen Thompson wanted the Guinness Book of World Records to confirm it. Miss Thompson, who has a farm in Tupperville, Ontario, measured now 20-year-old Poe at 20.2 hands – or 80.8 inches. He didn’t set a new record but still stands amongst the tallest horses in the world. This unbelievable battle horse needed a lot to eat, so he ate 99,2 pounds of grain and two liters of water every day of his life.
-Tina. Tina’s owners were the couple Jim and Marge Williams, who owned a hotel called Springbrook Inn, which also had a riding school.
-Remington. Remington was a Clydesdale horse born in Texas, United States. He is 80 inches in height and received the title of the tallest horse alive in 2008 by the Guinness World Record.
-Radar. Radar was a Belgian draft horse gelding born in 1998 in Mount Pleasant, Texas, who stood at a tremendous 1,8 meters and weighed over 1 000 kilos. He held the record of the world’s tallest horse by the Guinness Book of World Records from 2006 until 2009, and he toured the country and made public debuts on the Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show and Extreme Makeover. That’s until the Big Jake dethroned him.
-Cracker. Cracker is a shire horse born in 1989 in Somerset, England. A few years later, in 1992, he moved to Lincolnshire for the first time and became well known there.
-Goliath. This Shire horse has the name of a biblical giant and was born in 1992 in Canada. Goliath is so big it’s very hard for him to graze – his neck just isn’t long enough to get his mouth to the field. The horse has to stretch his front legs apart, like a foal, to reach the ground. At the beginning, its life wasn’t easy because of its big size since it was a foal.
