102 THE HORSE, ASS, AND MULE 



is generally gray, but there are some grand black Percherons. . . . Docile, 

 patient, honest workers, very hardy, the Percherons are unexcitable, but 

 active and cheerful, rarely showing bad temper, and very free from natural 

 blemish, trotting away cheerfully with heavy loads. The French call them 

 the best draught horses in the world. 



Yet even when Richardson penned this (1877) he stated that 

 these qualities were rarely found combined in any of the Per- 

 cheron horses, on account of the deteriorating influences already 

 referred to. . 



The more approved type of Percheron to-day calls for all the 

 best features in the model draft horse. In weight mature stal- 

 lions usually average from 1700 to 2000 pounds, and mares 

 from 1500 to 1800 pounds. Exceptions, however, very natu- 

 rally occur. Univers 33977 P.R., the celebrated show stallion, 

 weighed in show form about 2300 pounds, while Chichi 40072 

 P.R., as a two-year-old in show form, weighed 2150 pounds. A 

 most approved weight of mature mare is 1650 pounds. The 

 height of stallions ranges from 15^ to 17 hands, and mares 

 from 15^ to 16^. Tall Percherons are not regarded with favor, 

 a lower set form being preferable. The color is usually a gray or 

 black, but bays and browns occasionally occur. Fashion has caused 

 some changes in color production, there having been periods 

 when grays were most common, while later blacks were much 

 in favor. It is said that at the fair at Chartres, France, in Feb- 

 ruary, 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." Grays have been most popular in the United States 

 and France, and dark gray may be regarded as a typical Percheron 

 color. However, in spite of the criticism of black as a horse color, 

 the opening years of the twentieth century have seen a great 

 demand for black Percherons or dark iron grays, and most of the 

 horses recently imported have been of these colors. 



The body of the Percheron is characteristically compact and 

 blocky of form, full in the chest, and broad of back. Horses of 

 the breed, however, often have steep, rather short rumps, with 

 the tail set too low, and even with the best specimens the type of 

 rump tends to unnecessary slope. In depth and fullness of body 

 there is also a lack. The legs and feet are quite distinctive of 



