Percheron Draft Horse

The Origin and History of the Percheron Horse
The breed derives its name from the place that served as its cradle. Le Perche is an old province about 53 by 66 miles located some 50 miles southwest of Paris. From the earliest known times the people of Le Perche have been producers of horses, not often buyers, always free sellers to the adjacent areas and, ultimately, the world. In the matter of breeding horses they were a world unto themselves.
Traditionally it has been a race with a preponderance of greys. Old paintings and crude drawings from the middle ages affirm this. The French Knight is almost always portrayed on a grey or white charger. Their mounts are depicted as horses with considerable substance for that time, but without coarseness.
When the day of the war horse (thanks to gun powder) was over, this color and that substance with style, was made to order to provide France with horses to pull heavy stage coaches. What was needed was a horse that could trot from 7 to 10 miles per hour and the endurance to do it day in and day out. The light colored greys and whites were preferred because of their visibility at night. With three turnpikes from Paris to the coastal ports of Normandy running through Le Perche, the French did not have to look very far to find the right kind to pull the heavy mail and passenger coaches for the kings of France. They were called Diligence horses, as the stage coaches were called diligences. They were more than a heavy coach horse with extravagant style, they were more like drafters. So let's just use the French word and call them Diligence Horses.
When rail replaced the diligences, other roles called on this equine race. Cities were growing rapidly and omnibuses were the public transport of the day. Thousands of omnibus horses were called for in Paris and other French cities. The job called for a little heavier horse, the breeders of the Le Perche altered their local breed enough to do the job. At the same time horses (faster and stronger) were replacing oxen in agriculture. The nearby Beauce, the granary of France, needed a bigger horse for agriculture. As trade and commerce grew, so did the need for horses of heavy draft to move large loads from docks and railheads. They needed an even larger horse than did the farmer. Again, the breeders of Le Perche complied.
From the war horse (heavy saddler) to diligence horse (heavy coacher or light draft) to the true horse of heavy draft, the breeders of Le Perche sculpted away on their beloved indigenous breed for hundreds of years, altering the animal to meet the demands of the times and to entice the buyer.
Across the sea a confident young republic was experiencing the same changes from stage coach to rail, from agrarian to industrial and from sail to steam. The United States was without any breeds of its own. Its horse stocks had been heavily drawn down by its own Civil War in the 1860s. The west was being settled, its cities were growing, and there echoed the same cry for bigger, stronger horses than heretofore, just as in continental Europe.
The only source of such stock was in western Europe. Americans became steady visitors and determined buyers of such seed stock. The initial importation's of French stock were in 1839 and 1851. None of those first importation's came from La Perche, but rather from Normandy. Nonetheless, they provided a beginning.
The decades of the 1870s and 80s were years of massive importation's from Europe. Literally thousands of draft-type horses, especially stallions, were imported primarily from France and Great Britain. A battle was on for the hearts and pocketbooks of American importers.
As the trade grew and importers ventured further inland in search of the best kind, the little old province of Le Perche was discovered. Or, more to the point, the superiority of its draft horses was discovered. For France had and still does, several races (breeds) of draft horses.
The Percheron quickly became America's favorite horse. In the decade of the 80s almost 5,000 stallions and over 2,500 mares were imported to this country from France, mostly from Le Perche. The number exceeded importation's from Great Britain and the rest of continental Europe.
Those heavenly days, leaving millions of dollars in little Le Perche, lasted until the financial panic of 1893. There were virtually no importations from 1894-1898. Breeding in this country came to a standstill. Much of the seed stock from the earlier period was lost or squandered as people were either broke or too cautious to spend it if they had it. One of the tens of thousands of businesses that went bankrupt was the young Association.
The recovery was almost as abrupt as the downslide. Importations were resumed in 1898, averaging about 700 head a year from that time to 1905. In 1906, they reached the enormous number of 13,000 stallions and 200 mares. Happy Days were here again, both in places like Crossroads, USA and Le Perche. Annual registrations reached 10,000 per year by the teens.
In 1902, a new breed association was formed, picking up the records from the old.
These fortuitous circumstances were rudely interrupted in 1914 by the outbreak of World War 1. The days of great importations were over once and for all.

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