Italian fast heavy draught agricultural horse

At the end of the 19th century in Italy the need for a domestically produced heavy horse suitable for both agricultural work and shooting was becoming increasingly pressing. In fact, heavy horses were regularly bred on farms in the Po Valley without, however, there being a precise racial and qualitative orientation. Targeted cross-breeding experiments were therefore carried out, introducing stallions belonging to the most famous heavy breeds into the horse population in those areas: Breton, Ardennese and Belgian, Percheron and English breeds. The best qualitative results were achieved with the Norflok and Breton breeding stock, consequently from 1910 onwards the breeding direction for the most part was identified with the use of Breton stallions in crossbreeding with the local brood mare population. The subsequent selective mixing of the selection products gave rise to a separate strain that, in the years following 1945, was called the 'Italian Fast Heavy Draft Horse' (T.P.R.). Since the end of the 1970s, there has been a process of reconversion of the breed that has led to accentuating the vocation for meat production, without neglecting those characteristics of morphological correctness, elegance and above all nevrility and brilliance of movement that constitute the original selective heritage.

At present, the Stud Book of the Italian Heavy Italian Draft Horse can count around 6,000 head registered with 950 breeding farms distributed in different regions. The main areas involved in the selection are those of origin (Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Friuli), but also Umbria, Abruzzo and Latium; considerable expansion has also taken place in the South and in particular in the regions of Apulia and Campania. The objectives of the selection include rapid growth with good muscle masses and diameters and the production of subjects with an adult live weight of between 700 and 950 kg. The original use of the Italian heavy rapid draft horse for work, although it has become secondary, has not been completely abandoned. In some mountain areas, in fact, breeding animals are still used for small farm work, haymaking and logging. Lastly, its use for amateur attacks is also expanding considerably: in fact, many breeders regularly train and attack their horses.