CHAPTER I 

 THE DRAFT BREEDS OF HORSES 



ALL individuals representing the following breeds 

 should possess primarily the low station, wide, deep, 

 compact, massive and big-boned form typical of the 

 drafter. Sharp contrast should be made between these 

 features, which are common to all the breeds in this 

 group, and the distinctive features or marks possessed by 

 each breed in particular and by means of which they are 

 differentiated. 



PERCHERON HORSE. Plate I. 

 By Charles F. Curtiss and John A. Craig 



1. The Percheron breed of draft horses is native of 

 the ancient province of La Perche, a territory about 

 one hundred miles square, in the north-central part of 

 France. This region lies in the heart of a fertile farming 

 country. The land is high and rolling, the soil is fertile 

 and the farms are watered by numerous springs and small 

 streams. These springs and brooks give rise to some 

 eight or ten rivers flowing into the English Channel on 

 the north and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The numer- 

 ous valleys are rich and they produce sweet, nutritious 

 grasses and bountiful crops of grain. The climate is 

 mild, yet sufficiently tonic and invigorating to produce 

 horses of good temperament. The land is held mainly 



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