THE PERCHERON HORSE, 299 



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by two of these powerful animals, and he would certainly believe, that either 

 our horses have degenerated or that vehicles and people too are not so heavy 

 in France as in this country. It is surprising in the extreme, to observe not 

 only the weight which these horses move, but the apparent ease with which 

 enormous loads are conveyed from place to place, and above all, it is beautiful 

 to witness the docility and kindness of temper with which they bend themselves 

 to their work. Of this subject a distinguished authority says : ' Do you ex- 

 pect also from a horse, a horse derived from English blood, tliat cool, 

 restrained and ever fresh energy, that courageous patience of which the 

 Percheron every day gives an example in the omnibus in the streets of Paris ! 

 Dragging at a trot heavy loads, the weight of which frighten the imagination ; 

 stopping sliort both in ascending and descending; stepping off freely and 

 always without balking ; never sulking at his work or food, and fearing neither 

 heat nor cold ; this is a specimen of Percheron qualities.' In London a traction 

 of only about 2000 pounds is required of a draft horse. In Paris, tlie horses 

 harnessed to the heavy stone carts are required to draw as much as 5000 

 pounds each, and often more. The testimony of Mr. Webb and Mr. Dickenson 

 is to the same effect. 



2d. Docility. As a mark of the wonderful kindness of these animals, it 

 may here be mentioned that stallions and mares are frequently worked together, 

 side by side, witliout any effort on the part of the horse to become unruly or 

 unmanageable. They are free from the usual faults of draft horses, always 

 going 'cheerfully,' (if I may be allowed so to speak) to their work, and per- 

 forming it with a gentleness that renders them beloved by all who attend them. 

 They have been accustomed to work from the age of five or six months, and 

 are most carefully handled by their masters. Rough usage is comparatively 

 unknown in Perche, and this with the kindness and care of years extended to 

 the breed, they naturally then become animals of great docility. 



I have seen in one stable in France as many as eighty horses hitched to a 

 rack, as many mares as stallions, and only a suspended board separating the 

 two lots. This board was only about eighteen inches wide and eight feet long, 

 hung from the ceiling with the two ends fastened with a cord, and clip spring 

 in the rear to loosen easily if a horse should happen to stride it. None of the 

 stables in Europe have stalls for the horses, except tliose of the royalty. In 

 Paris you constantly see four or five of these magnificent stallions hitched a 

 la tandem, pulling their immense stone carts and often being left standing in 

 the streets entirely alone ; frequently one of tlie leaders will be turned around 

 and two of them standing head and tail, so as to keep the flies from bothering 

 them. And either of my own stallions will allow you to go under them, sit 

 on their hocks, or do anything witli them you choose ; they neither kick nor 

 bite. 



3d. Freedom from Disease. I am about to mention a fact under this 

 « head, which I know will be regarded suspiciously by many, yet it is, neverthe- 

 less, as true as remarkal)le. The Perclieron is exempt from the hereditary 

 bony defects of the hocks, and where they are raised, spavin, jardon, bone 

 spavin, periodical inflammation, and other dreaded infirmities, are not known 

 even by name. 



