A Shire horse named Hugo has officially been recognised as the world’s tallest living horse – and he is still growing.
Hugo, from Towcester in Northamptonshire, stands at 19.2 hands high (199cm, or 6ft 6in) at the withers – the ridge at the base of his neck.
Horses are traditionally measured in hands, a unit of measurement which equates to four inches (10.16cm).
A vet measured Hugo without shoes to guarantee an accurate measurement for Guinness World Records.
The young horse’s owner, Brett Masters of Tove Valley Shire Horses, said that both of Hugo’s parents were of average size, and his exceptional height came as something of a surprise.
Mr Masters acquired Hugo when the equine was just 18 months old. He will not be fully grown for another three years, as heavy horses like Shires take longer to mature physically than other breeds.
Due to his extraordinary size, the horse requires close medical monitoring, including regular examinations from veterinarians and an equine dentist.
Shire horses are among the largest equine breeds in the world. They typically stand up to 18 hands high (183cm or 6ft) and weigh between 1,875-2,425 pounds (850-1,110kg).
Originating in England in the mid-1700s, they were historically used for ploughing heavy clay soils, as cart horses, and for towing wagons and barges.
Their size and strength made them valuable working animals, but the growing mechanisation of agriculture over the coming centuries meant that there was less and less need for heavy horses.
The total number of Shire horses had fallen from about a million to just a few thousand by the 1960s, and today they are considered “at risk” by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.
The tallest and heaviest horse ever documented was also a Shire gelding.
Named Sampson, and later renamed Mammoth, he was bred by Thomas Cleaver of Toddington Mills in Bedfordshire. He was recorded at 21.2 hands high (2.19m, or 7ft 2.5in) in 1850 and estimated to weigh 3,360 pounds (1,520 kg).
Big Jake, who lived from 2001 to 2021, is the second-tallest horse on record. The American Belgian Draft horse, who lived on a farm in Wisconsin, was measured in 2010 at nearly 20.3 hands high (210cm or 6ft 10in).
Hugo is included among the new record holders featured in Guinness World Records 2027.
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