IMPROVEMENT BY MEANS OF THE STUD-BOOK.
The Percheron breed is old enough, is propagated with sufficient
uniformity, and presents sufficiently marked typical qualities to
authorize us in claiming, in favor of its members, the characteristics
and the title of a separate and distinct breed. Consequently, a
Stud-book, recording its pedigrees, would not be out of place. This
book would have the effect of concentrating the efforts of all the
breeders, giving them a definite direction, and at the same time it
would designate stallions foreign to the race, and which, up to the
present time, have been presented with impunity as Percherons.
England exhibits a curious example of the influence of the Stud-book
in the improvement of a breed. The equine and bovine races of that
country, before the establishment of the Stud and Herd-books, were but
rudimental.
The small number of colts of the Royal mares by Eastern stallions would
have been lost had they not been classed together in families in a
special book.
The discovery of the value of the bull _Hubback_ would have been to no
purpose had his descendants not been classified by themselves in an
authentic manner.
For it is especially, and only, in the reproduction by family that a
breed is formed. Consanguinity alone can form, in the beginning, a
bond of cohesion and connection among the descendants of the primitive
families. By it, alone, they acquire that great similarity of shape and
adaptation to particular ends, that great ancestral power, which they
transmit to their posterity, and which, even in a commercial point of
view, gives them a superior value.
If it be permitted me for this purpose to select an example within
our reach among the bovine races, I would say that, in Nivernais the
celebrated Charollaise breed of cattle, only a few years ago, was
diffuse, without uniformity, and without commercial value. The idea of
classifying it by means of a Herd-book was no sooner put in practice
than good crossings, being all made with system, no longer lost their
significance. The breed has visibly improved, and, at present, it has
acquired a value which gives it a rank immediately after the Cotentin.
The Stud-book might be established, as we have indicated above, by
inscribing therein all the stallions and mares which had received
prizes for years back, continuing this operation for a dozen years to
come, and adding therein also the animals which had not taken prizes
or had not been shown in the fairs, but which public attention had
classed among the number of types valuable on account of the beauty and
sureness of their reproduction.
Parallel to the mode of improvement which I have already shown,
(Chapter 1st, Part Second), and which has as its agents the members
of the Council-boards and the district members of each canton, there
might be formed, as a means of embracing all, a great annual Department
Fair, to be held alternately in the best towns of Perche at the time
of the fairs which attract the most people; in Orne, at Mortagne and
Alençon; at Chartres, Nogent-le-Rotrou, and Chateaudun, for Eure and
Loir; at Vendôme and Montdoubleau for the department of Loir and Cher.
The departments of the Cote-d’Or, Nievre, and Youne, which possess the
best Percheron stallions, might likewise enter into the association of
the Percheron Stud-book, for which they have all the elements.
This book would give increased value to the breed, as is easily
understood, for it is the surest of all the means of improvement and
perpetuation of valuable qualities. It would drive off, forever, the
defective stallions, and those corrupted with hereditary blemishes, as
well as those coming from tainted families, which, I feel sure, would
be refused a record in its pages. The prices of colts would likewise
gain by this measure, the effect being a powerful impulse given to
breeding. But it would be necessary to be very careful about ever
admitting any foreign blood, in order that the recorded herds might
accumulate more and more an ancestral force.
The Stud-book would offer still another advantage, that of permitting
us to find again the good types, should Perche some day, in consequence
of bad crossings, or from want of judgment, deviate from the true way.
In fact, desire of gaining too much and of enjoying too fast at present
tempts every body into innovations. Our age, so eager to enjoy, and
so quick in all enterprises, has no longer the patience to wait for
the improvements that time and study can alone confirm and solidly
establish. It wants things off-hand, and for this it is often satisfied
with adulterated products; hence, these injudicious crossings; hence,
this mania for mixing together without discernment—a mania which
threatens to destroy our valuable national breeds.
In the midst of all this, the opposition of the army, of the government
stud-stables, and of the trade in heavy horses, bring forth new
complications. The army, neither occupied in breeding nor raising, and
naturally remaining beyond the consequences it causes, encourages these
crossings, obtaining thereby, more rapidly, the horses it needs. But
how many of the horses bred by these means are not only unfit for army
service, but also unfit for any service! Indeed, with a blood stallion
and a common mare, if at the first crossing, among the thin-flanked,
imperfect ones, there happen to be a passable horse, good, and with a
certain degree of style, ordinarily all progress ends there. For, by
the use of the latter as a reproducer, an animal ungainly and without
value will most certainly be the result, except by chance. The races
of the south affiliate with the Arab, and those of the north with the
English; but the English, by the infusion of his blood, destroys the
race of the south. This mode of crossing tends, then, to cause our old
French races to disappear.
At the government studs, with elevated views, and with a
disinterestedness to which all delight in rendering full justice and
homage, they constantly encourage the crossings in which they see the
realization of their views. They offer rewards, the most powerful of
all incentives—giving but very modest prizes to the heavy horses,
proscribing the light coats, and reserving their encouragement for the
light horses of dark colors.
As for the trade, it adopts but slightly the views of the army and the
government stables, and it gives its money to what has remained outside
of these impulses.
With the Stud-book we will be able, without giving offence, to
satisfy the army, the stud-stables, and the trade—the army and the
stud-stables, which want the light, stylish, dark-skinned horse; the
trade—omnibuses, consumption of the large cities, and agriculture—which
require weight, vigor, action, honesty, docility, and endurance.
The Stud-book will furnish the means of finding types fit for all
services. But the breeders will divide themselves into two opposite
parties. Those who wish the dark-skinned, light horse, will breed him
on the uplands and in the more barren districts. The others, in the
rich, fertile, and abundant meadows, with a more nutritious food, will
apply themselves to the opposite type.
Each will work in his own sphere; the profits, losses, successes, and
failures, will soon be summed up, and will soon become, on both sides,
the object of minute comparisons. If the light horse produce the most
profit, his empire will soon extend over the domain of the heavy one.
But if, on the day of reaction, it be recognized that this crossing is
incapable of ever making a good omnibus, a good shaft, or a good team
horse; if the crossed breed be set aside for the primitive horse; and
if it come about that the Percheron of pure race is better paid for,
the fashion will soon return to him. There will the utility of the
Stud-book be felt, for it will be by means of the families preserved
authentically pure, in the cantons which had chosen them, that it will
alone become possible to remold a race, compromised in a moment of
hasty judgment, and render it plentiful upon the market.
It would suffice to bring together these types, and encourage the
start in order to reëstablish Perche in all her glory. They might
even, in the end, bring back to a good condition the lanky race that
a better system, a more abundant nourishment, and more appropriate
classification, would be called on to restore to its primitive form.
Some generations would suffice to restore to it that homogeneousness
that it formerly possessed, when the post-service required of it its
vigorous and swift mail-coach horses.
In summing up, the Stud-book seems to me a useful agent in a triple
point of view, namely: in the preservation, perfection, and restoration
of the Percheron breed.
[Illustration: Decoration]
RECAPITULATION.
Preserve the Percheron race as pure as possible from all mixture not
perfectly homogeneous; respect all its varieties due to the districts
where they have been bred and raised; improve by crossing the best
types of the country, and in such a manner as to correct defects, while
preserving intact qualities and character.
If it be necessary to give more style to the action, and more richness
to the blood, ask these qualities of the Arab, which has the privilege
of imparting style and tone, while preserving weight, hardihood, vigor,
and docility. The Arabian is kind, intelligent, reliable, laborious,
and easily kept.
If, in obedience to urgent considerations, and in the absence of
oriental horses, it becomes necessary to have recourse to English
blood, choose quarter-bred stallions—at the most half-bred—but of an
ancient race, and well-confirmed, with a well-opened and expressive
eye, fine action, high spirit, and especially a total absence of
irritability, and with all the appearances of honesty and aptitude for
work.
For the innate defects of the English, generally impressible,
susceptible, and unintelligent, cannot be too carefully guarded
against. Delicate, a great eater, and requiring great care, he must,
if honest, be well worked; if not, he pays ill his cost, and robs the
hand which nourishes him. He should always be selected from a working
family, and be himself a free worker. He who wishes to embark in
horse-breeding will avoid more than one shoal by observing these simple
considerations.
The delicate English horse, fond of his manger, bearing but little
continuous and monotonous work, requiring of those that have charge of
him tact, mildness, and an advanced equestrian education, is the horse
of the rich man, and the man of pleasure, of the lover of the turf and
chase, and of the wealthy farmer, who looks more to the beauty of his
stock than to the quantity of its work.
The Arabian, sober, energetic, and laborious, is the horse for the
small proprietor, the soldier, and the laborer. He is the wealth of the
poorer and less improved countries.
The draft-horse is only suited to the farmer, and his size should be
adapted not only to the district in which he is to be used, but also
to the standard of cultivation of the country, and to the means of the
person requiring his services. He may be improved, may be a trotter,
and may be more stylish, but should always be adapted to the means
of the breeder, and to the richness of the country. A large and fine
animal would only vegetate in the hands of a person whose land is
scarcely sufficient to support his family. He should only be owned by
the wealthy farmer. And, on the other side, the latter should never
raise his eyes to the blood horse, which should be left to those who
have been a long time accustomed to the risks inseparable from his
breeding and training.
A final word will make my thoughts better understood.
I desire to speak of the financial question, which is every thing
in breeding and in agriculture. The best and the only manner of
considering this is to compare the breeder at the start, at the
beginning of his career, and when his career is ended, to verify the
results. This operation is nothing short of a settlement of accounts.
In my travels I became acquainted with two neighboring districts.
One was rich, fertile, and productive, eminently suited to breeding
superior fancy horses. But they were poorly raised therein; the farmers
disdained rearing horses suited to the soil, and the horses they did
breed, already bad from the very start, were raised in idleness, and
poorly fed, on account of their earning nothing. The other district
was poor, and the soil produced only what could be wrested from it by
force. However, by dint of labor, agriculture flourished. The horse,
chosen with care, suited the country, worked well, and all prospered.
The fancy struck me, to compare the settlements of estates in these two
districts, and here are the results of this examination:
In the first district, the breeders all commenced and entered upon
their career with capital. Notwithstanding this, 18 out of 20 died over
head and ears in debt.
In the second, they were almost all former servants or farm hands,
possessing only their savings, with which to establish themselves. In
spite of these difficult beginnings, 17 out of 20 left fortunes to
their children, who, the reverse of the children of the former, were
early accustomed to labor and to a regular life. It is useless to say
that in these examples I always excepted the cases where trade, to
carry on its business, sheltered itself under the cloak of the breeder;
for this does not constitute breeding any more than the trade in
bread-stuffs carried on in a farm-house constitutes agriculture.
Finally I would call the attention of the Percheron farmer to two
suggestions. Suppose the supply of horses from the departments of Orne,
Eure and Loir, Loir and Cher, Eure and Sarthe, and from the district of
Mortagne, now amounting to about sixty thousand head, should outrun the
demand of the omnibuses and wagons; the remedy for this would be to aim
at greater style and beauty, at the same time preserving the qualities
required by the omnibuses and express companies. We would thus create
another outlet for our stock, through the demands of the dealers in
fancy horses, and the consumption of the army, and bring the Percheron
race very near to perfection.
No disappointment need be feared in crossing the Percheron with
a foreign stallion, either a heavy Arabian, a strong, well-bred
Merlerault, or a dark colored Norfolk, on the express condition that
this stallion should be selected with care, and be of the best stock of
his breed. The Arabian can be placed everywhere, both on poor land and
in the hilly districts; where the progeny of the other stallions would
not thrive, his will succeed well. The get of the Merlerault, and of
the English horses especially, require the most fertile and the best
cultivated districts.
If the results of these crossings, male or female, be successful, they
may be well employed in breeding, and, after some generations, in the
districts where breeding is carried on with care, they may become the
starting point of a choice stock. Commencing with the qualities of good
and substantial post-horses, the Percheron could be elevated to the
dignity of the carriage-horse, and in other less fertile localities to
staunch and compact hunters.
Those showing no improvement, (too many of which are met with) would
find a market open to them in the trade, among the moderately rich, and
in the army, especially in the artillery. The males, when castrated
at an early age, would be more acceptable to the trade, and, while
ceasing to dishonor the privileged class and the class destined for
reproduction, could be used for numerous purposes. For the gray horse
the outlets are necessarily more limited. When the omnibuses and
teamsters have taken their complement of 6,000 or 7,000 horses, and
when the foreigner has gathered up his 600 or 700 choice specimens,
there no longer remains a sufficient demand for the second-rate stock.
As there now exist neither diligences, couriers, mail nor post-coaches,
for which the gray Percheron was formerly required for the night road
service, there is no longer any imperious reason for preserving his
old coat; henceforth he may be bay or dark colored. And, provided he
becomes so by the aid of a dark-coated Arabian, or a heavy, well-bred
Merlerault, or by a fine specimen of a Norfolk, the type of his race, I
see therein no inconvenience.
When steam machines, to supply the hands which are wanting, will
plow our fields and perform the hardest work, we will have no longer
to regret that our Percheron laborers have not the gray color which
possessed the property of turning the scorching rays of the sun. One
of our greatest writers, one of our lights in equestrian science, has,
however, written:
“The use of stallions of mixed blood, borrowed from foreign races,
left but regrets in Perche. It has produced vices of disposition and
blemishes which did not belong to the Percheron horse, and has given
him in exchange no good quality. It has disturbed the structure of the
progeny without any gain in form or endurance.”
Notwithstanding all my respect for this high authority, let me be
allowed to ask him if he has ever seen the progeny, too rare it is
true, of some well-chosen stallions in close affinity to Percheron
blood, called _Gallipoli_, _Sandy_, and _Bayard_? Never did finer
results gratify the pride of a breeder, never did trotters drag heavy
diligences with more power and ease, and never did sons transmit more
faithfully to their descendants the image and characters of their
ancestors. Doubtless he was only shown the numerous and heterogeneous
progeny of even the best full-blooded stallions _Sylvio_, _Eylau_,
_Reveller_, and others by Percheron mares—crossings so surprising in
their absence of affinity that I am still astonished that the thought
of them ever entered a reasonable mind.
When in the absence of stallions of our own, such as we wish, I advise
the use of foreign ones, I do not give this counsel blindly, but,
select the types appearing to me the best adapted to the purpose, and
instead of proceeding with giant strides I would pursue the work with a
patient and prudent slowness.
PART III.
INFORMATION TO STRANGERS WISHING TO BUY PERCHERON HORSES.
[Illustration: Decoration]
Although I consider Perche an exceptional country for the production
of good horses, I attribute to its air, to its water, and to the
nutritiveness of its grasses, the admirable qualities of the animals
bred therein. I am convinced that the excellent care, the wise
management, exempt alike from pampering indulgence and from the harsh
treatment which irritate the disposition, and from which the good
teacher never departs in his intercourse with his pupils, contribute
a great deal to the success of the result. Starting from this point,
I think I can assert that with care and this identical management,
horses can be elsewhere produced that Perche would not disown. It is,
then, the recapitulation of this method and management which should be
presented to the stranger desirous of raising the Percheron horse. I
will tell him what the cultivator of this country does, and in doing
like him, provided he make the attempt in a high, healthy district, a
district with a sharp air and one often refreshed by winds, presenting
some analogy to the rugged hills and the excellent grassy valleys
of Perche, no doubt he will arrive at magnificent results. Several
suppositions may be presented to the consideration of the stranger
wishing to raise Percheron horses. Either he should buy in Perche a
mare in foal, or purchase four or five months’ old colts, which he
wishes to wean in his own country, or his purchases will be made of
yearlings, or, finally, he will carry with him full-grown males and
females, or only one or the other sex for the purpose of breeding.
Each one of these suppositions can be determined by the practical
knowledge of breeding, and by the study of the methods practised in
Perche, and may suggest as many chapters. But, before undertaking
anything, I will ask this amateur if he really loves the horse, and if
he admits the qualities needed in the Percheron breeder. If he answers
in the affirmative, I will enter upon the subject. If, on the contrary,
he be not sure of himself and of the agents that he is to employ, I
might as well throw aside my pen and not write another word.
The disposition of the Percheron breeder towards his horses is that of
a never-changing mildness; and this is why his horse is so gentle and
so docile. The Percheron loves his horse, but not with an affection
resembling that hearty passion, that sudden blaze of regard, too
explosive to last long, of certain amateurs; he loves the horse with
an hereditary love, a family love, if I may so express it, and the
horse, on his side, loves him hereditarily. The women and children have
generally the care of the horse while the men are in the fields. Hence
the even and amiable temper of the horses raised under this system.
The Percheron cultivator possesses, above all, great patience and a
supreme control over himself, indispensable qualities in training
young colts, which, if treated with harshness would soon lose their
heads, and become infallibly nervously timid if subjected to violence
and impatience. Here lies the secret of good training and the art of
uniting in the horse a cool and calm temper with a decided character.
He is laborious and loves to stir the soil; hence his practice of early
working the colts, which renders them laborious and honest. But, as
he is, above all, intelligent and loves in a rational way, he only
requires of them work in proportion to their strength, and gives them
good nourishment. This management, uniting work and good food, is an
admirable means of giving strength, health, and a good constitution.
Finally, the Percheron inhabits a broken country, where he must
constantly ascend and descend. This circumstance is most favorable in
giving strength and suppleness to his shoulders, haunches, and hoofs,
which, by turns, work and rest in this unparalleled district.
This portrait is not only applicable to the large proprietors and to
the farmers, but to all the Percheron population. There is not a man
in this district who has not been a working man, who has not raised,
trained, and driven colts, and who, even in his tenderest age, when
he could walk and hold a little whip, has not lived among the horses
and played between their legs. It requires no searching here to find
a man acquainted with the horse, a good farm hand; the first face you
meet with is that of an intelligent agent, and a trustworthy one in the
difficult art of training colts.
If you have such men at your disposal, undertake boldly your task; but
if the proper men are wanting, forbear, for you will arrive at nothing
satisfactory.
[Illustration: Decoration]
CHAPTER I.
FOOD AND BREEDING.
The stallion, in the districts inhabited by mares, is, with some rare
exceptions, a “rover,”—that is to say, he visits the farms at stated
periods. His standing season lasts six months, from January to July,
and he generally returns four times to the same place. The foal is
dropped, ordinarily, very early, and always in the stable, where it
constantly remains until weaning time. The dam goes to work every day,
and leaves its foal each morning, to see it again only in the middle of
the day, and at night. Green clover, or other green forage, is fed, to
keep up her supply of milk.
At six months the colt is weaned. If it be a filly, it remains in the
canton where it was foaled, to be put to breeding when it reaches the
proper age. If it be a horse colt, it is sold to the farmers of the
raising districts, of which we will speak in the chapter devoted to the
trade.
The stock of these districts is recruited from two sources, the
southern region principally, (in the vicinity of Montdoubleau and
Chateaudun,) on account of the great reputation of its mares. The
cultivator desirous of rearing good colts traverses these districts as
early as the month of June, and makes his choice of colts from under
the dams, and out of herds of established reputation. This manner
of selecting stock to raise is the most logical, as also the most
expensive. It is much in favor with the farmer carrying on a large
business, in the neighborhood of Mauves and Regmalard. Some cultivators
of the other cantons follow his example; but not so rich as he, they
have but the second choice.
The second source, and the most abundant, is the purchase of gang
colts—that is to say, those which, in Perche, have not been sold during
the summer; but principally those from the neighborhood of Coulie, to
the north-west of Maus, and those of Lower Maine. They are brought,
entirely weaned, to the fairs of Perche about the end of autumn. St.
Andrew’s fair at Mortagne offers a curious specimen of this operation.
The farmers select from the gangs. The origin, in this case, is no
longer of any account; there is neither sire nor dam to weigh down the
scales; the merit is all exterior—of the individual. If this way of
buying be not so dear, it is likewise not so sure, unless the purchaser
be acquainted with honest dealers, accustomed to bring in only good
colts.
There is but little trouble taken in weaning the colts. This passage
from one period of life to another, always so serious with thoroughbred
colts, takes place quite simply with the future field laborers.
They wean themselves in the trip from their birthplace to their
new destination. The farmers in the neighborhood of Regmalard, who
ordinarily buy them very young, give a little cow’s milk on their
arrival, to strengthen them, and to serve as a transition; but even
this method is far from universal.
The colts, when they come upon the farms, are put five or six together,
pell-mell, into an indifferently ventilated stable, which receives its
light through a lattice door. Their nourishment consists of a very thin
mush, made of barley flour and bran, frequently renewed. The solid
portion of their food is composed of dry clover and hay, with which
their cribs are regularly filled.
Some farmers feed aftermath, which is sweeter; but as this is apt to
load the stomach, in order to render it more easily digested, it is
mixed with oat-straw.
It is very rare that these colts, changed from one district to another,
often making long stages, and exposed to the inclemencies of the
weather, are not attacked with strangles. Many raisers at this period
have the pernicious habit of giving them some kind of grain, in order
to warm them up, and cause them to throw off the disease. But this food
has the fault of thickening the blood too much, and exposes them to
numerous ailments.
This diet is continued until the spring, at which time the colts are
given green fodder in the stable. Later, they are turned into the
clover fields after the first cut, or into the meadows after they are
mowed.
At eighteen months they commence their apprenticeship; passing their
necks through the collar, they are harnessed to plows or wagons with
horses already broken, although of an age at which, in many countries,
their equals are as yet ignorant of all labor. The food, composed of
clover principally, hay, millet straw, corn salad, (_Feticus_,) and
cracked rye, baked in loaves, becomes from this time forth, a little
more nourishing. They also commence to eat oats, but as yet, sparingly.
This is not given them pure, but with the chaff—that is to say, it is
not winnowed. The quantity of this food used by day is not less than
to 1½ to 1¾ gallons, yielding not much more than ⅓ of a gallon of
oats. On the other hand, the meal and the mush are increased, to give
them body and strength. At thirty months old they are still kept upon
this food, in the midst of all the farm work, which they daily perform
(with, however, a great deal of moderation), and in dragging very light
burdens; for, truly, it is but a training, to confirm the hereditary
mildness of their character, and to teach them, little by little, to
become willing and fearless.
In the meanwhile the dealer, who roams constantly about among the
farms, arrives. He buys and resells immediately to the farmers of
Little Perche and Thimerais. More stimulating feed is given them, in
consequence of more constant and harder work. This life lasts a year,
and is terminated by the passage into Beauce, or the Chartres country,
where their work is again increased. With the work the feed increases,
and this combination leads to the perfection of the horse.
It is at this time that the horses, having attained their maturity, and
the maximum of their strength, are bought for Paris, whither they are
called by relentless labor, which they are enabled to endure by their
unconquerable will, great muscular force, energy, and courage.
“This mode of training,” to borrow the words of a noted breeder,
“represents the division of labor, which gives such happy results in
the manufactories, and its advantages cannot be well appreciated,
except by those who, having raised horses, know what embarrassment an
assemblage of colts of all sizes and ages produces. Unfortunately it
would be very difficult to introduce this excellent custom elsewhere,
which has probably existed for ages in Perche without the knowledge of
its source.”
The colts destined for breeding are generally devoted to this purpose
at the age of two years, and continue, on an average, until they have
attained the age of four. I speak of Little Perche, for in Great
Perche, since the foundation of the Equestrian Society, the seat
of which is at Chateaudun, and which extends its action to quite a
distance, the covering is done by adult stallions. At four, they are
sold either to Paris, or to foreigners, should their merit render them
worthy of such a choice.
This total emigration of the male colts at the age of six months,
renders it very difficult to procure good stallions of this breed. From
Great Perche they are scattered among the trade, often before the age
of a sure selection. When they are sought after in Perche, they are no
longer to be found; they must then be followed and hunted up on the
Beauce farms, and this pursuit is extremely difficult. It, however,
offers greater chances of success than the Chartres market, where the
greatest number of mature Percheron horses are to be found.
As for the fillies, their experience is the same as that of the colts,
with this single difference that their life is exempt from migration.
They are raised in the region in which they are foaled. They work from
a very early period, bear two or three colts, and then disappear, like
the males, in the vortex of consumption. For, beyond some exceptional
cases and remarkable productions, it is rare that they grow old upon
the farm. The farmer, in order to lose nothing of their value, sends
them off at the age of five, six, and seven years. It would be a happy
thing, as we have already said, if sufficient inducements in the way
of prizes could be offered to retain the fine breeding mares upon the
soil, and put an end to this custom, so inimical to progress.
The farmers who have pasture grounds, as in the environs of Regmalard,
make use of them for raising their colts, as is done in Merlerault and
in the Auge Valley. Instead of letting them loose in the fields, they
are sent to pasture.
The hay of the valleys is good, but insufficient for the supply of
the farms; the deficit is made up by the use of artificial fodders,
in which clover enters for three-quarters; the remainder is composed
of fenugreek, lucern, and some roots. Millet, or barley and oat straw
are also given as food, and in certain cantons they are stacked in
alternate layers with the meadow grass, in order to give them the odor
and fragrance of hay—an ingenious method of making an unattractive food
acceptable.
The stables, although much better than formerly, in the good old times
of the race, still leave a great deal to be desired. They are not
furnished with stalls, but the horses are tied alongside of one another
without any separation. But such is the gentleness of character of this
breed that an accident was never heard of.
The whole of the management which we have just described has a marked
tendency towards constantly enlarging the horse at the expense of his
nervous system.
This diet, completely out of place in a mild, grain producing country,
has reason for existing in Perche, and the Percheron cultivator knows
too well what he does in employing it, not to have understood this.
The climate and the products of Perche, the air and the water, affect
too exclusively the nervous system not to require being constantly
combatted.
For this I desire to take an example in the whole animal kingdom
stocking this country. Everybody to-day well knows the influence of
climate upon animals. No one now any longer doubts that it is to the
sharp and healthy air of the Percheron country, to its elevated hills,
and to its atmosphere constantly renewed by the powerful ventilators
of its valleys and forests, that this country owes the eminent
qualities of its fine race of horses, which has won for it the right of
displaying this significant title: “Perche, the land of good horses.”
Everything surrounding us inclines us to adopt this opinion. The
domestic animals brought here are transformed in a short time by the
contact of the air breathed and the nourishment furnished. The marked
types of the Billot and Crêvecœur fowls are no sooner brought here than
at the first generation a total change is effected in their looks. From
the second generation it is difficult to recognize them in the thin,
lean, and nervously formed fowl, with a wild look, and always ready to
take wing.
The bovine race of Perche is also far inferior to the improved race. It
is the opposite of the kind prized nowadays, the race which is mild,
lymphatic, and short-legged, always inclined to fat, and having in its
bony frame only just enough to serve it for its locomotion, forming
a quadrilateral of flesh, mounted on four small legs, a rump bending
with its haunches, a broad, smooth back, and a low brisket. Its horns,
which are seemingly useless in a country from which man has driven out
the wild beasts, fall overlapping one another, like a useless ornament,
upon the head.
Such is not the Percheron breed of cattle; on the contrary it is dry
and bony, of a nervous temperament, long legs, angular haunches,
contracted chest, lank thigh, and thin neck, with a long, thin head.
Two long horns of a greenish-white stand up in the air, always
threatening as in a savage country, infested with dangerous animals.
An expressive word designates them fully: a cattle dealer will tell
you they are “_staggy_,” and will pass on without bestowing upon them
a glance. They are hardly fit for quick fattening, and are recognized
without trouble by their color, which in terms of the trade is said to
be “_a little weak_,” and by their skin, which is dry and harsh. The
dealers appropriately express their condition by “_no good points_.”
The bulls, especially, are tough, with big horns, bony limbs, large
joints, an ugly head, and the whole difficult to fatten, which well
entitles them to the full application of the epithet “_boorish
beasts_,” invented to express animals of inferior quality.
It is in vain that Maine, the district which joins it, has given to
Perche its race of cattle; they have degenerated, have become taller,
lanker, less easy to fatten, and have preserved no trace of the fine
head and the good fore-quarters that are to be found in Maine. In
vain has Normandy poured out a generous blood. The Norman type hardly
appears; it is degenerated and entirely loses the agreeable color, fine
head, good limbs, white horns, and other good points.
For several years, the fashion of crossing with the Cotentin race
has become universal, and continues to make rapid progress. From the
second generation, nevertheless, there remains almost nothing in the
conformation and in the quality of the stock to show the cross. It is
only by dint of always crossing with the Cotentin that Perche has been
able to make for itself her present passable stock.
The sheep, sufficiently delicate for the table, are small, and form
a degenerate and nameless mixture of the breeds of Maine, Caux, and
Trennes, crossed for several years back with the Merino. They present
the same conditions as the horned animals. Like them, they are
difficult to fatten and are not lymphatic, notwithstanding the frequent
importations of the heavier and fleshier breeds.
Such predispositions can only come from the soil, and the constant sway
of the nervous over the lymphatic system produces all the qualities
of the Percheron horse. This is why tradition has painted such a
seductive picture of his construction and qualities. This is why the
old inhabitants, who had seen that fine breed before its degeneration,
speak of it with so much warmth. This is why, notwithstanding the
incredible crossings, it has withstood such mixtures. And this is why
it is always energetic, in spite of the diluted nourishment without
tonic properties which is given it, and which would be enough to
bastardize a race with characteristics less fixed and permanent.
Let us, however, beware of utterly condemning the management of the
breeders, and let us not entangle, with an imprudent hand, the threads
of his traditions. The horse is his sole fortune, and in the raising of
this aid of his agricultural labors, he gains to-day his livelihood.
His management has a fixed end to which he always tends with an
incredible perseverance, and that is to increase the size of his horses
without prejudice to their good qualities.
Now that the country is covered with excellent roads and highways;
that railways have accustomed us to great speed; that diligences and
mail-coaches are forever gone; that the _stylish_ carriage horse, the
hunter, and the half-blood, have reached great perfection, the role
of the Percheron is completely changed. He is no longer the hunter,
the saddle-horse, nor the motive power of heavy wagons over new and
broken roads; he remains exclusively both the quick and mettlesome
draft-horse, and the heavy burden and express wagon horse. He must
possess superior strength, speed, docility, temper, and honesty, and
a complete absence of irritability. It is for this reason that after
having listened to enthusiastic advisers, and allowed himself to be
led astray by men too eager to enjoy the result of their ideas, he
to-day is no longer to be cajoled by the solicitations of the amateurs
of foreign blood. The Percheron cultivator does not wish even a single
drop of it, and exerts himself exclusively in producing heavy horses.
Encouraged in this way by the dealers of all countries, paying
excessively high prices for the big and heavy Percheron horse, while
leaving upon his hands, without the offer of a farthing, the horse in
which a few drops of “blood” can be perceived, he has spread his sails
and stretched them boldly to catch the breeze of the day.
We shall carefully avoid following the example of numerous famous
doctors, the display of our little bundle of receipts. Let it be,
however, permitted us to touch again slightly upon the question in
expressing the fear that, should he not take care, the breeder of heavy
horses will in the end render them too heavy and weighty. Stallions
having a small touch of blood, well applied, and sufficiently latent
not to excite mistrust, having action, good limbs, strong loins, and
deep chest, are indispensable for warming up the Percheron blood and
giving it tone. Look at _Sandy_, and afterwards at _Collin_, _Bayard_,
and some others whose influence was immense. Their progeny, magnificent
in every respect, did not show too much blood in their exterior, but
revealed it vigorously by action and high spirit. The crosses which
have best succeeded with the Percheron are undoubtedly, as shown by
numerous examples, those derived themselves from an oriental cross.
This fact, which clearly proves that the Percheron race has a great
affinity with the race of the desert, should not be neglected in
foreign alliances.
As for the English alliances, these have not given as yet all the
results promised; but from this nothing must be inferred against new
trials. Too much blood had constantly been used, and consequently the
end was missed by wishing to proceed too rapidly.
Little blood, at first, but blood well chosen, from the Norfolk
race, blood patiently infused into Percheron veins, is the means of
triumphing over old prejudices and opening to this country an extensive
and successful future.
[Illustration: KATE.—MARE.]
CHAPTER II.
TRADE.—GLANCE AT THE MOST CELEBRATED BREEDING PLACES.
The good horses are generally bought upon the farms, and among these
the dealers are constantly roaming. The trade of the whole of France,
and the numerous and intelligent amateurs from abroad, visit them
carefully, beating the country and searching it in all its farthest
corners. Still, notwithstanding the purchases there made, the fairs
are not wanting in numerous and good animals. We will, like these
strangers, run over the best breeding places.
As an equine country, “Perche, the land of good horses,” is divided
into three very distinct districts.
That in which the colts are foaled—stocked exclusively with mares and
fillies;
The district in which the male colts are weaned and raised;
And that in which they are brought to perfection—a privilege which it
shares with Beauce and the Chartres country which it bounds.
All the territory north, west, and south, of the district of Mortagne
(Orne) comprising the cantons of Moulins, Bazoche, Pervenchères,
Bellesme, Theil, and part of Nocé, possesses breeding mares as well as
fillies. In Sarthe, the canton of Montmirail; those of Montdoubleau and
Droué in Loir-and-Cher; those of Alluye, Bazoche, Cloyes, Authon, Brou,
and Nogent-le-Rotrou, in Eure-and-Loir, are likewise centers where only
fillies and breeding mares are to be met with. Courtalain, on the south
border, is also celebrated for this specialty.
The raising of male-colts occupies all the east, center, and north
of the district of Mortagne—that is to say, the cantons of Mortagne,
Tourouvre, Lougny, Regmalard, and part of Nocé. This division,
however, is not always distinctly marked upon the borders. The parishes
upon the confines of each district, such as Bazoches, Courgeoust, Pin,
Saint-Ouen, Nocé, Berdluis, etc., have farms stocked exclusively with
fillies, whilst others possess only stallion colts.
The region for the mares is itself divided into two cantons: that of
the north and that of the south. The southern is the most renowned,
inasmuch as its mares pass for having retained the characters of the
old Percheron race more closely. It comprises the cantons outside the
district of Mortagne. Montdoubleau is the capital.
The northern, enclosed in the district of Mortagne, counts three very
distinct varieties, namely:
The pure Percheron races in the south, and in the canton of Bazoches;
in the west, in the parishes which border on Mesle-sur-Sarthe, mares
possessing in various degrees some of English blood, got from the
government stud of Mesle-sur-Sarthe, which is composed exclusively of
thoroughbred stallions; the canton of Moulins, in the north, nourishes
another high-spirited variety, endowed with excellent action, but
deficient in height. Accordingly it is more valued for furnishing good
horses for service than for furnishing ameliorating types.
The best centers for stallion colts are: Regmalard, which is, if I
may so say, the principal place for good stallions; Mauves, which
furnished, thirty years ago, the famous stallion Jean-le-Blanc, of M.
Miard. For fillies, Villers-en-Ouche, which stocked this country with
magnificent Percheron mares; Verrieres, Corbon, Comblot, Courgeon,
Loisail, Reveillon and Villiers.
As for the rest of Perche, it supplies Beauce and the Chartres country,
on account of the great similarity existing between them. A country of
transition, it buys colts to plow the fields, keeps them only a year,
and sells them grown to the cultivators of Beauce, to be sent to
Paris after a sojourn of a year or so upon their farms. The environs
of Courville—Chateauneuf, Brézolles, La Loupe, Champroud, Thiron,
Pontgouin, Verneuil, etc.—are celebrated for the taste of its farmers
for fine horses. Illiers, which formerly possessed this specialty, has
occupied itself for several years in weaning colts.
[Illustration: Decoration]
CHAPTER III.
SPEED AND BOTTOM OF THE PERCHERON HORSE.
We have said that one of the distinctive qualities of the Percheron
horse, and one which has won for him universal esteem, was fast
trotting while drawing a heavy load. It would be, however, an error to
suppose that this faculty of fast trotting puts him on a level with the
blood-horse. The latter draws little, it is true; but he has a long
stride, and, as regards mere speed, he beats the Percheron out and out.
For the presence upon the turf of such horses as _Décidée_ and _Sarah_,
who have trotted against blood-horses of the first order, sometimes
honorably beaten and more often victorious, the presence, I say, of
such horses, is but a happy and rare exception.
The specialty of the Percheron, quick draft, has then its limits, and
it is these limits that I wish to make known by means of numerous
examples collected with care.
What the Percheron has done in the diligences, mail and post-coaches is
known to everybody; and it is useless to repeat it. From one relay to
another, never dragging less than two, and more often three thousand
pounds, in hot weather and cold, and over hilly, difficult roads, he
made his three leagues to the hour easily, and sometimes four; but
this was the “_ne plus ultra_,” beyond which it was not reasonable to
go.
What he does in the omnibuses, the world that visits Paris realizes and
admires. And this is one of the principal attractions of the Percheron
horse to the intelligent stranger.
It now only remains for us to follow him upon the turf and sum up the
time made in the trots won by him.
The courses, for some time frequented by him, are those of Illiers,
Courtalain, Montdoubleau, and Mortagne; and here he is always to be
found. It is, also, indispensable to notice, in order to be strictly
impartial, that these tracks, except the new one at Mortagne, finished
two years ago, were only plowed fields, hard in dry weather, but cut up
like a peat-bog in wet times; that the track of Mortagne, as is well
known, is placed on a steep side-hill, and joins to the above defect
the one of offering three steep inclines, up and down, like the roof
of a house, within a distance of 3,000 feet. The horses which had done
the best elsewhere failed on this track, and took a long time to make
the distance. It is to this circumstance that is to be attributed the
low average time, but it is this also which shows us the courage of
the Percheron. When a colt of thirty months (and of these there were
a number) had bravely accomplished his task and had gone two or three
times around this killing track, it could be boldly predicted that
there was in him the making of a staunch and valuable horse. To all
this let us add, that either under saddle or in harness, the Percheron
is almost always placed in an unfavorable situation. Mounted, he is
put into the hands of a youth, ardent, without experience, and without
calculation, who pushes him without discretion in the beginning, and
is totally ignorant of the jockey’s art. Harnessed, he is covered with
heavy and inconvenient gear, and he drags either a big, heavy-running
wagon, or a poor, low traveling-tilbury.
The following list shows the result of 196 trotting matches, officially
reported upon the turf, and two trials to prove bottom, likewise
certified with care, and will give an average of what the Percheron is
capable of doing either upon rugged, cut-up, or hilly tracks, or upon
the highways of a densely populated district.
[Illustration: Decoration]
CHAPTER IV.
SPEED OF THE PERCHERON HORSE.
MOUNTED PERCHERONS.
1¼ MILES——29 RESULTS.
The best two are those of _Julie_, at Montdoubleau, in 1864, time 3
minutes 50 seconds; and of _Godius_, at the same place, in 1857, time 3
minutes 58 seconds.
The poorest two results are those of _Vidocq_, at Mortagne, 1865, time
7 minutes 37 seconds; and of _Lansquenet_, same place, in 1861, time 7
minutes 48 seconds.
The average time of 29 recorded trials is about 4 minutes 12½ seconds.
1⅚ MILES——31 RESULTS.
The best two are those of _Vaillante_, at Mortagne, in 1864, time 4
minutes 38 seconds; and of _Julie_, at Montdoubleau, in 1864, time 6
minutes 14 seconds.
The poorest two are those of _Mouche_, at Mortagne, in 1855, time
9 minutes 18 seconds; and of _Biche_, at Mortagne, in 1855, time 8
minutes 30 seconds.
The average time of 31 trials is about 6 minutes 40 seconds.
2 MILES——40 RESULTS.
The best two are those of _Cocotte_, at Illiers, in 1861, time 6
minutes 5½ seconds; and of _Sarah_, at the same place, in 1865, time 6
minutes 2 seconds.
The poorest two are those of _Balzane_, at Illiers, in 1859, time 9
minutes 40 seconds; and of _Renaud_, at the same place, in 1850, time
10 minutes 30 seconds.
The average time of 40 trials is about 7 minutes 20 seconds.
2½ MILES——65 RESULTS.
The best two are those of _Sarah_, at Langou, in 1865, time 7 minutes
35 seconds; and of the same at Mortagne, in 1865, time 7 minutes 40
seconds.
The poorest two are those of _Marmotte_, at Mortagne, in 1865, time 13
minutes 26 seconds; and of _Julie_, at Courtalain, in 1863, time 11
minutes 30 seconds.
The average time of 65 trials is about 9 minutes 15 seconds.
* * * * *
2⅗ miles were made at Illiers, by _Bichette_, in 1860, in 12 minutes 15
seconds.
2⅚ miles at the same place were made three times, and gave an average
of 11 minutes 25 seconds.
3⅖ miles at the same place were made by _Champion_, in 1857, in 12
minutes.
HARNESSED PERCHERONS.
⅞ of a mile was trotted to harness in 1855, at Bethune, by _Grise_, in
4 minutes 2 seconds.
1¼ miles were made at Mortagne, in 1856, by _Battrape_, in 5 minutes 4
seconds.
2 MILES——8 RESULTS.
The best two are those of _Achille_, at Illiers, in 1865, time 7
minutes 17 seconds; and of _Julie_, at Illiers, in 1863, time 7 minutes
40½ seconds.
The poorest two are those of _Championnet_, at Illiers, 1858, time 7
minutes 53 seconds; and of _Bichette_, at Illiers, in 1849, time 8
minutes 13 seconds.
The average of eight trials is about 7 minutes 36 seconds.
2½ MILES——14 RESULTS.
The best two are those of _Vigoreux_, at Illiers, in 1851, time 8
minutes 30 seconds; and of _Bibi_, at Mortagne, in 1865, time 9 minutes
54 seconds.
The poorest two are those of _Bichette_, at Courtalain, in 1860, time
11 minutes 30 seconds; and of _Artagnan_, at Mortagne, in 1850, time 11
minutes 55 seconds.
2⅗ MILES——LOADED.
Two trials were made at Rouen, by _Décidée_:
The first time in 1864, drawing 386 pounds, 2⅗ miles in 9 minutes
21 seconds; the second time, in 1865, drawing 408 pounds the same
distance, 10 minutes 49 seconds.
[Illustration: Decoration]
CHAPTER V.
ENDURANCE OF THE PERCHERON HORSE.
A gray mare bred by M. Beaulavoris, at Almenesches, (Orne), in 1845,
belonging to M. Montreuil, horse dealer at Alençon, performed the
following match:—Harnessed to a traveling-tilbury, she started from
Bernay at the same time as the mail courier from Rouen to Bordeaux,
and arrived before it at Alençon, having made 55⅗ miles over a hilly
and difficult road, in 4 hours and 24 minutes.
This mare is still living, and now belongs to M. Buisson, hotel keeper
at the sign of the White Horse, at Lées, (Orne), where she still draws
the omnibus plying between the railroad station and the hotel.
A gray mare 7 years old, belonging to M. Consturier, of
Fleury-sur-Andelle, (Eure), in 1864, harnessed to a tilbury, travelled
58 miles and back on two consecutive days, going at a trot and without
being touched with the whip. This was over the road from Lyons-la-Foret
from Pont Audemer, and back, a difficult and hilly way. The following
time was made: The first day the distance was trotted in 4 hours, 1
minute, and 35 seconds; the second day, in 4 hours, 1 minute, and 30
seconds. The 13¾ last miles were made _in one hour_, although at about
the 41st mile the mare was obliged to pass her stable to finish the
distance.
Transcriber’s Notes
pg 41 Changed: prefering a less showy color
to: preferring a less showy color
pg 57 Changed: If, on the contary
to: If, on the contrary