around 40 foals per year. In the United States, the American Suffolk Horse Association became inactive after the war and remained so for 15 years, but restarted in May 1961 as the draught-horse market began to recover. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the American registry allowed some Belgians to be bred to Suffolk Punches, but only the fillies from these crosses were permitted registry with the American Suffolk Horse Association. As of 2001, horses bred with American bloodlines were not allowed to be registered with the British Association, and the breed was considered the rarest horse breed in the United Kingdom. Although the Suffolk Punch population has continued to increase, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust of the UK considers their survival status critical, in 2011, between 800 and 1,200 horses were in the United States and around 150 were in England. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy also lists the breed as critical. The Suffolk Horse Society recorded the births of 36 purebred foals in 2007, and a further 33 foals as of March 2008. By 2016, about 300 Suffolk Punches were in the UK with 30 to 40 purebred foals being born annually. Characteristics Suffolk Punches generally stand , weigh , and are always chestnut in colour. The traditional spelling, still used by the Suffolk Horse Society, is "" (with no "t" in the middle of the word). Horses of the breed come in many different shades of chestnut, ranging from dark to red to light. Suffolk horse breeders in the UK use several different colour terms specific to the breed, including dark liver, dull dark, red, and bright. White markings are rare and generally limited to small areas on the face and lower legs. Equestrian author Marguerite Henry described the breed by saying, "His color is bright chestnut – like a tongue of fire against black field furrows, against green corn blades, against yellow wheat, against blue horizons. Never is he any other color." The Suffolk Punch tends to be shorter but more massively built than other British heavy draught breeds, such as the Clydesdale or the Shire, as a result of having been developed for agricultural work rather than road haulage. The breed has a powerful, arching neck; well-muscled, sloping shoulders; a short, wide back; and a muscular, broad croup. Legs are short and strong, with broad joints; sound, well-formed hooves; and little or no feathering on