World’s tallest living horse Hugo could grow even taller, says owner

A four-year-old Shire horse from Towcester, Northamptonshire, has entered the record books as the world’s tallest living horse — and he may still have more growing to do.

Hugo has reached an “abnormal” 199 cm — about 6.5 ft to the withers — with his height officially assessed by a vet and measured without shoes to ensure accuracy, according to Guinness World Records 2027.

Owner Brett Masters of Tove Valley Shire Horses said he acquired Hugo at 18 months with no idea he was “very tall, abnormally tall.””He’s still got three years of growing left, he won’t stop until he’s about eight and a half, he’s only a baby,” Masters said.

That rapid growth requires intensive care.”He has a chiropractor, has regular massages, the dentist visits every six months, and the vet checks him all the time as his growing plates are hyperactive. He has lots of supplements and a careful feed regime. He lives a five-star lifestyle, he wants for nothing,” he said.

Shire horses are known for their height and ability to pull heavy weight, historically used as working horses on farms and for transport. The tallest and heaviest horse ever documented was also a Shire — Sampson, later renamed Mammoth, who stood at 2.19 metres (7 ft 2.5 in) in 1850.

Masters said officials from Guinness approached him after hearing about Hugo’s local fame: “There is this really big horse, you need to speak to these guys.”Now locally famous, Hugo draws crowds wherever he goes.”Every time he goes out, people stop, they film him, shout at you that ‘he’s massive’. He’s the kindest, most gentle kind of horse,” Masters said.

Hugo stays busy doing demonstrations of what Shires did “back in the day, by pulling agricultural implements, driving wagons,” and is now learning to be ridden.

He receives no payment for the record, but Masters joked: “If any carrot farmer wants to give him some carrots, he’d kindly have them.”