112 THE HORSE, ASS, AND MULE 



though it is suggested that some improvement may have come 

 from Percheron blood. The breed has an excellent reputation in 

 France, where a studbook kept in its interest is widely used, 

 and the Boulonnais is regarded as second only in importance to 

 the Percheron. Prominent importers have stated that Boulonnais 

 horses have not been extensively brought to America, although 

 no doubt they are well represented in the United States under 

 the names of Norman or French Draft. 



3. Breton. This breed belongs to Brittany in extreme west- 

 ern France, in a section opposite southwest England, from 

 which it is separated by the English Channel. This is quite 

 a prominent horse section, but in its past history rather mis- 

 cellaneous breeding has been resorted to. English, Arabian, 

 and cross-bred stallions have been used, and more recently 

 Percheron. Richardson, in discussing these horses thirty years 

 ago, says : 



Though larger than the horses of the center, those in the north only run 

 from 14 hands to 15.1, having improved up to the latter point, which the 

 best horses now commonly reach. They are of much the same character as 

 the Percheron ; indeed, there has been a continual interchange between the 

 two districts, and the color is chiefly the same gray ; but the Breton horse 

 has a heavier head, more hair about the heels, broader feet, a heavier 

 frame, he is shorter below the knee, and the pasterns are shorter, in fact, he 

 shows less blood. 



In the past large numbers of weaned foals have been sold to go 

 out of Brittany. " Nor," says Richardson, " are they known again 

 as Breton horses. The grays become Percherons and the bays 

 Normans." 



Leading Percheron importers claim that none of the Bretons 

 are brought to America, but that they are largely used for omni- 

 bus horses in Paris. 



4. Nivernais. This breed is mainly found in the department 

 of Nievre in central France. It is a somewhat modern black 

 breed, largely the result of using black Percheron stallions on 

 the mares of the region, which are hardly as large as Percherons. 

 This breed has not been imported to any important degree, as it 

 does not exist in large numbers in its native home, this region 

 being most celebrated for its cattle. 



