Engler Farm on Mulberry Hill

09/04/2026

🐴 Julius Caesar wrote about the heavy horses of the Ardennes plateau in his account of the Gallic Wars — and today France registers only about 547 Ardennais foals a year.

The Ardennais comes from the plateau where France, Belgium and Luxembourg meet. It is usually described as the oldest heavy draft breed in Europe, with ancestors bred in those forests for something close to two thousand years. Caesar called the horses of that region rustic, hard and tireless, and recommended them for heavy cavalry.

Breed literature holds that Napoleon had Arabian blood introduced to add stamina, and that Ardennes horses hauled the Grande Armée's wagons and guns into Russia in 1812. That account comes from breeders rather than from army records, and the familiar line that the Ardennais was the only type hardy enough to survive the retreat from Moscow is folklore, not documented fact.

The horse itself is real enough. Stallions stand 1.54 to 1.66 metres, mares 1.52 to 1.64. Roan and bay are preferred; black is excluded from the register. The French stud-book began in 1908 at Mézières.

The official 2022 figures from France's IFCE: 547 births, 1,100 breeding mares, 177 active stallions, 296 breeders. Births are down about 13% since 1995.

Have you ever worked with a draft breed whose numbers are falling?

09/03/2026

08/30/2026

For the first time in 200 years, a Przewalski’s foal has been born in the wild steppes of Central Kazakhstan.

It is a major win for conservation — and the species.

The arrival of a healthy male foal on August 22, 2026, at the Alibi Reintroduction Centre within the Altyn Dala State Nature Reserve has ignited hope for the survival of the world's last truly wild horse species.

Born to Tessa, a seven-year-old mare transported to Kazakhstan from Germany in 2024, the newborn represents the first natural birth of its kind in the Kazakh steppes in two centuries. This historic event follows a decades-long reintroduction campaign led by international conservation groups, which aims to return the highly endangered species—once completely extinct in the wild—to its ancestral grasslands.

Przewalski’s horses, which differ genetically from domestic horses and have never been successfully domesticated, vanished from Central Asia by the mid-20th century due to habitat loss and hunting. Now, thanks to collaborative efforts between local authorities, Prague Zoo, and other global partners, a burgeoning population is slowly reclaiming its native home. While the young foal does not yet have a name, his early steps alongside his attentive mother represent a critical milestone in restoring the ecological balance and cultural heritage of the Central Asian steppes.

source: Hale, T. (2026). This Is The First Przewalski's Horse Born In The Steppes Of Central Kazakhstan For 200 Years. IFLScience.