Do Drafties Have the Best Horse Sense?

I have had so much grief from normal horse owners who love to tell me that my beautiful draft/heavy horses are not only big but also of low intelligence which makes them so docile! (Gritted my teeth) Well today, I had an experience that proved me right (again) about drafts. My boys hang out in a large field which runs up the side of a hill. The wet weather has made coming downt he hill treacerous, especially when you weigh around 1 tonne. One of my poor boys looked like he was skiing because of the mud. I called to them to bring them in tonight but for the first time ever, they wouldn't come and stayed at the top of the hill. Thinking they were just being bad boys I marched up to them and put on headcollars to try and lead them down the hill...but nope, the oldest one wasn't having it and called the younger one back up the hill dragging me with them. Instead my older boy seemed to say 'follow me'. So when a Clydie won't do as I want, I decided to see what HE wanted me to do. Well he led me to another gate which led out onto a totally flat, mud free track. I never knew it was there. By this time we were all soaking wet, covered in mud up to the Clydes knees and the top of my wellies but you know what...my boys probably saved me from a nasty accident trying to lead them down a steep muddy slope. These will never be sold, not for all the money in the world.

I don't know if Ahab, Percheron, is any smarter than was Djinn, Arabian. But his quiet nature and proclivity for thinking before reacting means that he can carry out all sorts of nefarious plots successfully. I could never admit that Ahab is smarter than Djinn because of loyalty to my beloved ex-Arab, but... an impartial observer, looking at just their behavior, would be forced to name Ahab as the more clever of the two.

I think it just depends on the individual horse. My husband's draft cross sometimes seems a bit vacant upstairs - but we still love him anyways.

All horses are very intelligent. I'm currently reading "Inside Your Horse's Mind" by Lesley Skipper. It's extremely insightful and puts forth the idea that horses have a very advanced cerebral cortex that makes them more astute than your common canine. I've never had to deal with someone acussing me of owning a daft draft but I certainly would have to assist them in understanding the virtues of the breed. Stupidity being far from one of their traits. The book does state that horses who are more traveled show greater ability to interact with their owners and display better manners. Since drafts tend to be used more in public situations (pulling carriages, etc) perhaps the drafts are truly smarter!

I'm partial to my drafts.

This thread has had a number of posts removed and been reopened.

Like Ashleysmardigrasgirl astutely pointed out in her reply to some of the comments this thread received in the exchange that has since been removed, the commenters evidently didn't notice or respect the fact that this thread was started in the Draft Horses forum, which is dedicated to the discussion of draft horses.

The Draft Horses forum is, in part, for the purpose of allowing draft owners to discuss their thoughts about the breed(s), so it's only natural that draft owners might post things that appear to exalt drafts in it. So long as draft owners don't disparage other breeds, it is inappropriate for other members to flagellate draft owners for sharing their thoughts about drafts in the Draft Horses forum.

The OP clearly meant no harm or insult to anyone or their horses in sharing her experience in this thread, its title notwithstanding. Please respect the fact that the Draft Horses forum is a place where draft owners are encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences in your reply, and please abstain from replying if you simply don't care for such thoughts.

I'll stick with my drafts as well
My gelding will climb inside the round bale feeder if the other horses won't let him eat around it with them, kind of solves the problem, he gets all the hay he wants... Then he'll be a turd and pee in it when he's done getting what he wants.

I don't know about that. Norman's dumber than a fence post. I think he has nothing but muscle where his brains should be.

Can't help but like him, though. He's got a good heart. For the most part.

We love our clyde x to bits regardless so I don't care if she's smart or not
I will say that when it comes down to training she can seem to be as thick as a brick and needs more time to make sure she's absorbed it and doesnt get confused
HOWEVER
In terms of being 'streetwise' I would say she would be far more capable of getting herself out of trouble or staying out of trouble than any of our others who seem to go out looking for things to get stuck in or impale themselves on as she makes up for what she lacks in some ways by having shed loads of common sense

The draft x I lease is not particularly clever. However, "horse sense" might mean calm and unflappable. He is calm and his reactions to spooky things are less explosive, but I have known much more level headed horses than him.