Percherons of Color
Black - Grey - Chestnut - Bay - Roan
A Registered Percherons Research Site
The American Percheron Secretary claims to not be able to have a breed standard. While they do not have a written standard, it has been written time and again what we should see in our breed. This lack of standard infuriates many within the breed including myself. Whether hitch, or work, the Percheron should be a well conformed animal showing excessive amounts of natural Percheron characteristics. To deviate from this is to let the breed fall into ruin. No standard to breed by, no breed.
This lovely mare above owned by Cari Attisano has an ideal mare head. She is bright eyed, clean, elegant, and exactly as a Percheron mare should be. Below is my take on the texts I have read over the years, as well as a guideline that I follow when breeding Percherons.
This painting of a Percheron draft horse will give you an idea of a what a topline, hip, leg placement, leg correctness, neck placement, and head should look like. The only thing that I do not find ideal is the shoulder being laid back a bit farther than what is ideal for a working draft. This painting was actually used by Oaklawn farm as an advertisement on one of their postcards around the turn of the century.
Colors: Black, Grey, Bay, Chestnut, Roan
Height: 16-18hh. Some horses may be bigger or smaller than the average.
Characteristics: Medium to small ear, a bright large eye, a straight to slightly dished profile is best. A roman nose is not preferred nor very attractive. Large jaw extending into a slightly tapered muzzle. Large nostrils. A Percheron no matter the sex should have a clean head. The head should tie into a clean throatlatch that should not be thick or overly fleshy. This naturally clean, and long throatlatch will allow the Percheron horse to bridle up properly whether at halter, or working in harness. This should all arch into a medium length neck. Most working Percherons tend to have shorter necks, although one should consider breeding away from not toward this characteristic if possible.
They should have a reasonably sloped shoulder with the average being at 45 degrees. Some hitch breeders will tell you the further laid back the shoulder, the better action that can be produced. The only issue is this changes how the collar works. A horse with too straight a shoulder likely has issues further down the leg that will eventually cause unsoundness. A shoulder too straight may also go hand in hand with a back too long. The Percheron should have a short back, and long underline. The longer his underline the less interference he'll have with his hind legs interfering with his fronts. This is not to be confused with creating a horse who looks excessively long like a train car.
The body should be deep through his girth, and well sprung. A horse who is of this type is not only more likely to be an easier keeper and naturally less costly to feed, but also should have plenty of lung capacity for any task asked of him.
The horse should also have clean correct legs from front to back. There should be a naturally inward set to the hock. It should not be too excessive, nor too straight. In either case this could cause issues in the way of going for the horse, or hinder his natural range of motion. Remember that the rear end of the horse is the motor that powers him. The forearms and gaskins should be long, the cannons short, the pasterns well sloped, not too straight, nor too long. The Percheron should have a very natural wide heel which should go hand in hand with a naturally wide hoof. As the saying goes, no foot, no horse. This should include the whole limb as a horse who is lacking in any area of the leg is prone to issues in the future, and unsoundness. A foundation must be solid to keep a horse as a long term working animal.
Another important part of the Percheron draft horse is the hind quarter. His hip should be deep with plenty of muscle. If he is to be an effective work horse, and driving horse he needs to have the power to do so naturally. His hip should be fairly long and level, with a high set tail. I find that many horses today have too steep of a croup. This is cutting away not only from being able to have correct motion behind, but the depth of power to really pull and work. The gaskin should be long and actually decently muscled, into a hock that is not thick boned, nor fleshy. The joints should be clean, free of excess in fluid, puffiness, or other issues. The leg should set well from the side and an imaginary line should be able to be dropped from the point of the buttock down the back of the hock, to the pastern.
In the long run, trying to produce a well conformed horse gives you so many advantages as opposed to a person who does not take these things into consideration.
Drake Farms Chief - Photo from the 70's
The History of the Percheron is something that has been written about time and time again. There are multiple books as well as magazines, videos, and websites with this information depending on how in depth a person wishes to get into that history. I highly recommend such reads as Charles Du Hays - The Percheron Horse, Alvin Howard Sanders - The History of the Percheron Horse. These two books will give you some very in-depth history and facts from the turn of the century. Another great, but controversial read is Mr. James Barnhart - The History of the Percheron. If you can get your hands on his book I recommend at least reading it. Not only does it contain some very educational history and material, but hard work and research into the early breeders and contributors to our fine breed. To top it off Mr. Barnhart is not afraid to speak his mind.
While portions of that history is sketchy, we know without a doubt that the Percheron breed had originated in the country of France. This is a breed that has served multiple purposes through the years such as; heavy carriage service, working the farm, riding, or war horse. The Percheron has continued through in even the toughest of times, adapting to each use as necessary over the years. Percherons are believed to be descended from local country work mares, with infusions of Arabian blood over the years. What we are unsure of is what the base stock was in creating the Percheron breed. The country work mares could have been any blend of blood or breeding. Some would say it was most likely depending on whoever was raiding the country, and at which time. Speculation has been that the Percheron is similarly related to the Boulonnais. Most likely in the fact that many similar ancestors went into the creation of both of these French breeds. It was said that the Boulonnais horses were used during the Roman invasion of Brittany. The Moors also invaded France during the battle of the Poitier's, making it possible that some of the Arabians were left behind or taken as war spoils, thereby going on to influence the Percheron breed. Spanish blood was also added. This was mentioned to have been done by both the Comte de Perche, as well as the Comte de Rotrou.
The Percheron breed has been noted in some texts to be an Arabian that has been changed due to his climate, work, and needs. This is quite fanciful in the fact that even if descending from strictly Arabians of over one hundred years ago, the Percheron is still not an Arabian through and through. It is impossible given the build of the Percheron, not to mention the weight of his body, nor the bone mass. But this is not to exclude that he did not descend from multiple infusions of Arabian blood into the breeding programs. Eastern horses had been speculated to have been used during invasions of France. Not to mention it has been thought that stallions were brought back at a few different points. It was noted that Barb stallions stood alongside Andalusian stallions in service to the King's mares.
This still does not discredit that the Arabian was ever used. The Arabian is one breed that has been used in so many breeds to refine, add stamina, endurance, and hardiness that it should not be a shock that the Percheron shows many Arabian-like characteristics. Even today when he is being pushed into the brink of change again to conform with the times. The Percheron is once again on the cusp of change trying to meet the demands of his current breeders and owners.
A painting of a Percheron stallion (above) from around the turn of the century.
An example of a Percheron mare (Below), and a Percheron stallion (Above) around the beginning of the 1900's.
The mare is Paquerette, a Grand Champion.
The stallion is Deguardi.
(Above) A blue roan Percheron print, taken from a very old French Horse breeds book. The Percheron cart horse shown is of a lighter build, yet with enough substance and bone to be useful.
(Above ) Imprudent - An imported blue roan Percheron mare from the early 1900's.
(Below) Bay Percheron mares. Only 14 Bay Percherons of breeding usefulness remain within the entire breed.
To be a little more in depth I'd like to add some of the following. While the history of the Percheron is estimated to go even further back than the following, I still would like to start here because it ties into what I have been speaking about earlier. The history of the Percheron dates back to the year 732, when the victory of Charles Martel over Sarrazin Abderame, the battle of the Poitiers. The Arabian horses were believed to be dispersed into the countryside bringing new genetics and breeding to the horses of France. Later more "eastern" horses were brought back and crossed with the French country mares. This would have brought endurance to the breed needed to pull the heavy carriages across France. The same Percheron used to pull the heavy stage coaches called diligences through rutted, muddy, and practically impassible roads. Regardless of where they descended from, they had to be sturdy, well conformed, efficient of movement, but have plenty of stamina to make the miles of pulling passengers at a fast gait. It wasn't until the 1820's rolled around that mass and size started to be bred back into the Percheron. Change was on the horizon again for the Percheron breed.
What confuses some people is that the carriage Percheron of yesteryear, and the hitch carriage Percheron of today differ greatly. Some try to justify the breeding of today's hitch horse as us reverting back to times of old to breed a carriage horse. While I can understand the thought process by which some believe this to be so. I can also say that I highly doubt the carriage horses that were used were much over 16hh. Du Hays wrote of the Percheron being 14.2hh - 16hh. They were definitely not regularly 18hh horses. What we are breeding today as hitch horses is something new to the Percheron breed. Time will tell whether it is a benefit, or a potential mistake being taken too far. This is not to say the hitch horse does not have it's place in society and breeding of the Percheron draft. It clearly does, and it does fill a needed purpose for the times. Some are doing very well in breeding horses that are correct, but a hitch type that also will market well. Others are cutting corners trying to get in on what can be a profitable end of the breed spectrum. What some people new to the breed don't realize is not everyone has need of a hitch type horse and the supply is far more than the demand calls for. Too many horses fall in-between and are not built to do either job at their 100% best. They are not truly suitable for hitch, nor are they truly suitable to work the field. Many of these inbetween horses are average riding horses at best.
We do know the Haras du Pin has added Arabian infusions on a handful of different occasions. We do know that these additions were done as late as the 1800's. Because of this the Percheron is a breed heavily dominated by Black and Grey horses, but also because of this Chestnut, Bay, and Roan exist due to the unknown breeding behind this breed. It is not a question of purity, but helps explain some of these colors. Arabians come in all of these colors but true roan. You will notice in other French created breeds that many of them also contain roan. It is probably safe to say that the original French mares used to create the Percheron were potentially roan horses themselves and why the Percheron has survived as roan in America. A few individuals remain in France but have survived only because Grey dominates, successfully hiding the color. It was brought up in one text that Grey is the preferred color not only in France, but by the original importers of Percherons to the United States. Chestnut, bay, and black also existed but were not as common, it was also questioned then that there was impurity because of their existence.
Many importers had a desire for these colors over Grey and thereby more horses were bred to meet the demand. Once again, impurity was brought up. What people don't seem to realize is that around the late 1800's, we didn't have even an ounce of the color genetic knowledge that we have today in this day and age. They, and even many people today need to realize that Grey is an eraser of color. A horse is born a "regular" base color, and will Grey out with age. So it is very understandable that bay, chestnut, black, and roan could exist in the breed for hundreds of years. This occurs in all breeds where Grey dominates the population. To question purity because homozygosity of Grey did not exist in all horses of the breed is simply ignorance and the pure truth of not knowing any better. There is no reason this ignorance should continue to exist with the material, science, and technology now available at our hands. Many of those colored horses were imported and can be found documented in the early Stud Books of our breed. Chestnut, Bay, Black, and Roan all existed right alongside Grey. These horses were accepted, papered, and later registered stock. Many black, and grey Percherons of today can attribute their ancestry to these "colored" horses.
Modern Blue Roan Percherons Mares. One mare has a roaned out face (uncommon within the Percheron breed, but not unheard of where Roan is more prevelant in the Brabant Draft Horse), the other does not. These mares are 2 of the 3 remaining Blue Roan lines located in the United States.
(Above) A painting of a Percheron draft horse which tends towards the more Dilligence type of Percheron. The older carriage style as seen in some of the older photographs.
(Below) A good example of a hitch type carriage Percheron of today. This mare is taller. She is flashy enough in the harness, and does her job well.
A nice example of a French Percheron stallion. Photo courtesy of Corbis.
(Above) A lighter type Percheron stallion above. (Below) A slightly heavier individual. Both individual stallions are located in France and show that the conformational quality of the Percheron is improving.
The French Percheron at this stage in the game does not have the ability to improve on American stock, but I am sure that some infusions of American and Canadian breeding can improve on the decline of the stock of France. Recently in the past 20 years attempts have been made to do exactly that. A select number of American/Canadian bred stallions were exported to France in an attempt to bring back the good qualities that the Percheron stock was known for in France.
In the last couple of decades the French Percheron has declined drastically in conformation, type, and the following of an ideal that they strongly believed in not more than one hundred years prior. They had felt that Americans had put too much emphasis on weight in the Percheron breed. That they themselves would continue to breed Percherons that would sell well, and that they did for a reasonable number of years. When agriculture took a nosedive, as well as the war(s) putting a huge damper on breeding, they began to breed the Percheron more and more as a food source. Granted this is strictly my opinion, and it does come slightly biased as I have a deep love of the old photographs and paintings of the Percheron horses in the late 1800's - early 1900's. I myself see a need to maintain and return to the qualities, as well as the characteristics that made the Percheron the versatile, proud breed that it once was. Percherons of France, and those that have been imported into South Africa sorely need to be improved in the amount of body mass, and cleanliness of limb. They tend to be very meaty through body and hip. Coarse, and sometimes quite fleshy though their limbs. The pasterns are usually far too straight, and a neck that ties in low to the chest, very thick, very short into a super upright shoulder. This is why many of these Percherons could benefit from some of the blood from our own programs. To help type back up the Percheron breed. It will take many generations, and many more infusions of horses with better neck, and shoulder attachments. Horses prepotent in cleanliness of limb. The additions that have already been imported are adding improvement to the breed and can be seen in their offspring. Silver Shadows Sheikh, Czar of Livingstone Valley, Storey Creek Knight Cruiser, and B.L. Hanson's Ruby's Charlie. This is not to say that France is not trying. The bloodlines are there within their own stock and they are already on the road of trying to bring back the Percheron to the greatness it once was, and still can be.
I just hope that many from both sides of the pond will realize that with there being such a variance of types in North America, our horses cannot be lumped into one category. We breed work horses, and we breed hitch horses. We also have everything in between. France seems to catagorize their horses into different types as well. There are many horses that could contribute to helping accomplish breeding the Percheron back up.
The Percheron is a great breed known for it's adaptability through history as well as versatility. The Percheron has been a war horse, heavy carriage horse, work horse, hitch horse, circus horse, and is now branching out into riding. Weight has been added, taken away, added again, and taken away. Bone has been on both sides of the spectrum from fine, to coarse, and everything in between. While the uses of the Percheron, and the horse itself has changed to meet the demand that was required of it, the basic characteristics for the most part have not. The breed has found it's way into the hearts of so many. Associations have changed, and there were issues early in the history of the Percheron on American soil. This did not dissuade new owners from joining in on importing more and more Percherons from France. Percherons were at one time the highest and most revered draft breed in the United States. It wasn't until their decline hit in the 1940's due to war that the Percheron suffered greatly. He would never rise to the top again. This is not to say that the Percheron is not a popular breed, for that would be untrue. Registration numbers are doing well even in these hard economic times. The Percheron is still fulfilling his need as a work horse, hitch horse, carriage horse, and riding horse. More and more people are branching out into riding draft horses, and the Percheron is one breed capable of meeting the needs of those riders. He is sturdy, dependable, kind, and equally nice to look at. Coming in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors to suit any new owner. A good riding draft is worth their weight, it would be silly to not also put saddle time on these horses to be able to sell to a broader market.
I hope that the future holds great things for this breed. The following photo's showing the versatility and usefulness of the Percheron.
I thank everyone who stood behind me on this site. My family have been the biggest supporters of my work. My mother, my Grandmother, my sisters. They have sat and listened to numerous discussions of color, horses, and genetic explinations. They have thankfully tolerated and encouraged my obsession to document, discover, and try to preserve something that is being lost. I have received such warm reception from many in the draft horse community. While I have not attained my entire goal of what this site should be, it is what it will continue to evolve and grow into as I work on it that will be the end result. I hope that many of you who visit this site will stop back in from time to time to see the progress. I also hope you will share the information with anyone interested in the Percheron draft horse breed.
This site and all I do is completely out of my love for the breed. It is very near and dear to my heart. I love researching horses, pedigrees, bloodlines, breeders, information, and history. I feel in the end it will all be worth it.
(Above) My son pictured with my 2013 blue roan colt, Pipe Dream's Cerulean "Cid"
Merlin at right with his owner. He is great example of a horse who truly does it all under saddle with the ribbons to prove it.
Below, a lovely Percheron mare who is not only colorful, but kind. Perfect for leadline. Owned by Eaglesfield Percherons
A List of Texts that reference is taken from...
Teams of Percherons I had photographed at Horse Progress Days.
- A History of the Percheron Horse - Alvin Howard Sanders
- Percheron Register - Volume 1 - Percheron Registry
- National Register of French Draft Horses - Volume 2 - National French Draft Horse Association
- Studbook - Percheron de France - Volume 4 Part 2 - Societe hippique percheronne
- The Percheron Horse - Charles Du Hays
- A History of the Percheron in America - James M. Barnhart