A pair of typical dapple grey Percheron Horses

Percheron draft horse at the Maryland State Fair

The Percheron is a breed of powerful rugged draft horses that originated in the Perche region of France. It gets its name from the Perche valley in the north of France. ImageMetadata File history File links Pair_of_percherons. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Pair_of_percherons. ... Percheron draft horse This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Percheron draft horse This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Two pairs of Shire horses and a pair of Suffolk Punches A draft horse, draught horse, or harness horse is a large, strong horse bred for heavy work rather than speed. ... A Percheron draft horse Perche is a region of northern France extending over the départements of Orne, Eure, Eure-et-Loir and Sarthe. ...

History

Like many old breeds, the Percheron's exact origins are unknown, but it is said that its ancestors were crossbred between the heavy "forest horse" type of animal native to northern Europe and the Arabians that were brought to Europe by the Moors. Percherons probably owe their size and weight to their use as battle mounts during the Middle Ages. After the invention of gunpowder, heavy warhorses were no longer needed, so the Percheron took up its new job pulling heavy French stagecoaches. With the invention of the railroad, Percherons switched to farm duty and heavy labor. This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... The Arabian horse is a breed of horse with a reputation for intelligence, high spirit, and outstanding stamina. ... Moorish Ambassador to Queen Elizabeth I of England The Moors were the medieval Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula including present day Gibraltar, Spain and Portugal) as well as the Maghreb and western Africa, whose culture is often called Moorish. ... A modern-day knight on a draft horse in late medieval plate armor jousting at a Renaissance Fair War Horses have been used in human warfare for millennia, probably since the time of domestication of the horse. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Stagecoach in Switzerland A stagecoach is a type of four-wheeled enclosed passenger and/or mail coach, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, widely used before the introduction of railway transport. ...

It is probably because of this evolution that the modern Percheron is such a versatile and adaptable horse. Today, Percherons serve as logging horses but also are valued as pleasure driving horses, riding horses, and as competitors in both regular horse shows and in draft horse showing. A horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. ... Percheron Ladies Cart Draft horse showing is a competitive sport in North America where exhibitors present their draft horse(s) to be judged in harness, pulling various types of carts and wagons. ...

Conformation

Percherons are noted for heavy muscling and for an aspect of ruggedness and power. Also characteristic of the Percheron is the clean action and quality conformation of the feet and legs. An ideal horse should have a fairly long level croup with a big round hip. He should be close coupled and wide and deep through the chest, with plenty of back rib. The muscles of the arms, forearms, croup and gaskins plenty are especially emphasized in a good drafter, and ease and balance of gait is essential. He is also expected to be of marked tractability and an easy keeper.

The Percheron head and neck are typical of the most attractive draft horse character. Good Percherons have a large and full prominent eye, a broad and full forehead, and straight face. His strong jaw and refined ears attractively set and carried with animation, suggests his arabian ancestry. Stallions should have a ruggedness about the head and mares should have a feminine look.

The Percheron is characterized by a square forehead, long ears, and a straight profile. Some percherons have long, heavy necks, a broad chest, prominent withers, a short back, heavy muscles in the lower thigh, and a deep girth. A quality example of this breed should have a long croup and a round hip. The withers is the highest point on an animals back, on the ridge between its shoulder blades. ...

However in recent years, Percherons have become more modern, having a longer, thinner neck, a longer back, and longer muscles. These types of modern percherons are used mainly as show horses for competition. The Percheron's mane is generally very thick and the color is always grey or black.

Temperament

The Percheron has a very pleasing disposition, and is proud, alert, and intelligent. They are generally very gentle horses, well-suited for driving, and are strong and willing workers. The Percheron is readily adapted to varying climates and conditions. They have the strength to pull heavy loads and the graceful style to pull a fine carriage. Percherons can be ridden and some have even been trained to jump.

Color

Percherons are generally black or gray, though chestnut, sorrel, and bay colors are acceptable for registration in the US with a DNA test confirming their parentage. Gray and black are dominant genes. The red gene for chestnut is recessive, and a red foal can only result from the mating of two black horses if they are heterozygous, having the red gene is present in both sire and dam, and even then it is only a one in four chance that a chestnut will be produced. (See equine coat color genetics) Friesian horses are one of the best-known breeds of black-colored horse Black is a relatively uncommon coat color in horses, though not so unusual as to be considered rare. ... Gray is a coat color of horses, consisting of black skin, a white to dark gray coat, and a mane the same color or darker than the body coat. ... Chestnuts. ... Sorrel is a coat color in horses, ranging from reddish-gold to deep burgundy. ... A blood bay horse. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... In genetics, the term dominant gene refers to the allele that causes a phenotype that is seen in a heterozygous genotype. ... Heterozygote cells are diploid or polyploid and have different alleles at a locus (position) on homologous chromosomes. ... There are currently two theories of equine coat color genetics: Dr. Ann Bowlings and Dr. Phillip Sponenbergs. ...

Some Percherons have white markings on the head and feet, but excessive white is undesirable. These young horses, though all the same color, exhibit uniquely different markings, which can be used to identify individual horses Note: This article is about markings on any type or color of horse and does not discuss horse coat colors generally. ...

Height and weight

Percherons range in height from 15 to 19 hands high, most are between 16-2 and 17-3 hands high. They can weigh up to 2,600 pounds with the average around 1,900. One of the tallest horses on record was a Percheron named Dr Le Gear. Foaled in 1902, he stood 23 hands (7 feet) at the withers and weighed just under 1,370 kg. However, there was once a Percheron on record that rose to a full 24 hands. A hand (or handbreadth) is a unit of length measurement, usually based on the breadth of a male human hand and thus around 1 dm, i. ...

Lifespan

Percherons can be long-lived horses, living over 25 years. An unverified record states a Percheron lived to be 41.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Societe hippique Percheronne de France
• Percheron Horse Association of America
• Oklahoma State University's Percheron Page
• British Percheron Horse Society