Amazing and Insteresting

POYNETTE: The Wisconsin owner of a 6-foot, 10.75-inch horse said the animal is being officially recognized as the tallest of its species by the Guinness World Records.

Jerry Gilbert, co-owner of Smokey Hollow Farm near Poynette, said Big Jake the 9-year-old Belgian gelding, standing at 20 hands, 2.75 inches from the bottom of his hooves to his withers, will be officially presented to the public Friday as the world's tallest living horse, the Portage (Wis.) Daily Register reported Thursday.

The previous record holder was a Clydesdale horse from Texas standing 20 hands tall.

Gilbert said he received word of Big Jake's certification from Guinness in late March. He said the horse will be crowned Friday at the Midwest Horse Fair in Madison.

"He's not guaranteed to be in the book," Gilbert said, referring to the Guinness Book of World Records. "The 2010 edition may have already gone to press, but maybe he'll be in the 2011 edition."