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You wouldn't need a crane to mount Goliath, the world's tallest living horse.
Then again, it wouldn't hurt.
Leslie Fish, a Hawthorne fifth-grader, has ridden Goliath before, and it took two people to boost her onto the horse's back.
Goliath is a 14-year-old Percheron draft horse who stands 19.1 hands tall. That's three to five hands taller than your typical horse and a hand or two higher than the average Percheron.
In all, Goliath stands 6-foot-5 from hoof to withers. He weighs 2,500 pounds, or 1 1/4 tons.
That's about double the average horse, and 500 pounds more than most Percherons.
"We weren't sure he'd fit," said Sheila Lowden of Missoula's Professional Farm Quarterhorses, where Goliath spent Friday night in a stall.
Goliath is so tall it's hard for him to graze - his neck just isn't long enough to get his mouth to grass. The horse has to stretch his front legs apart, like a foal, in order to reach the ground.
He goes through 18 pounds of Pilgrim's Pride Grain, 40 pounds of Coastal Bermuda hay and 20 gallons of water a day.
Owned by Priefert Ranch Equipment of Mount Pleasant, Texas, Goliath's claim to the title of world's tallest living horse is backed by the Guinness World Records, which in 2003 declared him such.
He replaced the previous listee by half an inch, according to Charles Woods.
Woods and his wife Guilda ferry Goliath around the country for promotional appearances at stores that sell Priefert products.
Born in Canada, Goliath was a wheel horse in a six-team hitch in Colorado when Bill Priefert purchased the team.
The team - named Texas Thunder by Priefert - still works promotional events, too. Indeed, Goliath was still a part of the team when it appeared at the Western Montana Fair in Missoula two years ago.
That's when Leslie Fish - whose father, Dave, is the saddlemaker at Quality Supply, where Goliath will be on display Saturday - got to ride him.
But after Goliath was certified as the world's tallest horse, he was broken off into his own one-horse show (although Goliath, as he will Sunday in Hamilton, occasionally reunites with his old teammates on the road).
Goliath makes 100 to 150 promotional appearances and travels 40,000 miles in his custom-built horse trailer every year.
When they're not on the road, Goliath and Texas Thunder live at Bill Priefert's ranch outside Mount Pleasant.
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2005/05/08/news/local/znews01.txt
Then again, it wouldn't hurt.
Leslie Fish, a Hawthorne fifth-grader, has ridden Goliath before, and it took two people to boost her onto the horse's back.
Goliath is a 14-year-old Percheron draft horse who stands 19.1 hands tall. That's three to five hands taller than your typical horse and a hand or two higher than the average Percheron.
In all, Goliath stands 6-foot-5 from hoof to withers. He weighs 2,500 pounds, or 1 1/4 tons.
That's about double the average horse, and 500 pounds more than most Percherons.
"We weren't sure he'd fit," said Sheila Lowden of Missoula's Professional Farm Quarterhorses, where Goliath spent Friday night in a stall.
Goliath is so tall it's hard for him to graze - his neck just isn't long enough to get his mouth to grass. The horse has to stretch his front legs apart, like a foal, in order to reach the ground.
He goes through 18 pounds of Pilgrim's Pride Grain, 40 pounds of Coastal Bermuda hay and 20 gallons of water a day.
Owned by Priefert Ranch Equipment of Mount Pleasant, Texas, Goliath's claim to the title of world's tallest living horse is backed by the Guinness World Records, which in 2003 declared him such.
He replaced the previous listee by half an inch, according to Charles Woods.
Woods and his wife Guilda ferry Goliath around the country for promotional appearances at stores that sell Priefert products.
Born in Canada, Goliath was a wheel horse in a six-team hitch in Colorado when Bill Priefert purchased the team.
The team - named Texas Thunder by Priefert - still works promotional events, too. Indeed, Goliath was still a part of the team when it appeared at the Western Montana Fair in Missoula two years ago.
That's when Leslie Fish - whose father, Dave, is the saddlemaker at Quality Supply, where Goliath will be on display Saturday - got to ride him.
But after Goliath was certified as the world's tallest horse, he was broken off into his own one-horse show (although Goliath, as he will Sunday in Hamilton, occasionally reunites with his old teammates on the road).
Goliath makes 100 to 150 promotional appearances and travels 40,000 miles in his custom-built horse trailer every year.
When they're not on the road, Goliath and Texas Thunder live at Bill Priefert's ranch outside Mount Pleasant.
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2005/05/08/news/local/znews01.txt
