Back in April of 2013, an article I wrote for Paw Nation about the largest living horse was published. In that article, I mentioned that Shires are considered the largest of all draft-horse breeds. Other gentle giants include Percherons, Clydesdales, Belgian drafts, Nivernais and Suffolk punch horses.
Also, in researching that article, I discovered that the Guinness Book of World Records no longer used weight as a category for living things, but they were still using height and a horse named Big Jake held the record for horses that were alive when I wrote the article. A horse named Samson (later named Mammoth) held the all time record. He was also a Shire.
As I mentioned in my last post, I’m following up on some of those earlier articles. Unfortunately I found out when researching updates about the tallest living horse that Big Jake passed away in June of 2021 at the age of 20. My condolences go out to the folks who loved him. He was obviously an awesome pet and a giant among horses.
Further research led me to discover Phantom, a 7 year old shire, who measures in at only one inch less than Big Jake had been. Phantom lives at a draft rescue farm after being given up by his previous owners because he had outgrown his accommodations. He has recently become a tiktok star. He’s adorably goofy in the video.
@gentlegiantsdraftrescue Have you met Phantom yet? At 7 years old, this handsome Shire stands at 20.1 hands tall! #bigasshorse #gentlegiant #shirehorse #draftrescue ♬ Good Day – Nappy Roots
Paw nation is no longer an active site, but my original article, “WHAT IS THE LARGEST HORSE THAT IS ALIVE?,” is now published on Moms dot com in the pets category.