by Traci Jacobs

ZooMontana has a new friend, Jake the American Belgian Draft horse. Jake was born in the Spring of 1989 and was raised as a work horse in an Amish community of Iowa. He came to Montana as part of a team of six Belgians and was used to pull wagons and sleighs. The zoo received him from Stacy Dietz. Jake worked hard for many years and is now fully retired because of asthma. His tail has been docked so it wouldn’t get caught in the machinery during his working days. The Rexfords wanted to share their wonderful giant with as many as they can. Jake is a true gentleman and very in tune to human emotions. He can tell when you’re having a bad day just by the tone of your voice. His favorite things in life are treats and to have his belly and butt scratched.

The Belgian draft horse outnumbers all other draft horses combined in the United States. Belgians are native to Belgium, as the name suggests. Belgium is a little country in the center of Western Europe that has the fertile soil and abundant rainfall needed to produce excellent pastures of hay and grains necessary to develop a heavy, powerful breed of horse. The Belgians were mainly working animals, but have become popular as show horses, gaming horses and trail riding horses. And although the overall percentage of draft breeds among American horses has declined, the number of Belgians has increased, possibly in part due to their amiable disposition and willingness to work.

Jake stands at 17.2 hands high (5’8” at the withers) and weighs 2100 lbs. The world’s largest Belgian horse, Brooklyn Supreme, was 19.2 hands high and weighed 3200 lbs. The tallest living horse is a Belgian Draft named Radar, a gelding born in 1998 in Iowa. He stands at 19.35 hands (6’7” at the withers) and weighs 2400 lbs.