Many people believe that horses are long-obsolete "equipment." In some ways they are right - the horses have lost their industrial and military mission. However, the same can be said about cats or dogs: family life does not depend on the results of hunting, and there are few mice in which house. At the same time, people do not refuse them and continue to keep quite troublesome animals next to them.
Of course, you won’t get a horse in a city apartment, and you won’t keep a horse in the country. However, horses remain not only part of the history of mankind, to admit, a very significant part. They successfully find new niches in people's lives, while still remaining useful. The same Percheron breed of horses has found application in areas that people who bred it could not have imagined.
History of Perchersons
They are considered one of the oldest horse breeds in the world. Horses of a similar appearance were found on the territory of modern France in the ice age. Horses that were the ancestors of Perchersons were bred for the ancient Roman cavalry, and it was in the area by whose name the horses got their name - Perche. Later, the local breed was crossed with the Arabian breed, due to which the horse Percheron, despite all its massiveness, has elegant and noble outlines. The Le Pin factory began to deal with such crosses purposefully - at the end of the 18th century, it introduced Arabian stallions into the country to improve the output line.
During the time of the knightly campaigns, this breed was most in demand precisely as riding horses, capable of carrying riders with all heavy weapons and in full armor. Later, when the need for heavy cavalry disappeared, the Percheron horse was "re-qualified" as a draft horse.
Subsequently, the blood of the heavy carriers of Boulogne and Brittany poured into the breed. This was caused by the fact that it took a large number of hardy horses for urban and postal transport.
Breed exterior
In the modern world, the Percheron breed of horses is represented by massive bony individuals. Its representatives should be at least 154 cm tall and reach 164. A real giant is known with the name Dr. Le Giar, who lived in the early 20th century and reached a height of 213 cm. The head of the Percheron necessarily has a convex wide forehead, a flat nose and an even profile . The chest is deep, wide, with a powerful sternum. Legs are dry and mighty. By obsolete standards, horses were stopped with a tail; this rule has now been canceled. The color of the Percheron breed is gray (most often “an apple”) or black; the latter is especially in demand among American horse breeders.
Unique qualities of perchers
One of the most valuable features of these horses is their easy adaptability to any climatic conditions. They are easily adaptable both in the tropics and in deserts or tundra. The second unique property that the Percheron horse possesses is its ability to run fast enough with a very heavy load. Other heavy trucks are either slow, but load-lifting (brabansons), or mobile, but cannot carry a lot of weight (arden).
Another gift that the Perchers from Arabian ancestors received, in addition to aesthetics, is a soft, non-shaking move on any gait. Other heavy trucks cannot boast of this.
And one more advantage: phenomenal endurance. On lynxes, the Percheron breed of horses can cover almost 60 kilometers per day, and this will not adversely affect the health of the runner.
All these qualities have always been very appreciated in the international market. It is because of them that the Kledesdal and Belgian heavy trucks cost six times less than the Percheron. Its price in the modern market is about $ 2,000 for an untrained stallion and from $ 6,000 for a well-mannered one. Tribal stallions are valued at least $ 8,000, and mares of good blood are even more expensive.
Where was this breed used?
At present, the so-called big percheron is more famous (photo below). Due to its endurance, huge lifting power and courage (a trained horse is not afraid of loud sounds and too sharp movements), a large variety was widely used as a military horse in the middle of the 20th century. And not only as a harness, but also as a saddle animal. Percheron was no less actively used as a peaceful pack force, in agriculture he walked under a plow, participated in hunts - both under saddle and in harness. The lesser-known little percher was a magnificent riding horse, drove strollers and stagecoaches. Over time, the need for such use disappeared, but the Percheron breed of horses did not remain without work. Thanks to its features, a business was found for her in our days.
Where are perchers now used?
Now their main quality used turned out to be what horses call good manners. The Percheron breed is not weak, patient and not forgotten. Therefore, these horses are widely used in parks as walking horses, especially valued due to their mild running. Percherons are indispensable in the recently discovered hippotherapy - for the treatment of children with special needs: patients with cerebral palsy, autists who have suffered severe psychological trauma or are socially maladaptive. Recently, they have been used for training in horse riding overcoming obstacles. For coaches, in a sense, it was a discovery of their excellent jumping ability. These elegant heavy carriers are very willing to take for circus performances - their equanimity and tranquility are very much in demand in the nervous atmosphere in the arena, and even the smoothness of movements for circus performers is just a find.
Contribution of Perchers to Horse Breeding
This breed of horses was used in the education of some others, including the Belarusian harness. To improve the characteristics of sports and hunting horses, where the pedigree and cleanliness of the line are important, but the working qualities, the Percheron horse breed is also often used. There is an opinion that it was noted in many purebred branches that differ in the article, and not in thin-boned. America ennobled mustangs perhers to get full farm and carriage animals.
Russian history
Russia for the first time massively encountered this breed of horses somewhere in the middle of the 19th century. High-quality representatives of the breed were delivered to the Khrenovsky stud farm, and new lines were laid there, right up to the creation of the original type of Russian percheron. In 1941, the breeding herd was taken to the Ulyanovsk region, where they organized the October stud farm. In close contact with the state stable of Tambov, where the breed nursery is located , and with the farms of Voronezh and the same Tambov, representatives of perchers were unique in their data. However, in recent years, the October stud farm gradually fell into decay. From the herd of 250 goals, barely a fifth remained, which is kept in inappropriate conditions, and almost volunteers provide horses with food. Young growth is often not trained; some valuable tribal lines were lost, and the factory employees were exhausted, trying to maintain at least what was left. It will be a pity if the Percheron breed of horses is lost simply because of the carelessness and indifference of people! Yet so elegant heavy trucks are no longer withdrawn. And Russian breeders have put a lot of effort into improving the Percheron breed (photo below).
Russian breed improvements
Our breeders didn’t just keep the gene pool received from the French. They managed to derive their own genotype, characterized by a dry physique and compactness against the background of massiveness. Plus, the character has also improved - our percheron is even more good-natured than French.
The mobility of the horse of the Russian "production" is also superior to foreign counterparts. The lifespan that distinguishes the Percheron breed of horses is not just preserved - tribal individuals retain the ability to breed without losing the quality of offspring to old age. For example, a percherka with a funny name Plum passed more than two kilometers (to be extremely precise - 2138 m) with a thrust of 300 kg - an unbroken record for all heavy trucks so far.
Russian heavy trucks
Not only the Perchs are famous for the land of Russia. No less eminent are the Russian heavy trucks - horses registered under this name only in 1952. They were bred from crossing harness horses with ardenes from Belgium. With low growth - about one and a half meters - they differ in incredible strength. From the Perchersons, Bityugs, Brabansons and Ardennes came the Soviet heavy trucks, rather small, but able to carry huge loads. Another world-famous breed - the Vladimir heavy truck - was bred with the participation of clay makers from Scotland and Shires from England. They are also medium-sized, but very powerful.