Flemish Horse

For the sailing rig, see Flemish horse (rigging).
"Vlaams Paard" redirects here. For the South African breed, see Vlaamperd.

Flemish Horse
Conservation statusDAD-IS (2024): at risk/critical[1]
Other names
  • Vlaams Paard
  • Cheval flamand
  • Flamand
  • Gros trait du Hainaut
  • Flanders Horse
Country of originBelgium
Traits
Height
  • 1.65–1.75 m[2]: 164 
Colourusually flaxen chestnut
Harrison Weir, 1861, Flemish Horse (right) with Clydesdale (left) and Cleveland Bay (behind)
Engraving after Louis Eugène Lambert, 1869

The Flemish Horse, Dutch: Vlaams Paard, French: Cheval Flamand, is a Belgian breed of heavy draught horse. It originates in – and is named for – Flanders, the northern part of Belgium, where its history goes back to Mediaeval times. In the late nineteenth century it was merged with the other heavy horses of Belgium into the Belgian Draught.

It was re-created in the late twentieth century and recognised as a breed in 2005. In the twenty-first century it is an endangered breed, with fewer than a hundred living animals.

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  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference elise was invoked but never defined (see the help page).