Biggest Horse in the World

The biggest horse in the world, as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records, is Big Jake. He is a Belgian gelding who resides in Smokey Hollow Farm close to Poynette, Wisconsin.

Big Jake, who was measured at nine years of age, is 20 hands and 2 and ¾ inches tall. His size is a quarter short of six feet and eleven inches, measured from his hooves up to his shoulder blades.

Previous Record Holders

Big Jake topped the previous record holder for the biggest horse in the world, Remington, a Clydesdale raised in Princeton, Texas. Remington stands about 6 feet and eight inches tall, or about 20 hands in height.

Remington’s measurement however is only an approximation as his owner claims that she never could get him to stand still long enough to take his measurements as accurately as possible.

Remington weighed in at 2,900 pounds when he was measured and he wears horseshoes that are whopping size 10. He is also known as Conan the Destroyer as he loves breaking things and those that he can’t break, he eats.

Previous to Remington, there was another record holder for the world’s tallest horse. Radar, a Belgian draft horse also raised in Texas particularly in Fort Worth; stands at 19 hands and 3 and ½ inches tall.

His height is pegged at approximately six feet and seven and one-half inches.

Another title holder is Noddy or Luscombe Nordram, an Australian horse that stands at 19.2 hands tall. He is directly descended from another previously considered tallest horse in the world, Ladbrook Invader.

Horse Tidbits

Did you know that a horse can sleep either standing up or lying down? This is perhaps because they have a strong instinct to flee from predators hence; they want to always be on their toes, so to speak.

They also have a very good sense of balance preventing them from falling over when walking, galloping or standing still.

Mares, or the female of the species, carry their young for up to eleven months. A young horse, called a foal, can already stand on their feet and run just a few moments after being born.

A horse becomes fully developed at the age of five and it can live up to thirty years.

There are three classifications for horses: hot bloods, cold bloods and warm bloods. Hot bloods are known for their excellent speed as well as endurance; cold bloods are known as draft horses suitable as work horses; while warm bloods are a crossbreed of the hot bloods and the cold bloods.