PERCHERON HORSE MODIFIED 31 



English farmer has also acquired a love for the horse. 

 Although as a rule, he does not, participate in the race, 

 he is everywhere conspicuous and has thus learned 

 to admire, almost adore, the hunter. He also takes 

 special interest in the agricultural- and draft -horses for 

 their strong, symmetrical, plump form and size and their 

 ability to work. Consequently, in breeding and im- 

 provement, the draft -horse .has kept pace with those 

 of lighter and fleeter forms. Perhaps no other people 

 has done so much for the improvement of the horse, 

 and the dissemination of well-bred animals, as the 

 Anglo-Saxons. America is certainly indebted to Great 

 Britain for a wealth of valuable foundation stock with 

 which to begin horse-breeding. 



THE HORSE IN PRANCE 



Until quite recently, France has furnished to America 

 only one breed of horses, the heavy Percheron, 1 which 

 has been imported very largely during the last third 

 of the nineteenth century. Percherons have been most 

 popular in the west, while in the east the Clydesdales 

 remain as popular as they were before the introduction 

 of other draft -breeds. 



The Percheron 2 horse has a most interesting history, 

 since he is a marked illustration of the successful 

 mingling of the hot blood of the Orient with the 

 cold -blood draft types. The blending of types so mark- 



1 Known by several names; see Chapter VIII. 



2 For a full history of the early Percheron horse, see "Percheron 

 Horse," translated from the French of Charles Du Huys (1868), Orange 

 Judd Co., New York. 



