Caractéristiques morphologiques des juments de Trait belge

Belgian draft mares were measured when visiting their owners. The mean wither height of at least 4-year-old mares (n = 207) was 1.64 m and the girth circumference 2.22 m. Compared with the wither height, the hip height was 1 % higher (1.655 m) and the body length 8 % higher (1.775 m). The mean cannon circumference was about 30 cm. The wither height, the body length and the girth circumference of the 2-year-old mares ( n = 39) represented respectively 98 %, 96 % and 94 % of the corresponding measurements of the group of older mares ( at least 4 years old). The morphological characteristics of these last ones, compared with results published about 50 years ago, show that the wither height remained identical whereas body length and width seem to have slightly increased.