Big, bigger, biggest: Which horse is the tallest?

Radar is just 1/4 shy of 20 hands.

I received a comment earlier this week about Radar, suggesting that he is no longer the world’s tallest horse. Radar, a Belgian draft horse, stands at 19.3 1/2 hands and is currently listed as the tallest living horse in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Previous Posts about Radar:

Equine Sublime or Ridiculous?

Move Over Radar

I’ve done a bit more research and discovered that there are indeed other contenders.

At 20 hands, Tina was the tallest horse on the planet. When she died in 2008 she was still growing.
At 20 hands, Tina was the tallest horse on the planet. When she died in 2008 she was still growing.

Until last year, when she died at age 4, there was Tina a shire horse that stood 20 hands (80 inches at the withers). In 2007, she was measured by representatives from the Guinness Book of World Records and awarded the top spot.

Sadly, she died in April 2008. She had been brought to Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in Alabama a veterinary clinic for  a musculoskeletal problem, lay down and was unable to get up. She was still growing. Who knows how tall she would have ended up!

Noddy sticks at 20.1 hands and is only 5 years old.

The newest challenger is Luscombe Nodram, or Noddy. At 5 years old, he already stands 20.1 hands tall. He is certainly the tallest horse in Australia and quite possibly the tallest horse in the world.

Noddy also holds the distinction of being one of only two gray shire horses in Australia.

Noddy weighes in at about 1.3 tons, so his owner has to hope he never steps on her foot.

The tallest horse in Britain is Cracker, a 16 year old Shire gelding who stands 19.2 hands. I’d love to know how his rider mounts him! Step ladder, perhaps?

Cracker is 19.2 hands. He sure makes his rider look short!
Cracker is 19.2 hands. He sure makes his rider look short!
Morocco was measured as 21.2 hands in 1904.

One of the tallest horse recorded in history was Morocco, a Percheron/Arab cross who whose height was recorded as 21.2 hands in 1904. Morocco was exhibited at the St. Louis World’s Fair.

10 thoughts on “Big, bigger, biggest: Which horse is the tallest?

  1. Not sooo fast on who gets the record please. It might just stay in TX. Our Clydesdale Remington stands over 20 hands and we too are awaiting word from Guiness.

  2. Hmm…I’m not even sure how big my Percheron is, but I know she’s at or over 18 and a pain in the ass to mount lol

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