182 A HISTORY OF THE PEECHERON HORSE 



a Norman draft horse was ever known in that coun- 

 try. Our people knew that most of the original im- 

 portations, and many of the later ones as well, had 

 been bought within the borders of the ancient prov- 

 ince of Normandy. Little or nothing was known at 

 that date as to the part which the province of Perehe 

 had really played in the production of the best horses 

 of this stamp on the other side. There were several 

 different types of draft horses used and bred in the 

 Normandy district, but there was no draft horse 

 originated and perpetuated under the name of "Nor- 

 man" in that province. 



Naturally the early American importers were first 

 attracted by the horses seen in the streets of the 

 commercial centres near the coast of northern Nor- 

 mandy, such as Rouen, and it was here that they 

 began making their first purchases. They did not 

 at first penetrate as far inland as The Perehe. Just 

 what proportion of Percheron blood was carried by 

 Louis Napoleon, the Valley Horse, and others of the 

 early celebrities can never be known, but from the 

 prepotency which the best of these stallions after- 

 wards demonstrated when crossed upon the native 

 mares of the United States it is safe to assume that 

 they were strongly bred horses, and that in all prob- 

 ability some of them at least had their origin in the 

 Percheron country proper. That is at this late day, 

 however, a purely academic consideration. 



It is easy to understand why those who were large- 

 ly interested in these horses in 1876 should prefer 

 to stand by a name which had become so well estab- 



