The Brabant Draught Horse

At the end of the avenue is the statue of "the Brabant draft horse" by Koen Van Daele from 1993. The Brabant draught horse is not only a symbol of Flemish Brabant, but certainly also of Vilvoorde, which recognizes its name as "Pjeirefrettersstad" in this. Horses have played a special role in Vilvoorde for a long time. Horse merchants and breeders met in Vilvoorde and traded their wares. There was therefore never a shortage of fresh quality meat. Already at the beginning of this century it was a favorite leisure activity of the somewhat richer city people to let themselves sail down the canal by boat or to take a ride by train to the Domain Three Fountains. Invariably horse meat was eaten in Vilvoorde, both in the luxury restaurants and in the ordinary inn.
Vilvoorde has a 150-year tradition of annual markets. The first fair was organized in 1853, a "foor intended as a large market for buying and selling". By organizing competitions, the board wanted to stimulate the development and improvement of varieties. Even now, the city makes a great effort every year to organize the annual fair attractively. The competitions include individual series for horses of the Belgian draught breed (the largest and most impressive attraction of the fair), sport and half-breed horses and shetland ponies. In addition, we also find the cattle of the Belgian white-blue breed, all kinds of poultry, rabbits, pigs, sheep and goats.

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