324 THE HORSES OF PREHISTORIC [CH. 



for the head is larger in proportion to their size, but in modern 

 times they have been modified by English thoroughbred blood \ 



The Landes furnish a breed of horses without doubt partly 

 Libyan in origin. They are reared in a half-wild state, de- 

 pendent entirely on the scanty pasture of their native wastes. 

 They are of small size (1"10 — 30 m. = 11 — 13 hands) with small 

 square heads. They are hardy and untiring. The results from 

 crossing them with big breeds, especially the English thorough- 

 bred, have always been bad, but when these little mares are 

 mated with an Arab, whose height and feeding is much more 

 on a par with their own, the results are excellent. 



The horses bred in Bas-Medoc are the result of crossingf the 

 indigenous mares with English thoroughbred or Anglo-Norman 

 stallions. Their height should make them suited for cavalry of 

 the line, but in every other respect they are ill-suited for this 

 purpose, being ugly, awkward, nervous, and bad-temperedl 



The horses of Morvan (whose seat is in Saone-et-Loire and 

 Nievre) are ' absolutely identical ' with the horses of Auvergne 

 and those of Ariege (Eastern Pyrenees). This breed had a 

 great reputation under Louis XV, and is still valued, though 

 degenerated 



Though the departments of Western France supply but few 

 fine horses, yet Brittany from time immemorial has had an 

 excellent breed, ' absolutely identical ' with that of Morvan, 

 Auvergne, and Ariege. The best French authorities maintain 

 that the Breton horses are ' Asiatic,' i.e. Libyan, in origin. 

 According to M. Sanson the introduction of this type must 

 go back to the Celtic epoch, and he places it under his 

 E. c. hibermicus (p. 2). These horses, known as bidets, are reared 

 everywhere in the mountains and plains of Brittany, especially 

 near Guingamp, Cartaix, Loudeac, Brest, Morlaix, and Redon. 

 They have short, square heads, and they do not exceed 1*50 m. 

 (15 hands) in height. They have been spoiled to a certain extent 

 by the introduction of English thoroughbred stallions*. 



This breed, which thus extends right across France, from 

 Ariege through Auvergne, and down the Loire into Brittany, 



^ Cuyer and Alix, op. cit. pp. 605-6. ^ Cuyer and Alix, op. cit. p. 609. 



'^ Cuyer and Alix, op. cit. p. 617. * Cuyer and Alix, op. cit. p. 614. 



