THE PERC HERON 99 



records of the French studs, or haras,i and ascertained from 

 original Le Pin records that Godolphin was a chestnut Enghsh 

 saddle horse and Gallipoly a small Turkish saddle horse. The 

 former horse was not regarded good enough for use in the stud 

 and was disposed of about 1 8 1 8 ; while Gallipoly was classed as 

 an excellent stallion, but " too small and unsuitable for Le Pin," 

 and so, after being in the stud from 181 2 to 18 19, was probably 

 sent to Brittany. Jean Le Blanc (739), foaled in 1823 or 1824, 

 said to have been a true Percheron and a '" descendant of Gal- 

 lipoly," according to the French^ was a remarkable stallion and 

 responsible for great improvement of the breed. Ashton found 

 records of gray draft stallions in government studs, dating back 

 to 1808, while specific reference to a Percheron was first made in 

 1822, relative to D6sarm6 (538), foaled in 1815, a bay of un- 

 known Percheron ancestry. In 1826 this horse covered twenty-six 

 mares. Besides D^sarme, along at this period there were several 

 Percheron horses in service, including Jocko, Herbager, Remor- 

 queur, Joly, and Superior. These horses were placed more or less 

 in service in the Perche, under government supervision. 



The early type of Percheron resulting from this amalgamation 

 of races was not so large as the present-day type. The farmer 

 of the Perche required a horse suited to general purposes, so the 

 early type was smaller and more active of foot than the present- 

 day Percheron. Either under saddle or before gig, Percherons 

 trotted with considerable speed. Records of Percherons show that 

 not infrequently they have trotted at a rate of about a mile in four 

 minutes. Richardson, an English writer familiar with conditions in 

 France, gives interesting illustrations of the ability of this horse 

 to travel long distances with considerable speed. ^ 



A gray mare six years old which took a heavy gig 56 miles over a heavy 

 road in 4 hours and 24 minutes ; and another, seven years old, drew an ordi- 

 nary country gig 55 miles in 4 hours i minute 35 seconds, returning the next 

 day over the same ground in 4 hours I minute 30 seconds, the last 14 miles 

 being covered in i hour, and neither in going or returning was she touched 

 with the whip. 



1 A History of the Percheron Horse, 1917. 



2 Studbook Percheron, tome premier, p. 14. Nogent-le-Rotrou, 1883. 



3 G. G. Richardson, The Corn and Catde Producing Districts of France, 

 p. 188. London, 1877. Digitized by Microsoft® 



