OEDEE OF PACHYDEEMATA. 



203 



with diminutive size, are only met with, in those reared in a 

 comparatively wUd state ; to increase their height they have been 

 crossed with English stallions. 



On the Atlantic sea-coast, between the embouchure of the Loire 

 and Gironde, there once existed iaimense marshes, which were 

 devoted to the breeding and rearing of Horses. This is the 

 district where the stout-built mares, with long and narrow 



Fig 57.— Breton Horse 



heads and bulky limbs covered with hair, were first bred, 

 and which, when crossed with Anglo-Norman stalUons, produced 

 the chargers which were found best suited to mount the French 



cavalry. 



We shall not notice here the Horses of Lorrame, Alsace, 

 Champagne, and Burgimdy, which are not distinguished by any 

 special or strongly-marked characteristics. We wiU only mention 

 the Limousin breed, which supplied the most elegant and valued 

 Saddle-horses for our ancestors. They were, it is said, the 

 descendants of Arabian Horses left by the Saracens, after their 

 conquest by Charles Martel. This active and high-spirited race. 



