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Drum Horses
What is a Drum horse anyway?
If you're lucky enough to
have a copy of the book, "All The Queen's Horses", you'll notice
that The Drum Horse breed is defined simply as "A colored Shire Horse".
More specifically, a colored Shire Horse trained for a specific and
highly respected job.
These horses are used by the British regimental Cavalry for
parades and events, to carry a drummer and 2 solid silver
kettle drums. They are generally over 16.2 hands, although
anything with the breed characteristics that is over 16 hands is
generally considered a Drum horse. Drum Horses are
strong enough to carry the weight of a full grown man along with
the two, 90 pound kettle drums, and all accompanying gear (which can weigh upwards of 450
lbs total)! A drum horse must have an exceptional disposition, as
they are used in events that would test the character of even
the most reliable and steady horse. Drumhorses are controlled only by the feet of the drummer
during parades and events, so they have to be incredibly well mannered and very even
tempered. Can you imagine most horses parading calmly
through the streets of one of the largest cities in the world,
with thousands of people and general chaos all around, and doing
it all with someone on their back beating two deafening kettle
drums?
Drum
horses are one of the most-seen, and familiar horses in British
Pageantry. No royal procession is complete without at
least one drum horse leading the way.
Drum horses are extremely rare, with
very few being raised anywhere in the world. At
one time, colored Shire Horses were common, and could
even be registered in the studbook of The Shire Horse
Society (UK). The downfall of the colored Shire
Horse came when it was decided that the piebald &
skewbald colors would no longer be accepted in the
registry. It didn't take long for these horses to
fall out of favor amongst Britain's breeders. Many
of these horses found their way into Gypsy's hands,
which made perfect horses to pull the much heavier
waggons of the time. These horses provided many of
the qualities we see in the modern Gypsy Cob.
Here is a rare photo, circa 1909, showing the
Great-Grandfather of one of our Gypsy breeders holding a horse of his at
the time. This is a great illustration of the old colored Shire
Horses beginning to show up within Gypsy circles. Note the size of
the horse compared to the man, as well as the larger, roman nose of the
horse - so common in the Shire and Clydesdale. This is the kind of
horse you'd have used to pull the heavy Reading wagons of the time.
It is very rare nowadays to run across Drum Horses from the original
Colored Shire lines, so the breeding practices used today are aimed towards
re-creating that original colored Shire Horse. We still have the
ingredients to create the breed, so simply need to re-combine them. We use the Gypsy Horse for the
color, and the Shire/Clydesdale for everything else. As we
progress through our breeding practices, we breed back to the
Shire/Clydesdale to bring back the draft horse 'type' and size, while
maintaining the color we originally took back from the Gypsy.
Here at BFSGH, we have the honor of owning and standing the father of
the Drumhorse in North America. Galway Warrior was previously
owned by the Queen of England, where he was trained as a Drum Horse and
used in their breeding program. You
can learn more about Warrior on his webpage. The ONLY
way to create true traditional drum horses is to: a)
breed two large gypsy and/or drum horses together, or b) breed
a gypsy horse to a Clydesdale or a Shire.
Clydesdales, Shires, and Gypsy horses are basically the
same type of cold-blooded horse, with close heritage and
obvious similarities in body types. Shires and
Clydesdales crossed with gypsy horses will breed true to
type, and the outcome will be consistently predictable.
Note:
In order for a horse to be a traditional drum horse, it
must have feather. Breeding a non-feathered horse
to a feathered one will not produce a drum horse.
If you breed a gypsy horse stallion to a draft mare
without feather, you will get a spotted draft. If
you breed a gypsy or drum stallion to light breed mare,
you will get a warmblood/sporthorse. It
takes several generations for feather to return once it
has been bred out. There is a current trend in the
US for some dealers to call spotted draft horses "Drum
Horses" to try to cash in on the market. Don't be
fooled.
Breyer® Porcelain Model of a Drum horse.
Examples of Drum Horses
Galway Warrior, our TRUE British Drum horse. He was once owned by
the Queen of England, and stood in the Royal Stables as a drum horse sire, as well
as fulfilling duties as a drum carrier. Galway Warrior is a 3/4
Shire, by the immortal Black Shire stallion Edingale Mascot and a
half-shire colored mare.
Warrior stands 17.1hh, and is standing at stud at Black Forest Shires
and Gypsy Horses. More info on him can be found on Galway
Warrior's page
This is Monarch. A 4
year old Drum Horse Stallion bred by us.
He is sired by Galway Warrior, and his Dam is our champion Shire mare,
Gracie.
This is Rebel. He is also a 4-year old Drumhorse Stallion sired
by Warrior, and out of a Shire mare named Charcoal.
And this shot is of the two stallions working together as a team.
These boys are shown here in competition at the 2008 National Western
Draft Horse Show.
Pippin - Drum Horse
Mare. See Pippin's page for more
details
DRUM HORSES FOR SALE!
Drum horses
are rare and very hard to find anywhere in the world. We are
breeding for these at our farm. These are the drum horse foals
which are currently available for sale.
In 2003, the Breyer®
company selected two horses from BFSGH to be immortalized as special
event models, and featured as special guests at BreyerFest®
that summer. Our Shire mare, Gracie, was the celebration horse,
and Warrior made his appearance as well. Breyer made a special
model of Warrior in fine, gloss porcelain. A very limited number
were made, and they sold out quickly.
Click Here to read more about Gracie
and Warrior's BreyerFest experience.
The bottom of this poster is the Breyer Porcelain model of Galway
Warrior, our drum horse stallion.
For more on Warrior, see Warrior's Page.
More
pictures of Drum Horses
Picture (of a picture) of the 2001 line up of drum horses in service in
England.
Constantine. A sabino Clydesdale currently in service with the
Household Cavalry.
Spartacus in action!
Spartacus in his stall at the Royal Barracks in London. Dinner
time!
Drum Horses at work
A really nice handmade
model that is on display at the Household Cavalry Museum in Windsor,
England. The Military men there were kind enough to take it out of
the case so that I could get some nice pictures (but weren't kind enough
to turn their backs long enough for me to stuff it under my coat :>)
just kiddin!
Our boy Thomas (the boss) explains drum horses to some other visitors.
Thanks a bunch
for the HHRC of GB for arranging our tour, and to service men of the
Royal Barracks at Hyde park for giving us a private look at how things
are run in the Queen's stables!
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