Does anyone have experience with chunks? If so, what were the breeds? Thanks.

My first and best team was a pair of farm chunks. They were a Percheron/Walking horse cross. They were sisters and really worked well together. I bred them back to a Percheron stud and have two fillies out of them that were born on the same day, 15 minutes apart.The two mares weighed about 1250 Lbs, and stood about 15.3. They were a little fast when I first got them, but they were willing to learn and made a great team.

Chunks and broncs built this country up here. They all were breeding for bigger horses; very few purebreds other than stallions. My first team that I broke for myself was Belgian cross off a PMU line. Fellow lied to me, said they would mature at under 1400 pounds. The one I eventualy sold weighed 1600! Still the best pulling team I ever owned.
My favorite team that I have now are percheron cross from a PMU line. When they went out of business I bought their mother. Lets put it this way, a week ago last Sunday they pulled a heck of a lot better than than I thought they would have. Or could have; I knew if they were able to start it we would make 50 feet before they would have to blow again. We made it!
The other thing on chunks is they are cross bred so I think you get hybred vigor. Draft horses generaly die around 20, my Dads favorite mare was 27 before he sold her. She had worked hard for the first 10 years of her life than was a chore horse after that. 1961 was a sever drought or I think she would have died on the farm, I was only 8 and I can't remember it much.

The best chunk I ever owned was a half Percheron and half Morgan. Broke to ride and work, whatever you asked him to do he would do it. Raised many a garden with him, pulled a wagon, pulled out firewood, packed on also and rode him many miles in The Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Went on several camping trips with him. Always brought me back home safe and sound. Had him for 20 yrs, always told my wife if something happened to me to sell the other horses but try to always keep ole "Dan". Finally had to have him put down in "05". The ole boy's quality of life was gone. He couldn't hardly get around anymore, had ring bone and arthritis so one day we had the vet to put him down. He's buried in the pasture at his favorite place where he used to stand. He was 26.

Best horse I ever had was a 3/4 Percheron chunk. He'd do anything for me. Chunks tend to lack flash and chrome and they tend to not look like a barrel on stilts. All good qualities to my way of thinking. Nothing to be scared of with a decent chunk except a lack of the snob factor.

Thanks to all of you for your responses. I've always thought that chunks were the way to go for most hings, especially here in New England. i know that bigger horses were bred for bigger machines in the mid-west where it's often flat and the growing area is bigger. I am hopeing to eventually have something like a Canadien-Suffolk cross or an Ardennes-Suffolk crossed with a North Swedish. I like chunks, solid, plain, real-looking horses with heart and docility and sweetness. Hybrid vigor doesen't hurt either.

Excuse my ignorance, but what classifies as a "chunk"? I was told it was a short stocky draft as they were once bred, before taller became more desirable. My Perch (Canadian PMU foal) is 16 hands and a couple fellows told me she was a "chunk" horse because she is a little short compared to most American-bred Percherons.

A chunk was once said to under 1300 lbs down south and up to 1600 lbs up north. Never saw a height involved with this description. Draft cross and usable for many different things would be a good description. Most had a good drafty build. Well balanced would be another thing, body depth would have been 1/2 of their hieght. 16 hand horse would have 32 inches of daylight under them no more.Rest would have been chest.

Great horses but forget the hybrid vigor as hybrids are created by breeding same species with different chromosome counts (horse + donkey = mule or jenny which are hybrids). As you know these hybrids are generally sterile. Chunks are not sterile. Same goes with hybrid plants as well as animals.

Chunk-short, thick and can fit in my barn with low ceiling. Ceiling is such that any human at 6 feet hits his head on the manure track.

Correction: horse + donkey = mule or hinny ( not jenny as in last post. Sorry about that!

When an animal is crossbred that is considered hybred vigor. Think angus and hereford. Same amount of chromosomes. Hardier stock than parents. Used to hear that it was 7%? better in growth. I actualy have a gelbvieh angus cross cow in my herd that is a 1992 model. She has never missed with a calf, but was late onetime after a set of twins. Raised them both on her own. 3 years ago she had another set of twins but lost 1 to coyotes during the summer. Her mother made it 17 years with a same number of calves. I am not keeping her around just because of her purebred breeding! I realy want to see how long she keeps going. 1 heck of a celebration when she goes; not mean, just a real pain in the butt.

We will have to agree to disagree but do a little research and you will find crossbreeding brings out different traits, some good, some not so good. But crossbreeding does not create hybrids when male and female both have the same number of chromosomes. If I'm wrong I'll be glad to admit it but my college professors sure taught us that way in the early seventies (if my memory serves me correctly). Better again, I'll research it also. Also hybrid will not normally reproduce Thanx

Thru some fast research I found that all hybrids are not sterile, but a F1 hybrid must come from a cross between a plant or animal with different chromosome counts, Nuff said.

You are right!! I should have said crossbred vigor. Sorry about that! Dang nobody will ever beleive me now! But it has been proven some molly mules will breed. Never heard about it happening in the old days; maybe it's the extra feed and lack of use? I read they either go back to the donkey or horse side for total traits. Total horse or Donkey, not a cross anymore. Just interested what info you have seen about it.
PS. I am about your age and my teachers would be ashamed of me making that mistake 2X!

geb, hybrids do not have to be from parents of a different chromosome count. The parents can be of the same species but different populations and genetic make up, breeds. The resulting cross will a lot of the times out perform the parents due to heterosis or hybrid vigor but not always. There are hybrids like you are talking about, mules being a prime example, but there can be problems in getting animals of different chromosome counts to breed. Heterosis or hybrid vigor is one of the main reason black baldies and blue butted hogs out perform their parents. Also part of the definition of a species is animals able to breed and produce fertile offspring horses and donkeys are not of the same species, if you will check.