Percheron

A draft horse breed from the Huisne river valley in the former French province of Perche, from which it takes its name, usually gray or black in color, well muscled, and known for intelligence and willingness to work. Its exact origins are uncertain, but ancestors of the breed were already present in the valley by the seventeenth century; the breed developed from war horses and was later adapted for pulling stagecoaches, farm work and hauling cargo, with Arabian bloodlines introduced in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and the first official stud book created in France in 1893. Percherons stand 15 to 19 hands tall depending on the region and weigh around 1,900 pounds on average, some reaching 2,600 pounds, with a straight profile, broad forehead, large eyes, long thin ears, heavily muscled legs and little feathering. The breed is still used extensively for draft work, and in France is also bred for horse meat, besides serving in parades, pulling carriages in cities, forestry work, and crossbreeding to produce sport horses.