Rural Heritage June/July 2025

Disposition and Heart

keep the sacred craft of working draft animals and horses going into the future, we will need animals with great dispositions that make them easier to work with for beginners and the next generation of teamsters to come. This is where the American Brabant horses really shine, and, as we continue to breed in this direction, we will develop a consistent supply of smaller, working-type horses with great dispositions. As we discussed in the article, Building a Breed, in the February/March issue of Rural Heritage , the American Brabant breed, in essence, is a cross between a European Belgian and an American Belgian (and sometimes Percheron). The horses tend to be well muscled with a conformation well-suited for work in the fields or woods. Today, some ABA owners and breeders are adding imported German Rhenish coldblood breeding to the mix in order to produce a more athletic and nimble horse while maintaining the calm and reliable disposition already existing in the American Brabant breed. The Coldbloods were imported in 2022 as colts, and proved themselves to be easy to train. In Wyoming, Wes Lupher used Ajax — once he was old enough — to work in his multiple hitches making hay, skidding logs and feeding hay in the winter. “He's intelligent, willing and able. He has an innate work ethic. The generations of breeding and careful selection show, ” Wes wrote on a Facebook post. In northern Missouri, Dave Mires has been using American Brabant mares to raise mules. He explains how he went from raising Belgian mules to raising American Brabant mules. “I've been raising mules several years, and I was looking for a way to put more bone on my mules. I sell mule colts. I sell them as colts. A mule is just going to work his whole life. He cannot reproduce. His main function in life is to pull the plow or whatever you hook him to. That's what he's going to do. So I was looking for more bone to put on my mules. I saw an ad for an American Brabant stallion and I thought, man, look at the bone on that. And

by Joe Mischka T alk to someone who owns an American Brabant draft horse, and it won’t be long before they tell you about their horses’ temperament and disposition. They’ll tell you their horse is calm, eager to please, attentive and a quick learner. I asked American Brabant owner Cameron Genter to explain what he likes about the breed. “The disposition of the American Brabant is one of the main reasons I love working with and training American Brabants on our operation at Light Root Community Farm in Boulder, Colo. We use them for a variety of tasks including plowing, discing, planting, cultivating, manure spreading, mowing, raking, baling and anything else you can think of doing on the farm. There are other great breeds and horses out there, but we have focused on helping build up the ABA breed as an efficient working type horse. We are really focusing on temperament and disposition so we can have an easier time training and doing all the farm tasks. “Especially, when it comes to training, I have found most American Brabant horses are just easier to start. I still take my time starting them single — and I'm in no hurry — but by the time I hook them up in a team for some light work at 2 to 3 years old, it's usually a stress free, ho-hum, no big deal job. They act like they have been working for years. “We also have a nonprofit learning and wellness center as part of our farm where we work with a variety of people with less experience being around horses. The American Brabant temperament has always been mellow and makes folks more comfortable learning and being around work horses. This includes teaching new teamsters, from high school kids to adults, how to work with draft animals. “The world has changed a lot. While we have great interest from folks who want to learn more about working with horses and other draft animals, most of them didn't grow up on farms and don't have much animal handling experience. If we are going to

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