thumb|The stallion Orlik I, born in 1950
The Belarus Harness Horse, , 'Bielaruski zapražny koń', is a Belarusian breed of draught horse. It was bred for use in agriculture, and is also used to produce mare's milk and horsemeat.
History
The Belorusskaya was bred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, principally in the western part of what is now Belarus, which was for much of the twentieth century the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. The aim was to create an agricultural draught horse adapted to local conditions, capable of working on sandy, swampy or woodland terrain. Local mares, many of them of Polesian type, were put to imported stallions. The majority of these were of the Norwegian Dølehest draught breed, but there was also some Ardennes and Brabant influence. By the 1980s the breeding programme was close to completion; two volumes of the stud-book had been issued, in which 616 mares and 135 stallions were recorded.
In 1980 the total breed population was some , of which almost were pure-bred.
The breed was officially recognised in Belarus in 2000.
Characteristics
The Belarus Harness Horse usually stands between at the withers. The average height for mares is about , and for stallions and geldings is about more; average body weights are and respectively. The coat may be of any of the usual dark colours; striped dun and yellow also occur.
Use
The Belarus Harness Horse was initially bred for use in agriculture; it is also used to produce mare's milk and horsemeat. The milk yield is approximately per day, but may exceed in a lactation of 180 days.