The Painted Horse BB Latest articles about The Painted Horse BB
Origin: France — Perche region (specifically, the Departments Sarthe, Eure-et-Loire, Loire-et-Cher, and L’Orne).
Height: 15.2-17hh.
Color: Gray, black.
Character: Energetic, intelligent, docile, and easy to handle.
Physique: Fine head with a straight face, wide-spaced, intelligent eyes, open nostrils; strong, crested neck; powerful front with a deep chest; deep,close-coupled body with strong loins; round, immensely strong hindquarters. Medium-short legs, hard and muscular, and almost devoid of feathers. Excellent action, great poise, and presence. Despite its size, huge frame, and massive strength, the Percheron has a cast of Oriental grace.
The elegance of the Percheron, surprising in so heavy a breed, has caused it to be likened to an overgrown Arab; and indeed some of its ancestors were Arabians. It stems from Oriental and Norman horses, mixed many centuries ago and later crossed with heavy draught breeds, apparently seasoned again with a little extra Arab. It has been distributed all over the world, and wherever it is bred it arouses great enthusiasm and profound attention to quality and purity of line. In France, the true Percheron is allowed only if it is bred in one of the four Departments (listed above) of its native region of Perche.
The other Percheron types the Auge, Berry, Loire, Maine, and Nivernais are not included in the Percheron stud book and have separate stud books of their own. In North America, to which it was first exported in 1839, it has attracted many sincere admirers and the strictest attention has been and is paid to the production of a perfect type. In Great Britain, the Percheron has been bred to exclude all feathers from its feet and is much used as a cross with the Thoroughbred to produce the perfect type of heavyweight hunter.
The Percheron is a rugged, active horse, intelligent and charming. It is easy to handle, economic to keep, and of a sound constitution. It is an attractive mover, poised and balanced. It is the most popular carthorse in the world.
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