PERCHERON PROTOTYPES 37 



732. There is more than a suspicion that the num- 

 ber slain was placed by the old chroniclers at a figure 

 large enough to cover all possible contingencies. 

 However, that is not the point. It has always been 

 claimed that in this overwhelming rout the invaders 

 left behind them many horses of the desert breed, 

 and that these were distributed among the troops of 

 the French monarch, many of whom lived in the 

 regions since known as the Orleanais, Normandy 

 and The Perche. 



That Arab blood was left behind at the time of 

 this crowning disaster to Oriental arms in western 

 Europe no one need doubt; and looking down the 

 long vista of the centuries that have come and gone 

 since then, we may find in this a possible explanation 

 of the combined style and substance of the gray and 

 white chargers so numerous in the middle ages 

 — a possible cross of the eastern blood-horse upon a 

 weightier western type. 



Mounts of the Crusaders. — After the lapse of 

 some centuries came the Crusades, when the very 

 flower of European chivalry, rallying to the standard 

 of the cross, invaded the Holy Land. Numerous ex- 

 peditions followed in which the French monarchs 

 and nobles took a conspicuous part. It has been 

 said that The Perche received liberal introduc- 

 tions of Arabian blood following the return of the 

 Crusaders, who are alleged to have brought back 

 stallions that were freely used to the great profit of 

 the horses of the district. Certain writers go so far 

 as to name Geoffroy IV, the lord of Montdoubleau, 



