218 A HISTORY OP THE PERCHERON HORSE 



could raise for America. It was at this time, 1881 

 to 1883, that exportations to America reached to 

 more than 2,500 head. The trade had then reached 

 such vast proportions and become of such material 

 importance to Percheron breeders that the Societe 

 Hippique Percheronne, or French Percheron Society, 

 was organized on June 23, 1883, by a few breeders 

 in Nogent and the district. Of course my father 

 and uncle were included in the number. It had been 

 projected since 1878. There was also a rival society, 

 le Percheron Francais, backed by the Societe des 

 Agriculteur .de France. There were many bitter 

 quarrels between the two associations, but eventu- 

 ally they became fused into one. 



"In the early '80 's Mr. Dunham ceased to make 

 his purchases personally, entrusting that work first 

 to Leonard Johnson and subsequently to Jamies M. 

 Fletcher. The type selected by the Americans 

 at the beginning was about the same size as the 

 Paris omnibus horse. We used to ship about 7,000 

 head a year to the omnibus companies in Paris, com- 

 posed of males unsuitable for breeding stallions; 

 also many barren mares went to Paris, but the ma- 

 jority were shipped to Bordeaux, Montbeliard, 

 Havre and other large cities. The proportions of 

 dappled gray horses in the Perche at that time was 

 about 75 per cent, and the weight of a mature stal- 

 lion ran around 1,700 to 1,750 pounds. 



"If I remember rightly it was the Ellwoods, about 

 1881, who first evinced a desire to buy larger horses, 

 and they acquired the celebrated stallion Cesar, the 

 precursor of the elephantine Percheron, as the 

 French breeders say. Cesar weighed close on 2,200 

 pounds at 2 years old. Unfortunately he died in 

 crossing the ocean. Nevertheless the fiat had gone 

 forth for larger horses, consequent on the improved 



