ANOAKIA BREEDING FARM 35 



PERCHERONS 



PERCHERON horses, like most of the other breeds of horses, trace their 

 origin to the Arabian. When the warriors of Islam invaded France in 

 732 A. D., and were defeated at Tours, near the district of La Perche, 

 many of their Arabian chargers were included in the spoils of victory. 

 The French people of that period, therefore, were able to improve their native 

 horses by crossing them with these symmetrical, clean-limbed, courageous Orien- 

 tal stallions. The farmers of La Perche made intelligent use of these splendid 

 sires. 



As a result of the blending of the blood of these Oriental chargers with 

 the native horses of France, and the continued improvement brought about by 

 careful selection during the past ten centuries, we have the Percheron of the 

 present time. The French government has encouraged in every possible way 

 the breeding of Percheron horses by giving subsidies and prizes, and passing 

 laws requiring that stallions pass ofl&cial government inspection before being 

 permitted to make a public stand. By application of the simplest rules of 

 breeding — namely, the very best stallions and the very best mares, rejecting 

 those imperfect in the slightest degree, so that their faults cannot be multi- 

 plied — they have done much to secure that combination of strength, endurance, 

 activity and docility for which the breed is so noted, and which has placed it 

 in the front rank of excellence among draft breeds of the world. 



Bred with so great uniformity for so long a time, the Percheron is a model 

 draft horse. He imparts to his progeny his valuable characteristics with a 

 surety and precision not equaled by any other draft breed. So fixed is the 

 type that they are the most prepotent and impressive of all draft breeds in 

 existence. Possessed of their qualities, the colts, produced by a cross between 

 a pure-bred Percheron and the ordinary farm mare, will do more work, is easier 

 kept, develops younger, and, when placed on the market, will uniformly com- 

 mand a higher price than the grades of other draft breeds. 



The Percheron is raised in the district of La Perche, France, which is about 

 fifty miles wide and seventy-five miles long, located about seventy miles from 

 Paris. In the northwestern part of France, bounded on one side by the English 



