The Percheron is a breed of draft horse that originated in the Huisne river valley in western France, part of the former Perche province, from which the breed takes its name. Usually gray or black in color, Percherons are well-muscled, and known for their intelligence and willingness to work. Although their exact origins are unknown, the ancestors of the breed were present in the valley by the 17th century. They are believed to descend from war horses. Over time, they began to be used for pulling stagecoaches; and later, for agriculture and hauling heavy goods. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Arabian blood was added to the breed. Exports of Percherons from France rose rapidly in the late 19th century, and the first purely Percheron stud book was created in France in 1893.
Before World War I, thousands of Percherons were shipped from France to the United States, but after the war began, an embargo stopped exports. The breed was used extensively in Europe during the war, with some horses being shipped from the United States back to France to help in the war effort. Beginning in 1918, Percherons began to be bred in the United Kingdom; in 1918, the British Percheron Horse Society (BPHS) was formed. After a series of name and studbook ownership changes, the current United States Percheron breed registry was created in 1934. In the 1930s, Percherons accounted for 70% of the draft horse population in the United States, but their numbers declined substantially after . However, the population began to recover; and, as of 2009, around 2,500 Percheron horses were registered annually in the United States alone.
The breed is still used extensively for draft work; in France, they are also bred for horse meat. They are sometimes crossed with several light horse breeds to produce sport horses. Purebred Percherons are used for forestry work and pulling carriages.
Characteristics
Percherons are generally gray or black in coloring. The head has a straight profile, broad forehead, large eyes and long thin ears. The chest is deep and wide and the croup long and level. The legs are heavily muscled, and the lower legs have little or no feathering. Enthusiasts describe the temperament as alert, and members of the breed are considered intelligent, willing workers with good dispositions, and easy keepers. In the 19th century, they were known to travel up to a day at a trot.
The size considered ideal for the Percheron varies between countries. In France, height ranges from and weight from . Percherons in the United States generally stand between , with a range of . American Percherons average , and their top weight is around . In Great Britain, is the shortest acceptable height for stallions and for mares, while weights range from around for stallions and for mares.
Horses in the French registry are branded on the neck with the intertwined letters "SP", the initials of the Société Hippique Percheronne.
History The Percheron breed originated in the Huisne river valley in France,Dugast, Sur les traces du cheval percheron, cover copy which arises in Orne, part of the former Perche province, from which the breed gets its name. Several theories have been put forth as to the ancestry of the breed, though its exact origins are unknown. One source of foundation bloodstock may have been mares captured by from the Bretons some time after 496 AD. Another may have been Barb horse cavalry stallions brought from Spain by Moors in the 8th century. The Moorish were defeated at the Battle of Poitiers in 732 AD, and some of their horses may have been taken by warriors from Perche. A final theory posits that the Percheron and the Boulonnais breed are closely related, and that the Boulonnais influenced the Percheron when they were brought to Brittany as reinforcements for the legions of Caesar. It is known that during the 8th century, Barb stallions were crossed with mares native to the area, and more Oriental horse blood was introduced by the Comte du Perche upon his return from the Crusades and expeditions into territory claimed by Spain. Further blood from Spanish breeds was added when Rotrou III imported horses from Castile. No matter the theory of origin, breed historians agree that the terrain and climate of the Perche area had the greatest influence on the development of the breed.Mavré, Attelages et attelées, p. 40 A possible reference to the horse is made in the 13th-century romance Guillaume de Dole, in which the title character asks for "the Count of Perche's horse" to be made ready, possibly indicating the "'great horse,' which could accommodate an armored knight" and was bred in the geographical setting of the poem.Terry and Durling, The Romance of the Rose or Guillaume de Dole, pp. 32, 96
During the 17th century, horses from Perche, ancestors of the current Percheron, were smaller, standing between high, and more agile. These horses were almost uniformly gray; paintings and drawings from the Middle Ages generally show French knights on mounts of this color. After the days of the armored knight, the emphasis in horse breeding was shifted so as to develop horses better able to pull heavy stage coaches at a fast trot. Gray horses were preferred because their light coloring was more visible at night. This new type of horse was called the "Diligence Horse", because the stage coaches they pulled were named "diligences". After the stage coach was replaced by rail, the modern Percheron type arose as a slightly heavier horse for use in agriculture and heavy hauling work, moving goods from docks to railway terminals.
19th century
Arabian stallions were made available to Percheron breeders for use in breeding army mounts, beginning in 1760 at the royal stud at Le Pin.Edwards, The Encyclopedia of the Horse, pp. 94–95 Between 1789 and the early 1800s, the Percheron was in danger of becoming extinct as horse breeding was suppressed during the French Revolution and its aftermath. Early histories of the breed point to two gray Arabian stallions from Le Pin, Godolphin and Gallipoly, as the blood that helped to restart Percheron breeding. However, later research found that Godolphin was a chestnut Arabian of ordinary conformation and no special worth, while Gallipoly was a gray saddle horse of unknown breeding. Modern breed historians contest that there was enough breeding stock left after the early 19th century to restart the breed without further Arabian influence, and state that it is unlikely that two horses of unremarkable breeding and conformation had a significant influence on the breed.Mischka, The Percheron Horse in America, pp. 30–31 Jean le Blanc, a founding stallion of the Percheron breed, was foaled in 1823. Today, all Percherons trace their ancestry to this stallion. At this time the breed also became larger, with horses from other French districts being imported to Perche to change the Percheron from a coach horse averaging to a draft horse averaging . The Percheron stud book was created in France in 1893. By 1910, French registrations had risen to almost 32,000 horses. Between 1880 and 1920, Percheron breeders in France exported horses all over the world, including South Africa, South America, Australia and North America.
In the United States and Great Britain Percherons were first imported into the United States in 1839 by Edward Harris II of Moorestown, New Jersey. Only one of the initial four horses survived the ocean trip. Soon after, two stallions and two mares were imported; one mare died shortly after arrival and one stallion went blind and was retired within a year. Although the first importations of Percherons were less than successful, the remaining stallion owned by Edward Harris II, named Diligence, was credited with siring almost 400 foals. In 1851, three stallions were imported: , Louis and Gray Billy. Throughout their stud careers, each had significant influence on American draft horse stock.Mischka, The Percheron Horse in America, pp. 34–35 In the mid-19th century in the United States, Percheron stallions were crossed with homebred mares to improve the local stock, resulting in thousands of crossbred horses.McDermott, The Working Horse Manual, pp. 22–23 After the American Civil War in the 1860s greatly reduced the number of horses, there was a significant need for large draft horses, especially in growing cities and in the expanding West. Large numbers of Percherons were imported to the United States beginning in the early 1870s, and they became popular with draft horse breeders and owners. In the 1880s, approximately 7,500 horses were exported to the United States. This extensive importation lasted until 1893, when the US experienced a financial panic, and virtually no Percheron imports occurred between 1894 and 1898. In addition, many existing horses were lost as people were too poor to purchase or care for large draft horses. In 1898, importations began again as abruptly as they had ceased, with an average of 700 horses a year imported between 1898 and 1905. In 1906 alone, over 13,000 horses were imported to the United States from France. In the American traveling circuses of the late 19th century and early 20th century, the Percheron was the most frequently seen draft horse. Drivers appreciated the breed's agility, stamina and quick-footed gait.Fox, Circus Baggage Stock, pp. 3–4
In 1876, the Norman-Percheron Association was formed by a group of Percheron breeders in Chicago, and at the same time the stud book was begun. The Norman-Percheron Association was the United States' first purebred livestock association. In 1877, the word "Norman" was dropped from the name. Later, in the panic of 1893, the Percheron Association went bankrupt and ceased to function. In 1905, also in Chicago, Percheron breeders met again to reform as the Percheron Society of America. Since 1934, the group has been known as the Percheron Horse Association of America. At its height, the organization was the largest draft horse association in the world, in the early 20th century registering over 10,000 horses annually.
In the late 19th century, Percherons also began to be exported from the United States to Great Britain, where they were used to pull horse-drawn buses in large cities. The first Percherons imported to Britain included some of the thousands of crossbreds from the United States. In Britain, many of the horses, once they finished their bus-pulling career, were sold to farmers. Other imported horses were sold to the British Army, and in 1900, 325 horses were shipped to South Africa for use in the Boer War.
20th and 21st centuries
In 1911, the French society restricted registration to horses with both parents already registered with the society.Bongianni, Simon & Schuster's Guide to Horses and Ponies, Entry 87 In the early 20th century, the Percheron was one of the four major draft horse breeds, along with the Belgian, the Clydesdale and the Shire. Breeders could sell their horses for significant amounts of money, especially in the United States and Canada, where breeding stock brought a premium price.Mavré, Attelages et attelées, p. 80