108 A HISTORY OF THE PERCHEBON HORSE 



of the province of Quebec, in the hands of the de- 

 scendants of the first "habitants," reveal in their 

 activity and endurance, if not in size, something 

 of the character of the sturdy, fast-traveling, long- 

 distance trotters for which France had been famous 

 for generations. More than a century ago the native 

 horses of eastern. Canada offered in their conforma- 

 tion indisputable proof of a Gallic origin, but so 

 altered to meet the exigencies of a new country as 

 to be entitled to recognition as a distinct type. 



Authentic Records Begin. — The first stallions im- 

 ported into North America from France of whicb 

 there is record in all probability did not come from 

 The Perche. The so-called "McNitt Horse,'.' 

 brought into Canada in 1816, was a dapple-gray 

 standing from 15.2 to 15.3 hands high. At the time 

 he was imported the French government, as we have 

 already shown, was just beginning at the Haras du 

 Pin to give a more or less grudging support to the 

 idea of developing heavy drafters in The Perche. 

 While the breeding and origin of the McNitt 

 Horse, or European, as he was sometimes called, 

 cannot now be fixed, it is clear that he was of a type 

 then in favor in France. He weighed around 1,200 

 pounds and was a trotter of renown. Moreover, he 

 proved a successful and prolific sire. His sons were, 

 as a rule, so superior to the native stock of the time 

 that many of them were kept entire and used in the 

 stud. At a rather advanced age he was brought 

 into Washington County, New York. Both he and 

 several of his sons were popular in the Empire Statp 



