CHAPTER XIX 



THE BELGIAN 



Belgium as a horse-breeding country has a reputation extend- 

 ing back to remote times. Remains of the horse have been 

 found in the cave dwellings of the Lesse and Meuse, showing 

 the relationship of man to this valuable animal in that country 

 in prehistoric times. Since the days of historical record the 

 horse of Belgium has been famous. Diodorus Siculus, a Greek 

 historical writer of the first century B.C., mentions that the 

 Belgians were great judges of horses, and Caesar states that they 

 were willing to pay high prices for a superior class of foreign 

 horses. Tacitus, the historian and well-known writer of the first 

 century a.d., commented on the extensive buying of horses from 

 Belgium and the inability of the people to furnish as many as 

 were desired. It has even been assumed that perhaps the greater 

 part of the Roman cavalry consisted of Belgian horses. Up to 

 about the sixteenth century horse breeding was an important 

 industry in Belgium, but with the general introduction of gun- 

 powder it is said that the use of the horse was largely relegated 

 to agricultural pursuits, and Belgium lost her prestige as a horse- 

 producing section. 



Modern horse breeding in Belgium is comparatively recent in 

 its activity. The country suffered from revolution in 1830, and 

 from then on for ten years the industry was seriously neglected. 

 Government officials, however, had their attention directed to 

 the loss to Belgian interests occasioned by this neglect, and in 

 1850 the government established a stud for stallions at Tervueren. 

 Since that period much attention has been paid to the improve- 

 ment of the draft horse in Belgium. 



The official draft horse society of Belgium (Le Cheval de trait 

 Beige) was founded in 1886. The draft horse is the only race 

 in Belgium officially promoted by the government, and this 



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