The height of the Percheron horse is generally 14¾ to 16 hands; he is of a sanguine temperament, mixed in variable proportions with the musculo-lymphatic; his color is almost always gray, and is, among the characteristic features, that which first strikes the eye.
According to their predominence, these temperaments constitute varieties which may be thus classed:
1st.—The light Percheron, in which the sanguine temperament predominates;
2nd.—The draft Percheron, in which the lymphatic temperament is the most fully developed;
3rd.—The type intermediary between these two, partaking of the one by its lightness, and of the other by its muscular force.
The latter is the most numerous, but it has much degenerated of late years; and there is a tendency to its disappearance since the post-coach service, which formed it, has gradually given way to other means of conveyance. It has style, although the head is rather large and long; nostrils well open and well dilated; eye large and expressive; forehead broad; ear fine; neck rather short, but well filled out; whithers high; shoulder pretty long and sloping; breast rather flat, but high and deep; a well-rounded body; back rather long; the croup horizontal and muscular; tail attached high; short and strong joints, and the tendon generally weak; a foot always excellent, although rather flat in the low countries and natural meadows; a gray coat; fine skin; silky and abundant mane. Such are the most general characteristics of the old Percheron race. These are the points which are still noticed upon what remain of some old horses, preserved from the transformation which commenced long ago; for at the present moment everything is much changed. Since the time of the foreign crossings, the foot has become flatter, the head overcharged, the tendon still weaker, the back longer, the shoulder has lost its direction, and the croup has become shorter. The race has changed suddenly to fill new wants which have unexpectedly sprung up.
Of course these different characters are modified by the varieties upon which they are noticed, but the “ensemble” presents a striking similarity.
The light Percheron, suited to harness, is found particularly in the Norman portion, in the district of Mortagne, near Courtomer, Moulins-la-Marche, Aigle, Mesle-sur-Sarthe, and especially in the parishes of Mesnière, Bures, and Champeaux-sur-Sarthe. This is easily accounted for, as here is the best blood of France, near the region where has been found the best Norman type. Here the soil, temperature, and pasturage, are pretty near the same.
In going from Nogent-le-Rotrou to Montdoubleau, and following the limits of Perche-Manceau, by Saint-Calais, Vilvaye, Ferté-Bernard, Saint-Corme and Mamers, we travel over the birthplace of the heavy draft-horse. Here we meet with the heavy brood-mares.
In the center of Perche, at Mauves, Regmalard, Lougny, Corbon, Courgeon, Reveillon, Villiers, and Saint-Langis, nothing is bred; the farmer brings up the horse colts of Eperrais, Pin-la-Garenne, Coulimer, Saint-Quentin, Buré, Pervercheres and the breeding parishes of the district of Mortagne, Nogent-le-Rotrou, Montdoubleau and Courtalain.
Horses of different sexes and ages are never mingled in Perche; they are there separated with care. But it is not exactly the same in respect to kinds.
The post-coach and the heavy-draft horse are there to be met with upon the same ground. The post-coach horse is, to be sure, bred a little everywhere; his temperament and the conditions in which he is placed, prepare him for this specialty.
It is, as we see, at the two extremities of the ellipse (especially where the pasture grounds are), that the mares are found. In the center, at Mauves, Regmalard, Lougny, etc., etc., the inhabitants turn their attention to bringing up the colts.