94 THE PERCHEROtf HOESE. 



and part of Noce. This division, however, is not always 

 distinctly marked upon the borders. The parishes upon 

 the confines of each district, such as Bazoches, Cour- 

 geoust, Pin, Saint-Ouen, Noce, Berdluis, etc., have farms 

 stocked exclusively with fillies, whilst others possess only 

 stallion colts. 



The region for the mares is itself divided into two can- 

 tons : that of the north and that of the south. The 

 southern is the most renowned, inasmuch as its mares 

 pass for having retained the characters of the old Per- 

 cheron race more closely. It comprises the cantons outside 

 the district of Mortagne. Montdoubleau is the capital. 



The northern, enclosed in the district of Mortagne, 

 counts three very distinct varieties, namely : 



The pure Percheron races in the south, and in the can- 

 ton of Bazoches ; in the west, in the parishes which 

 border on Mesle-sur-Sarthe, mares possessing in various 

 degrees some of English blood, got from the government 

 stud of Mesle-sur-Sarthe, which is composed exclusively 

 of thoroughbred stallions ; the canton of Moulins, in the 

 north, nourishes another high-spirited variety, endowed 

 with excellent action, but deficient in height. According- 

 ly it is more valued for furnishing good horses for service 

 than for furnishing ameliorating types. 



The best centers for stallion colts are: Regmalard, 

 which is, if I may so say, the principal place for good 

 stallions ; Mauves, which furnished, thirty years ago, the 

 famous stallion Jean-le-Blanc, of M. Miard. For fillies, 

 Villers-en-Ouche, which stocked this country with magnif- 

 icent Percheron mares ; Verrieres, Corbon, Comblot, 

 Courgeou, Loisail, Re veil Ion and Villiers. 



As for the rest of Perche, it supplies Beauce and the 

 Chartres country, on account of the great similarity 

 existing between them. A country of transition, it buys 

 colts to plow the fields, keeps them only a year, and sells 

 them grown to the cultivators of Beauce, to be sent to 



