These giants of the horse world, bred for their size and strength, carried knights in heavy armor during the Middle Ages. Later, they plowed fields and hauled heavy carriages. Most of the breeds are named for their region of origin.

The most common style of Belgian horse in the United States is the modern style, which is longer-legged than the old style. Belgians are used extensively among loggers and farmers. They average sixteen to seventeen hands, range from 1,400 to 1,800 pounds, and can be sorrel, roan, or chestnut in color.

These big brown horses with flaxen manes and tails and fluffy fetlocks are best known as the Budweiser horses. The Clydesdale breed originated in Clyde Valley, Lancashire, Scotland, and were imported to the United States prior to the Civil War. Anheuser-Busch now owns the largest herd of Clydesdales in the world. Its breeding farms are located in St. Louis at Grant Farm — a wildlife preserve on land once farmed by Ulysses S. Grant — and near Los Angeles. The horses that haul the hitch are all geldings, stand at least eighteen hands, and are bay in color with a white blaze down their faces.

Gray or black in color, these heavy draft horses run an average of sixteen hands. The breed originated in France, about fifty miles southwest of Paris.