106 THE HORSE, ASS, AND MULE 



The color of the Percheron is usually a gray or black. Bays 

 and browns occur, but are not common. Gray from the beginning 

 has been the most popular color in the Perche, and in the days 

 of the stagecoach the gray color, being more easily seen at night 

 than black, contributed to its popularity. > Many of the greatest 

 stallions in the history of the breed have been grays. Fashion 

 has had a part in influencing the color of the Percheron, and for 

 years American importers have been seeking blacks to meet the 

 demands of customers. It is said that at the fair at Chartres, 

 France, in February, 1877, one dealer had eighteen blacks, for 

 which he asked about the equivalent of $10,000 for the lot, 

 " and they were well worth it." In recent years, however, gray 

 has grown in popularity, ranging from a dark iron gray with 

 light mane and tail to a pure white. A colt apparently black, 

 but having scarcely noticeable white hairs on the body among 

 the black, will gradually become gray with age if both mane 

 and tail are light in color. The bay or brown is a distinctly 

 unpopular color and is not representative of the breed. In 1917 

 Secretary Wayne Dinsmore of the Percheron Society of America 

 sent out a circular letter to Percheron breeders, in which he 

 showed the proportions of colors with two thousand horses of 

 the breed registered in Volume XVIII of the studbook. Com- 

 menting on the facts brought out, Mr. Dinsmore says : 



The outstanding feature is the fact that 90.85 per cent are black's and grays, 

 either whole or colored, or with some white marks, such as star, strip, snip, 

 white pasterns, or other distinguishing marks. Solid colored horses, even in 

 blacks and grays, constitute but a small proportion of the total. . . . Bays or 

 brown bays, with or without markings, make up but 3.45 per cent of the total. 

 Browns without the bay tinge aggregate 3.25 per cent, and some of these latter 

 prove to be blacks. Chestnut and sorrel mean the same thing in the minds of 

 many horsemen, and all reported have some white markings, yet total only 

 1.5 per cent. Several kinds of roans are listed, but all told they amount to 

 only 0.95 per cent of the total, or less than one per cent. 



The weight and height of the Percheron place him in the 

 medium class of draft horses, although very large specimens of 

 the breed are recorded. The average weight of the mature stallion 

 is from 1700 to 2000 pounds, while the mares range from 1600 

 to 1800 pounds. The heavier weights are rarely reached, excepting 



