1868.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
287 
Horses of All Work—The Percheron. 
Real work-horses can hardly he said to he 
abundant in the United States. We have horses 
which do a great deal of hard work, but, not 
being made for it and adapted to it, they suffer 
under what should be light labor for them. 
In the great cities, 
where they are an 
absolute necessity, 
we find fine speci¬ 
mens of heavy draft 
horses. There are a 
few districts whence 
a small number of 
good to large-sized 
horses are annually 
drawn, adapted to 
hard labor. A smaller 
race of real workers 
comes from Canada 
—admirable horses, 
of pony size and 
build, heavy for their 
size, strong for their 
weight, enduring as 
strong, kind, intelli¬ 
gent, tough, willing, 
good limbed, hard 
hoofed, profusely 
clothed with a full 
furry coat, and an 
abundant mane and 
tail. This is the 
“Kanuclc,”or French 
Canadian, whose 
progenitors came from Normandy. The true 
Norman horse is a larger and heavier animal, 
of somewhat similar style; but here, climate, 
food, and careless breeding, have, no doubt, 
wrought the change we see. The Kanuck, good 
as he is for work, can never be regarded as 
“of all work,” for certainly the size of the 
breed precludes its being used for heavy draft. 
Our people have 
become familiar with 
that grand race of 
French draft horses 
through the pictures 
of the most gifted of 
horse painters, Rosa 
Bonlieur, and the 
engravings of them. 
Travellers see and 
wonder at horses, of 
ordinary size, meas¬ 
ured by hands, in the 
streets of Paris, a 
pair of which will 
take a heavy omni¬ 
bus, crowded with 1 
passengers, and trot 
off with it with ap¬ 
parently untiring 
ease, as if rejoicing 
in an opportunity to 
exert their great 
strength. A friend as¬ 
sures us, he saw last 
season, in France, a 
pair of Percheron 
horses trot a mile in a few seconds more 
than four minutes and a half, drawing an 
omnibus w T ith twelve adult passengers. These 
horses come from the ancient districts of Perc.he, 
Britany, Normandy, and the country imme¬ 
diately adjacent. The Percherons have been 
most carefully bred, and probably originally 
were of the best blood. Without a doubt, the 
breed originated during and after the time of 
the crusades, by crossing Arabian and Turkish 
and Andalusian stallions with the heavy Nor¬ 
man mares, and the value of the horses of dif¬ 
ferent districts, it is said, clearly indicates at the 
present day, where the most free use was made 
of this Oriental blood. This is the stock from 
which the Kanuck sprung, and whence he de¬ 
rives his admirable qualities. The late Wil¬ 
liam Henry Herbert, in his “ Hints to Horse- 
keepers,” when speaking of the capacities of the 
French Canadian for improvement and for 
breeding as a pure race, says in. effect, that it is 
the only breed of horses, with the exception of 
the Percheron, which can be bred and improved 
Fig. 2.— IMPORTED PERCHERON MARE “ ALENE.” 
within itself, and without recourse to warm 
blood, that is, Arabian or English thoroughbred. 
The Publishers of ihe Agriculturist have re¬ 
cently issued a neat volume on “ The Percheron 
Horse.” It is a translation of the report of Mr. 
Charles Du Huys to the French Government, 
and it is well worthy the perusal of all horse 
breeders. We introduce two engravings from 
this work, of a stallion and a mare, both the 
property of Mr. W. T. Walters, of Baltimore. 
The stallion u Hercules," (tig. 1,) bred by M. 
Bigot, ofMeninere, is a dapple gray, over 1G 1 1 2 
hands high, and four years old. He is of the 
lieavy-draft class of Percherons, of good form, 
fine, precise, and quick action, and good style. 
His sire is “Moni¬ 
tor,” and his dam 
has won several 
prizes as a breeding 
mare, and consider¬ 
able celebrity as a 
trotter at the Perclie 
races. We are glad 
to learn that his 
owner has resolved 
to wait his full ma¬ 
turity, before putting 
him to service. The 
mare “ Alene," (fig. 
2,) is a model of the 
Percheron Post or 
Omnibus horse. She 
is 15 3 L hands high, 
of a dapple gray 
color, of stylish and 
rapid action, and has 
considerable speed 
as a trotter. These 
horses, as indeed all 
of their race, that 
have come to this 
country, so far as we 
know, have been 
inured to labor from 
the age of two j r ears, and are in consequence 
thoroughly kind and manageable in harness. 
Most of the horse breeders in this country, 
who have aimed at making a reputation for 
themselves or their studs, have raised either 
thoroughbred race-horses, or bred simply for 
speed as trotters. If the stock failed of distinc¬ 
tion on the turf, they made useful saddle beasts, 
or pleasant, fast-trot¬ 
ting light carriage 
or business horses. 
They are not bred 
for labor, and have 
not the strength, en¬ 
durance, nor temper 
for it. The Cones¬ 
toga horse of the 
Pennsylvania Ger¬ 
mans is adapted to 
heavy draft, and to 
that only. He is a 
work-horse indeed, 
but as far from being 
a horse of all work 
as possible. The 
walk is his natural 
gait, and, though 
there are exceptions, 
a trot seems as if it 
would shake him all 
to pieces. This is 
not such a draft- 
breed as we want. 
Its crosses with 
thoroughbreds make 
fine, stylish heavy horses, but not hardy, and 
apt to be vicious; those with the Morgans, Cana¬ 
dians, and other light, cold-blooded breeds are 
not uniformly well proportioned, and give disap¬ 
pointment. The recent importations of Perche¬ 
rons, and the interest manifested in this won¬ 
derful breed of “ all-work ” horses, bids fair to 
make before long a great change in the ckarac- 
