France

Draft/Draught/Heavy Horse

Horse/Light Horse

    William the Conqueror introduced powerful Norman horses to England. This breed, subsequently crossed with cart-horses, then with Arabs, half-breds and Thoroughbreds, was used with the famous Norfolk Trotter, Young Rattler, to produce French Anglo-Norman horses. Now there is the saddle-horse type, also used to breed up trotters, and a heavy cob.
    Today, France has more heavy breeds than any other country. (I'm not sure when "today" was, but it was probably in the 1970's or 80's.)
    In addition to the above-mentioned breeds, France is or was home to the Picardy, Brabant, Augeron draft or pack-horse, Auvergne draft, Boulogne draft (possibly the Boulonnais, but the source mentions "both small and large types"), various other strains of the Breton draft (such as the Norfolk-Breton), Charolais horse, Corsican pony, Schlettstadt pony (Alsace), Flemish draft, Gascogne moor horse, Limousin horse, Maconnais horse, Nivernais draft (and another Nivernais that was apparently a cross between the Percheron and "native" breeds, whatever that means!), Demi-sang trotter, Noram trotter, and a Poitou horse that is distinguished from the Poitevine draft.
    The Brabançon or Brabant is a tall and heavy draft breed used in France, Belgium and Holland, and bred also in the Gorki province of Russia. It is essentially of the same type as the Rheinish-Dutch draft horse.
    The Limousin is a half-bred heavyweight hunter originated in Limousin, France, trained especially to gallop and jump while carrying a heavy rider. Height, up to 68 inches. The breed is today practically discontinued.
    The Tarbenian is a French breed of riding horse from the region of Tarbes, at the foot of the Pyrenees. Mostly of Anglo-Arab derivation, it stands 57-63 inches tall and is usually dark brown or chestnut, seldom grey.
    The Nivernais is another heavy draft breed similar generally to the Percheron, from which it is derived, but usually black in color. Its home is in central France, in the Department of Nièvre, but its numbers even there are small.
    The Picardy has been variously termed a variety of the Belgian breed or of the Boulonnais. It is a large draft horse, generally bay in color, and is bred both in northern France and in Belgium.