THE PERCHERON HORSE. 208 



In this system the colt has passed through four hands before it is 

 dedicated to its final uses. The education has been continuous, 

 the growth steady and work begun at an early period. Size has been 

 gained, muscular development secured and the fast walker and good 

 roadster is the result. It has been the continuation of this systematic 

 course of feeding, working and training which has given the Per- 

 cheron horse to the world. At times there may have been a degen- 

 eration through improper crosses, in the desire to get rich rapidl}', 

 but in the last century there has been a regeneration through judici- 

 ous selections, an aiming at the choice of the most perfect types, 



hi France the Percheron stands as the family- horse, the middle 

 type weighing from twelve to sixteen hundred, light of foot, easy of 

 action and possessing wonderful endurance. This was necessary 

 during those centuries before the railroads came, when the call wa» 

 for postillion horses ; and ever since the road qualities have received 

 attention even while working at the plow. Abundant evidence of speed 

 is produced to satisfy the most credulous, but that does not strictly 

 apply to-day, the Percheron standing in this country not as a draft- 

 horse neither a trotter, but as a general purpose animal possessing 

 qualities unequaled by others. If on the one hand evidence is seen 

 of remarkable draft powers, or on the other of records made and 

 races won, the great majority will look for the horse of good dispo- 

 sition, l)est adapted to all kinds of work, ready at all times and sea- 

 sons, docile. Intelligent, sound by nature and inheritance, a fast 

 walker and free, easy roadster of size and substance, and will find 

 this combination in a marked degree in the noble Percheron. 



In this brief sketch one can do no more than outline the work of 

 the past. An attempt has been made to indicate how the race 

 sprang into existence and became established. This much is neces- 

 sary, for only as we appreciate the efforts of former generations can 

 the work be carried forward systematically and successfully. 



The first importation to this country, of which any authenticated 

 record is found, was in 1839, and was made by Dr. Edward Harris 

 of Morristown, N. J., though it is highly probable that the horse 

 "Norman" or "Morse's Grey" as he was known, owned in Wash- 

 ington County, N Y., was a Percheron, as he was by a French 

 stallion imported in 1816. Those selected by Dr. Harris were of 

 the smaller type and seem to have been taken because of the com- 

 bination of good qualities. They stood about fifteen hands and 



