300 THE HORSE. 



of the Cathedral of Rouen, several centuries old. At the time 

 of tlie occupation of the Netherlands by the Spaniards, the 

 Andalusian was the favorite stallion of the north of Europe, and 

 thus a stamp of the true Barb was implanted, which remains to 

 the present day. If you will allow me to digress a moment, I 

 will give you a short description of the old Norman draught- 

 horse on which the cross was made. They average full sixteen 

 hands in height, with head short, thick, wide and hollow be- 

 tween tlie eyes; jaws lieavy; ears short and pointed well for- 

 wards ; neck very short and tliick ; mane heavy ; shoulder well 

 inclined backwards ; back extremely short ; rump steep ; quar- 

 ters very broad ; chest deep and wide ; tendons large ; muscles 

 excessively develoj)ed; legs very short, particularly from the 

 knee and hock to the fetlock, and thence to the coronet, which 

 is covered with long hair, hiding half the hoof; much hair on 

 the legs. 



" Tlie bone and muscle, and much of the form of the Perche- 

 ron is derived from this horse, and he gets his spirit and action 

 from the Andalusian. Docility comes from both sides. On 

 the expulsion of the Spaniards from the north, the supply of 

 Andalusian stallions was cut oif, and since that time in the Perche 

 district in Normandy, their progeny has doubtless been bred in- 

 and-in ; hence the remarkable uniformity of the breed, and the 

 disposition to imj^art their form to their progeny beyond any 

 breed of domestic animals within my knowledge. Another cir- 

 cumstance which I think has tended to perpetuate tlie good 

 qualities of these horses, is the fact of all their males being 

 kept entire ; a gelding is, I believe, unknown among the rural 

 horses of France. You may be startled at this notion of mine, 

 but if you reflect a moment, you must perceive that in such a 

 state of things — so contrary to our practice and that of the 

 English — the farmer will always breed from the best horse, and 

 he will have an opportunity of judging, because the horse has 

 been broken to harness and his qualities known before he could 

 command business as a stallion. Hence, too, their indifference 

 to pedigree. 



" If the success of Diligence as a stallion is any evidence of 

 the value of the breed, I can state, that he has averaged eighty 

 mares per season for the ten seasons he has made in this conn- 



