THE HORSE HISTORY. 485 



cherons" are found in large numbers in the omnibus stables, but 

 a few only of the " Fine," because they are used by the admin- 

 istration. The latter are more frequently seen in the mail om- 

 nibus, conveying the letter-carriers to their respective districts, 

 and in private wagons. 



" The Percherons are mostly dapple-gray, and, while young, 

 iron-gray." 



So-called Percherons. In 1873 Mr. Klippart, in a letter 

 to a Chicago journal, wrote : " Since 1866 a great number of 

 so-called Percherons have been imported into Ohio from France." 

 He says he has not seen one of these so-called Percherons which 

 possesses all the points, style, and action of the Percherons he 

 saw in France. He expresses surprise " that some of our other- 

 wise well-informed horsemen dispute the existence of a breed 

 known as Percherons." He cites, after thorough examination of 

 written history in Paris, and after close study of the horse and 

 the methods of breeding and handling them, the best of authority 

 found in authentic encyclopedias of agriculture to prove that so 

 early as 1790 it was recognized there as a separate and distinct 

 race or breed. " The origin of the breed is no less obscure than 

 that of the Short-horn." Those desiring to further examine 

 the history of the noted Percherons are referred to his report. 



Corroborative of the views presented before, we quote from 

 Vol. I, Percher on- Norman Stud-book, revised edition : " In that 

 part of Normandy lying along the coast, especially north of the 

 Seine River, the Flemish element seems to have made its influ- 

 ence more strongly felt, and there the horses possess more of 

 the Flemish and less of the Percheron characteristics than those 

 bred farther south, in the heart of La Perche, which will ac- 

 count for the diversity in the character of the horses brought 

 to this country by our importers. Those who have purchased 

 near the coast, or north of the river Seine, have usually ob- 

 tained horses that leaned strongly toward the Flemish type. 

 They are larger, coarser, and more sluggish, with less energy, 

 endurance, .and action than those bred in Eure et Loire and the 

 adjacent departments. They are better adapted to heavy draft 

 purposes than their lighter but more hardy, active, and stylish 



