Even if the original functions of draft horses have never been used on the same scale as at the beginning of the century, the current craze for a return to nature, the preservation of heritage and traditions, and the attachment to the land contribute greatly to the promotion of these breeds saved in extremis. We find them – certainly in an artisanal way – in activities of skidding, ploughing, clearing brush, but also in leisure riding, driving and competitions. They can be admired in mounted races, dressage performances, draught-draught competitions (races where horses are harnessed to sleds loaded with hundreds of kilos of cast iron), in circus acts and during folklore events where they remind us of the “trades of yesteryear”. Of course, these horses take part in all kinds of driving competitions: handling tests, traditional driving, marathons.
The draft horse
Towards the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, in France, especially north of the Loire, small, hardy, hardy horses were used to work. Somewhat agricultural horses, some carriage horses, they were not very demanding in terms of care and were often hard-working. This population of equines was physically defective and owed its survival only to an incredible robustness. Natural selection only spared subjects with outstanding genetic qualities. The industrial revolution of the 19th century was going to impose to horses’ important physical constraints: heavy and long transports, birth of agricultural machines… Despite their power and resistance, these traction animals were not prepared for such tasks.
Breeders then set out to produce lively horses, with rather light models. Thanks to a rational selection process, these lively breeds of horses will strengthen their muscles and provide the national economy with the powerful draft horses it needs. The first people to demand these strong and fast horses were the road haulers, the carters. Towards the middle of the 19th century, selection criteria for the equine population were defined by innovative veterinarians, under the control of the Haras Nationaux and with the help of breeders open to modernity. This rational form of breeding gave the national economy some flagship breeds such as the Percheron and the Boulonnais. These excellent fractional stagecoach horses will develop muscularly and grow without losing their “heavy” predominance. In international trade, they became the feared rivals of the British sbires, clydesdales, suffolk punches and the Belgian draught horse, the Brabançon.
Judiciously selected, great breeds will impose themselves: the percherons, the boulonnais, the ardennes, the bretons, the normands… They will successfully cross the gap separating the rustic bidets and bed frames of before the selection and industrial revolution from the athletic modern draft horses. With the 20th century, new breeds will appear: the northern draught, the Auxois and the Comtois, while others will disappear before the first world war such as the Picard, the Artesian, the Cauchois, the Alsatian-Lorrain, the Auvergnat and the Morvan horse. In the middle of the 19th century, horses were the engines of passenger vehicles, much more than those of agricultural tools, as deep ploughing was still the preserve of cows and oxen.
From draft horse to motor
In 1892, the census counted 276,4529 horses in France used in a variety of activities. At the dawn of the 20th century, the appearance of the internal combustion engine led to a decline in horse-drawn transport. On January 11, 1913, the General Company des omnibus de Paris, which still had 17496 horses in 1900, made the last trip of the last Parisian omnibus. In less than 40 years, railroads, tramways, subways, and automobiles, not to mention the new airlines launched in the mid-1920s, sounded the death knell for horse-drawn transport.
However, the number of draft horses used in France increased by nearly 500,000 head in the first decade of the 20th century and the number of horses in traction reached a record 3,222,080. The important needs of the emerging modern agriculture explain this increase: the machines are increasingly heavy, and the motorization is not yet really adopted in the fields.
The so-called “workhorse” still has many years of service ahead of him. Over the seasons, he will continue to pull the plow, then the harrow, the seeders, the roller, the dump truck loaded with manure or beets, the mower, the harvester-binder, the big gerbil or the wagon, the potato harvester, the beet lifter, and all sorts of agricultural machines. 2, 3, 4 and even 6 horsepower hitches were used to pull increasingly heavy machinery.
In France, in 1938, there were 2692140 horses, more than 90% of which were used in the agricultural world. The army, transporters: coal merchants, ice-cream makers, merchandise distributors represented barely 10% of the total number. Even though the internal combustion tractor was already present in the fields, it did not become truly reliable until the 1950s. From then on, the motor gradually replaced the animal and transformed the rural world. The coachmen became drivers, the bargemen became farmers, the rowers became transporters, the farriers became mechanics… Out of sorrow, some farmers will prefer to change jobs rather than to ride on a tractor. Horses certainly could not compete with the progress that offered time savings, personnel savings, and yield.
Thus, from 1955-1960, the breeding of the draft horse will melt like snow in the sun and the breeders will direct their “equine tractors” towards the butchery. It is, indeed, this outlet that will save the genetic capital of the draft horses from a total disappearance.
Around 1970, the draught horse takes the official name of “heavy horse”, a horse which must be heavy, essentially for meat. It will then quickly move away from the lively and powerful models of the decades 1930-1940.
Draft horse: preservation and tradition
Faced with this major physical change and an almost inevitable threat of extinction inherent to the modern world, breeders concerned about the preservation of original types joined forces to advocate the return of heavy horses to a classic draft horse format. Thus, were born “Traits de Génie”
(The most important association in this field in France) and many other regional organizations.
Today there are 9 French breeds: the Ardennes, the Auxois, the Boulonnais, the Breton, the Cob Normand, the Comtois, the Percheron, the Draught horse of the North and the Draught horse of Poitou.
The organization of events such as the International Festival of Draft Horses in Saumur, the Fish Route (relay race between Boulogne-sur-Mer and Paris), the Wine and County Route in the Jura, the Lock Route in Burgundy and many other rallies in France and abroad contribute greatly to the promotion of draft horses.
The future of the draught horse, which is emerging gives, at the beginning of the 3rd millennium, a second life to the ex-agricultural clerks.
For more information: the draft horse
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