32 THE HORSE 



edly dissimilar in nearly all characteristics, into a 

 harmonious, prepotent breed, is not only difficult, but 

 quite unusual. 



Little is known of the character of the horses of 

 France prior to admixture with foreign blood. A 

 marked change in them began to appear soon after 

 the battle of Tours (732 A. D.), in which Charles 

 Martel defeated the famous Saracen chief, Abdurame, 

 and killed the infidels to the number of three hundred 

 thousand. The horses of the Saracens, like themselves, 

 came from the East. Upon a division of the spoils, 

 a large number of the horses were assigned to the 

 men of LaPerche, Orleanais and Normandy, who com- 

 posed the bulk of the French forces. The custom then, 

 as now, was to leave most of the horses entire; there- 

 fore the magnificent cavalry -horses of Abdurame must 

 have had marked beneficial effects on the native horses 

 of France. These three provinces still constitute the 

 central breeding districts of the Percherou. 



Du Huys says, "The Percheron race comes from 

 Arabia," but he adds that "the Percheron must have 

 been especially modified by contact with the horses of 

 Britanny." The present form and appearance of this 

 breed give unmistakable evidence that great modifica- 

 tions and changes have taken place in recent years, and 

 such changes can be ascribed only to an infusion of 

 cold blood through some well-defined breed or variety 

 of draft animals. 



