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Bellau Wood Ardennes
Home of "Ally", America's First Born Ardennes Foal
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About Us
Bellau Wood Ardennes is a small farm located in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. While at a horse show in Florida in 2007
with our Gypsy Horses (we are also known as Mountain View Vanner Ranch), we met an amazing Belgian Ardennes stallion named Simba. That day, we knew that we would eventually add one of these magnificent horses to our herd. Two years later, Clover Oaks Alexandra was born. She was the first Ardennes foal to be born on US soil and only the 7th of the breed in the country. It was love at first sight.
The Ardennes type draught horse is the basic root of all the heavy draught breeds that exist today.
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ARDENNES HORSE
by J.C. Hewitt, The Joy of Horses, October 1998
The Ardennes type draught horse is the basic root of all the Heavy Draught breeds that exist today. As the Arab is to the light horse, the Ardennes is to the heavy. As a direct descendent of the Solutrian horse (50,000 BC) that roamed the basins of the Rhone, Saone and Meuse in great numbers during the Palaeolithic period and soon spread to cover the whole geographical Ardennes region, it is true cold-blooded horse. There is evidence to show that the horse stood no more than 15hh at this time. They have been around relatively unchanged since the last ice-age 15,000 years ago.
The needs of successive wars oscillating across Europe have, as much as the land and the climate, conditioned the evolution of this horse. There is much documented evidence to illustrate this.
Julius Caesar (100 - 44 BC) declares in his commentaries that "the horses of the second Belgium" are "rustic, hard and tireless" and he recommended their use "in heavy cavalry work". All the Roman emperors after him used the breed to good effect.
Geoffrey of Boullion a nobleman from a town of that name in southern modern day Belgium, in the heart of the Ardennes, rode off to the Levant on crusade in 1096 on his Ardennes stallion. The return of men to Europe on Arab horses marked the introduction of Arabian blood to European horses. The knights of the Middle Ages found the sturdy, compact good tempered horses of the Ardennes, strong and tireless chargers, easily carry the weight of men in full armour into battle.
Moving through into the 17th and 18th centuries the royal armies obtained a great number of remounts for their cavalry from the Ardennes region. These horses were small but noted for their hardiness, sobriety and endurance. The reports and memoirs of the military men of the day mention the Ardennes as being "the main artisan of rapid displacement" (such as that of the artillery, munitions and fighting corps) exacted by the strategy of the emperor. It is said that Napoleon owed his return to Niemen to his Ardennes cavalry. Having withstood the cold and privations that had destroyed over 10,00 horses, they were harnessed to the supply corps wagons to pull them through axle deep mud and snow, on his return from his Russian campaign.
Through into modern times the Ardennes was heavily involved in both world wars and the horses of the region did their bit. Many thousands were used pulling supply vehicles, harnessing their strength and docility. They could work through the deep mud unlike motor vehicles. When killed or mortally they provided much needed food for the troops, unlike the twisted remains of their metallic counterparts.
Today the Ardennes horse comes in many disguises. The basic breed has stud books in Belgium 1886, France 1908 and Luxembourg 1921. (In 1936 The National Society for Belgian Draught Horses split into two separate stud books, the Belgian Heavy Draught horse and the Ardennes). There is also a stud book in Sweden, where they have maintained pure bred Ardennes dating from 1840's imports, and a small but hopefully growing stud book here in the UK (The Ardennes Horse Society of Great Britain). All the above stud books register a similar type of horse and are mutually compatible and accept each others horses.
The rugged landscape, harsh climate, poor soil and cold winters of the Ardennes Plateau have contributed to the development of the Ardennes horse. They are small, sturdy, very strong, yet tractable breasts. With the movements of people across Europe, the horses have moved with them and different types have emerged. Moved to better land with better climates they have become bigger and more massive, hence the Brabant or Heavy Belgian Draught in the north and the huge Trait du Nord in the east of France. Most of the heavy breeds still look much like them, the Comtois, Breton, Dutch Draught and the old German, Polish and USSR breeds.
In the definitive work on the Ardennes horse "Le cheval Aredennais" by P-P Pastoret et al (ISBN 2-86326-133-9) in French, is a lovely photograph of a horse "Mathieu" taken in 1877, looking much like an old fashioned Welsh cob or Van horse, a small, neat, snappy horse with many uses. However in recent times the Ardennes horses have become bigger. Following the decimation of their numbers in both world wars particularly the first, bigger Belgian Heavy Draught stalions were used to breed up the numbers. This created bigger horses for farm and forestry work, and also the meat trade. The effects on the breed were not entirely beneficial.
Now Ardennes breeders have seen he light and are looking to go forward towards the smaller more versatile horses like "Matieu", and in the last twenty years the horses are showing their true type. All over Europe they are still used in commercial firestry, on farms and they are regularly used for competitive private driving. A number of Ardennes are being used by the Rising for the Disabled Associations and also as general, sturdy riding horses in the UK. They are suprisingly fast, nimble, strong and good tempered, traits that have been documented for the past two thousand years.
Our Mare - Clover Oaks Alexandra
Clover Oaks Alexandra, AKA "Ally"
Foaled May 6, 2008
Simba due Pond de Tournay x Katy de Chevemont
Color DNA: Ee, AA
Belgian Draft Horse Corporation of America, Registration #M1259169
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Ally is a super-special girl! She was only the 7th Ardennes in the United States, and was the FIRST to be born on US soil. She is a stellar representative of her breed. She is a bay roan.
Her dam is Katy and sire is Simba, both from Clover Oaks Farm. Her breeders traveled to Belgium and carefully selected the foundation breeding stock that they would bring back to this country.
Photo Gallery
Click a photo to see it full-screen & uncropped.
For Sale
We don't have any Ardennes for sale yet, but we will in the coming years when Ally is old enough to be a mom. However, her breeder, Clover Oaks Farm, in Florida currently has Ally's full brother for sale! They were fantastic to work with and we highly recommend them :)
Colt born 1/28/10
Contact Us!
Elizabeth & Matthew Sescilla
Tel: 828-275-9826
Email: ECSescilla_aol.com
http://www.mountainviewvanners.com
Call or email to schedule an appointment.
Breed Info - Ardennes Breed Standard
Intro / History
GENERAL
The Ardennes is essentially a compact heavy draught breed, possessing a great muscular development combined with style activity. Good posture and conformation with plenty of quality bone, should give an impression of balance strength and power.
HEIGHT
Height must not be at the expense of bone and/or fine quality musculature.
Stallions: 15hh [1m53cm] to 16.3hh [1m64cm]
Mares: 14.2hh [1m48cm] to 16.2hh [1m62cm]
COLOUR
All colours permitted, except part-coloured (piebald/skewbald). No white markings permitted on head in stallions. In mares a little white below fetlock is allowed (but not encouraged), nowhere else except on head.
HEAD
Intelligent expression, flat (snub) nose or rectilinear profile. Pronounced eye sockets, eyes large and docile. Ears pointing forwards. Forehead flat or concave. Large well-opened nostrils. Must avoid long heavy heads, drooping lips, misshapen ears, domed foreheads.
NECK
Medium length, well set on, with full arched crest in stallions.
BODY
Stocky, expressing mass, density and power. Chest ample and deep, close to ground. Back and loins, powerful and well supported. Haunches large and wide, hindquarters long and well muscled, low set tails are common but not to be encouraged.
LIMBS
Long supported shoulders. Arm, forearm, and legs very muscular, short and hard. Joints set wide and well defined. Clean cut tendons. Neat round feet with hard blue/brown horn. Not excessively hairy. Avoid fat and puffy joints, spindly limbs, lumpy or spongy bone, hollow knees or outward turning toes.
ACTION
Correct and above all active and energetic.
CARRIAGE
Powerful proud and purposeful.
Photo Copyright The Pelton Vanners.
Under Construction!
Ardennes Stallions
Quality Stallions in the USA & Overseas
Name Year of Height Color Pedigree Offspring
Birth
Simba TBA TBA Bay Roan TBA Offspring TBA
Honorary Gypsies
3-22-10: Ivy x Limerick foal is due!
1-10-10: Clover had a filly!!!
Congratulations to Clover and
Limerick on a lovely baby girl ~
and Happy Birthday, Abigail!
We have twelve wonderful dogs, all of whom are rescues (some from shelters, irresponsible "backyard breeders", neglectful/abusive situations, and some who just needed new homes). We love them all and are happy to be able to give them the kind of life every dog deserves.
"Cool Hand Luke", Great Dane
Rhodesian Ridgeback
German Shorthaired Pointer
Hound Mix
Great Dane
Major died of bloat complicated by Dilated Cardiomyopathy at the age of 6. We loved him so much!
Gracie was an old gal, and she died of natural causes at the age of about 15 years.
Gavin died of Intestinal Lymphoma at the age of 4. He was such a sweet boy.
Samantha died of cardiac arrest due to significant damage to her heart valves caused by Heartworm infection. She was treated for heartworms, but the damage was too severe by the time we adopted her.
