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Country of origin | Pays de Caux, France |
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Use | Horse-drawn vehicle |
Traits | |
Height |
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Color | Blue roan or bay |
The Cauchois, or Norman bidet, is a breed of heavy draft horse native to the Pays de Caux, on the coast of the former Haute-Normandie region of France. Renowned for its ability to move at a high pace, it was much sought-after in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Although it was most often harnessed to heavy loads, such as the Compagnie Générale des Omnibus stagecoaches, it was also sometimes ridden by Cauchois peasants to market. They were exported to many parts of France.
By the end of the nineteenth century, competition from the railroads and light horse-drawn vehicles led to the decline of the Cauchois. It is now extinct, having been absorbed into the Boulonnais breed. The Cauchois has inspired a few works of art, most notably a lithograph by Théodore Géricault in 1822.
The Cauchois is also known as the "Norman bidet". [1] It is not listed in DAD-IS. [2]
The nineteenth-century zoologist André Sanson believed it to be of British origin, [3] while Achille de Montendre thought it derived from the Flemish Horse. [4]
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Cauchois was much sought-after by country gentlemen for its robustness and elegance. [5] A report by M. Le Prévost, written at the time of the reorganization of the stud farms, gives many details about the breed in the Pays de Caux under the Ancien Régime: "Before the Revolution, the Pays de Caux possessed a species of horse that was particularly advantageous to it, known as Cauchois horses. They were the result of native mares combined with stallions of the Norman or Danish breed, widespread in large numbers in our various cantons". [6]
In 1820, the presence of Cauchois stallions was noted in various stud farms, for example in Amécourt, in the Somme, created in 1815; and in Maintenon, in the Eure-et-Loir. [7]
In 1846, an article in the weekly L'Illustration described the breed as "the type of draft horse", noting that it was "improperly called Boulonnais". [8] Horses bred in the Pays de Caux were nicknamed "chevaux du bon pays (horses from the good country)" in the trade, to emphasize their qualities [3] [9] and to differentiate them from the heavier Picardy drafts, nicknamed "chevaux du mauvais pays (horses from the bad country)". [9] According to Eugène Gayot, this distinction fell into disuse before the 1860s. [10] He also notes that the Boulonnais and Cauchois breeds are tending to merge. [11] In 1877, the Société centrale d'agriculture du département de la Seine-Inférieure in Rouen proposed various measures to "improve Cauchois horses", including crossbreeding with Thoroughbred or half-blood stallions, and a Percheron stallion. [12]
The Cauchois breed declined with the arrival of the railroads, which competed with it as a draft horse, [1] [13] and the tilbury, which favored the use of mixed-breed horses. [14] André Sanson noted this decline as early as 1867, [13] and predicted the imminent extinction of the Cauchois in his zootechnical work published in 1888. [14] In 1896, Jean-Henri Magne indicated that the horse breeds of northern France (Boulonnais, trait picard, Flemish and Cauchois) were tending to merge into a single type, due to the reorganization of their pastures and cross-breeding. [15] In 1923, Paul Diffloth explained that the Cauchois had been suppressed by competition from other breeds, and modified by cross-breeding. [16]
The Cauchois is classified as a "gros trait" breed, [17] considered a variety of the Boulonnais. [18] According to an issue of Mélusine magazine (1878) quoting Eugène Gayot: "The Boulonnais breed belongs mainly to the Pas-de-Calais and the Somme; it becomes Bourbourien in the Nord and Cauchois in the Seine-Inférieure." [19]
This horse is sometimes described as "the most massive of French breeds". [8] Its height is around 1.66 m. [8] Although the breed has a strong body, [1] the Cauchois is, according to F. Joseph Cardini, a draft horse less massive than the Boulonnais, with less feathering, weaker extremities and a less loaded head. [20] On the contrary, M. Le Prévost describes Cauchois horses under the Ancien Régime as less elegant than those of the Orne, Calvados and Manche departments, with a stronger head and more common rump. [6]
André Sanson distinguishes them by "a certain stamp of distinction and robust elegance". [1] The withers are fairly flat. [8] The chest is huge and very prominent. [8] The shoulders are strong [8] and reputedly beautiful. [6] The loins and rump are very broad. [8] The belly is voluminous. [8] The limbs are very solid. The forearms and thighs are full-bodied. [8] The hooves are reputed to be of good quality. [6]
According to Sanson, the best subjects are distinguished by their more elongated lines (including an elongated neck), protruding withers, lighter head and generally bay coat. [1]
According to Diffloth, the most common coat is blue roan. [21] The tail is usually docked, leaving two strands of hair on either side of the base, spread out in a plume, to maintain a certain elegance. [1] Cauchois are reputed to be more precocious and vigorous than other Norman horses. [6]
The breed is renowned for its high pace, a fast gait that enabled a rider to make long runs while walking "in a hurry". [1] Norman graziers used to travel as far as the Vendée, Poitou and Saintonge on their Cauchois bidets. [22]
According to André Sanson, the common Cauchois horse walks with its head down and lifts its hooves very little, giving the impression that it's going to stumble at every step. [1]
Cauchois foals are fed early on with oats. [20] F. Joseph Cardini believes that the food they are given produces their difference in conformation. [20] The pastures in which they are raised are less humid than those of the Boulonnais region, and produce finer, more substantial grass. [23] The soil in their biotope is dry and elevated. [6]
The Cauchois was especially well-suited to various forms of heavy drafting, representing one of the favorite breeds for pulling the carriages of brewers and millers, [8] as well as stagecoaches. [20] They are popular with merchants and wealthy city dwellers. [6]
In their native region, these horses pull huge, long, four-wheeled carts over rough terrain. [8] According to an article in L'Illustration, Cauchois horses have never been ridden. [8] Put to work from the age of two, they are sold in the Parisian trade at the age of five, for service or heavy driving. [8] According to Francois-Pierre-Charles, baron Dupin, from the age of two, young horses are put to work pulling the harrow; six months later, they are harnessed to the plough: usually, their resale price at four or five years old is then double the purchase price. [24]
Between 1855 and 1900, the Compagnie Générale des Omnibus (CGO) bought 9.72% Cauchois among its workforce, most of whom were Percherons. [25] According to statistics, the Cauchois has the lowest mortality rate of all the breeds used by the CGO. [26] This doesn't necessarily seem to be due to the breed's particular resistance, but rather to its breeding and training methods: breeders worked their animals before delivering them to the CGO, which led to a much better adaptation to the training period imposed by the company. [27] In the 1830s, the Cauchoise breed was in demand for large cavalry. [28]
In 1867, André Sanson noted that "mares (from the Pays de Caux) are still called Cauchoises (feminine of Cauchois in French). They are the ones who carry the beautiful farm girls of the Pays de Caux to market". [13] Under the Ancien Régime, these horses were much appreciated by the cavalry and dragoon corps: the Royal-Piémont cavalry regiment was supplied from the Pays de Caux for several years in a row. [6] The breed's precociousness enabled it to enter the war squadrons a year earlier. [6]
Unique to the Pays de Caux region, the Cauchois was once bred in the arrondissement of Le Havre, but breeding gradually ceased in the early nineteenth, with local farmers preferring to buy Boulonnaise-bred foals aged from one year to 15 months, then resell them in Paris and Lyon at four years of age. [24] Trade links between the Pays de Caux and Picardy go back a long way, giving rise to the practice known as "entraitage". [29]
In 1840 a horse of "Bulle" type in the Swiss canton of Fribourg was reported to be of Cauchois origin. [30]
The Cauchois has inspired painters to depict Norman farm women knitting on their bidet's back as it returns from the market, bridled at the neck. [1] Théodore Géricault produced a small lithograph depicting a Cauchois horse turned to the left, held by a horse dealer. [31] This work appeared in the catalog of a sale of objets d'art held at the Hôtel Drouot on 6 March 1885. [32]
The Percheron is a breed of draft horse that originated in the Huisne river valley in western France, part of the former Perche province, from which the breed takes its name. Usually gray or black in color, Percherons are well-muscled, and known for their intelligence and willingness to work. Although their exact origins are unknown, the ancestors of the breed were present in the valley by the 17th century. They are believed to descend from war horses. Over time, they began to be used for pulling stagecoaches; and later, for agriculture and hauling heavy goods. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Arabian blood was added to the breed. Exports of Percherons from France rose exponentially in the late 19th century, and the first purely Percheron stud book was created in France in 1893.
The Boulonnais, also known as the "White Marble Horse", is a draft horse breed. It is known for its large but elegant appearance and is usually gray, although chestnut and black are also allowed by the French breed registry. Originally there were several sub-types, but they were crossbred until only one is seen today. The breed's origins trace to a period before the Crusades and, during the 17th century, Spanish Barb, Arabian, and Andalusian blood were added to create the modern type.
The Poitevin or Poitou is a French breed of draft horse. It is named for its area of origin, the former province of Poitou in west-central France, now a part of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It was formed in the seventeenth century when horses of Flemish or Dutch origin, brought to the area by engineers working to drain the Marais Poitevin, interbred with local horses. Although it has the size and conformation of a draft horse, the Poitevin has never been bred for draft abilities, and has been little used for draft work. Its principal traditional use was the production of mules. Poitevin mares were put to jacks of the large Baudet du Poitou breed of donkey; the resulting Poitevin mules were in demand for agricultural and other work in many parts of the world, including Russia and the United States. In the early twentieth century there were some 50,000 brood mares producing between 18,000 and 20,000 mules per year.
The Anglo-Norman horse is a warmblood horse breed developed in Lower Normandy in northern France. A major center of horse breeding, the area had numerous regional types that were bred to one another and then crossed with Thoroughbreds to form the Anglo-Norman. Various body types developed within the Anglo-Norman breed, two of which were split off to form the Norman Cob and French Trotter. The remaining types were eventually standardized, although there remained some criticism of the "hybrid" nature of the breed's conformation. However, it is successful as an international sport horse, especially in the sport of show jumping. The Anglo-Norman also contributed to the development of several other breeds in Europe and Asia.
The Charolais or Charollais is an extinct breed of warmblood horse from the Charolais, the country lying around the town of Charolles, now in the Saône-et-Loire département of Burgundy, in eastern central France. Like other French warmbloods, it was the result of crossing local agricultural horses with the Thoroughbred, and was known by the name of the region without ever having a specific stud-book. Like other French warmbloods including the Angevin, the Charentais, the Cheval Limousin and the Vendéen, it was fused with the Anglo-Normand in 1958 in order to create the national warmblood stud-book, the Selle français. It was originally used as a multi-purpose horse for riding, driving, and agriculture. During the late 19th century, additional Thoroughbred blood was added and a new type emerged that was principally used as a light cavalry mount. It was also used for dressage and show jumping.
The Norman Cob or Cob Normand is a breed of light draught horse that originated in the region of Normandy in northern France. It is of medium size, with a range of heights and weights, due to selective breeding for a wide range of uses. Its conformation is similar to a robust Thoroughbred, and it more closely resembles a Thoroughbred cross than other French draught breeds. The breed is known for its lively, long-striding trot. Common colours include chestnut, bay and seal brown. There are three general subsets within the breed: horses used under saddle, those used in harness, and those destined for meat production. It is popular for recreational and competitive driving, representing France internationally in the latter, and is also used for several riding disciplines.
The Charentais and Vendéen are extinct breeds of horse from western France. They were bred principally in the area around Poitou-Charentes and Vendée, France. They were used as a mount for light cavalry.
The Bidet was a type of small horse from France, now extinct. It was a landrace developed principally in the area around Brittany, Morvan, Auvergne, Poitou, and Burgundy. It stood about 110–135 centimetres at the withers. Two distinct groups are documented, which were bred in a semi-feral state.
The Cheval du Morvan, also known as the Morvandiau, Morvandain or Morvandelle, is an extinct French horse breed from the Morvan massif in Burgundy, for which it is named. Horses were bred in the Morvan from before the French Revolution, both as saddle-horses for fox-hunting and as cavalry mounts, and for draught use. They were of small to medium height and known for their strength and tenacity. The Cheval du Morvan became extinct with the advent of industrialisation and improved transportation in the nineteenth century. As a draught horse it was replaced by the Nivernais and Comtois breeds, and as a saddle-horse by the Thoroughbred.
Haguard horse, also known as the Hague pony or bidet de la Hague, is a breed of bidet horse native to the natural region of La Hague, in the Manche in Normandy.
Horses in Normandy have a clear economic importance, particularly through breeding. Present since the Bronze Age, horse breeding developed with the establishment of the Haras du Pin stud farm. Horses are still a very much alive tradition in this region. Normandy boasts a number of renowned racecourses, in particular the one in Deauville, where events take place regularly, including international ones such as the 2014 World Equestrian Games.
Bayadère (1859–1872) was France's most famous trotting mare of the 19th century. The daughter of The Norfolk Phœnomenon and a mare also named Bayadère, she lost her mother at birth, then was bred and trained for trotting by her owners, Mr. Lefèvre-Montfort and Mr. Tiercelin.
Fuschia was a trotter horse born in the Manche region of France, and head of the French Trotter breed. Winner of 17 of the 20 races in which he competed in mounted trotting from age 3 to age 5, he is best known for having been an excellent sire at the Le Pin national stud, to the point of imposing for the first time a lottery system for the allocation of breeding rights to brood mares.
Narquois was a racehorse born in Calvados, an Anglo-Norman trotter. He was one of the first sons of the main stallion behind the French Trotter, the head of the Fuschia breed. Like him, Narquois became an excellent competitor, but at the same time was renowned for his ugliness. He usually competed in pairs with his half-sister, the mare Nitouche.
The Breton bidet is a type of bidet, a small horse bred in Brittany. Characterized by its ability to move at amble, and bred for its working strength, the bidet has been around since the 5th century. In the Middle Ages, it may have been crossed with oriental horses brought by the House of Rohan. Widespread in Brittany until the mid-nineteenth century, bidets were used for all work requiring a low-value horse. The Haras Nationaux fought against this breeding. Transportation modernized in the 19th century, making the draft horse more sought-after. The Breton bidet disappeared at the dawn of the 20th century.
Corlay (1872-1897) was a stallion close to the Thoroughbred, head of the Corlay horse breed, considered in his day to be one of Brittany's most famous and influential stallions. The history of this sturdy roan horse is steeped in legend. It is generally accepted that he was the son of Flying Cloud, a Norkfolk Trotter stallion imported from England to Brittany in 1864, and a local three-quarter Thoroughbred mare, Thérésine.
The Corlay horsebreed is a type of half-blood horse resulting from crossbreeding around the town of Corlay in Brittany, between local Breton bidet mares and imported stallions, primarily Thoroughbreds. Intended for racing, this variety of Breton horse is reputed to have impressed Napoleon III with its steeplechase abilities. As a result, local breeders specialized in this racehorse, optimizing its feed by adding maerl to the diet. Corlay horse breeding gained an excellent reputation from the mid to late 19th century. The most influential stallion in the breed was named Corlay, who bred from 1876 to 1897 in the locality of the same name. The breed was considered established by the end of the century.
Horses in Brittany have a clear historical, economic and cultural importance, since their introduction often attributed to the Celts. In Brittany, the horse, generally a Breton bidet, was mainly used as a saddle animal until the middle of the 19th century. As roads improved, most breeders specialized in draft horses and carriage horses. They mainly settled in the west, in Basse-Bretagne, Trégor and Léon. The Breton draft horse, a renowned working animal, was exported in large numbers from Landivisiau in the early 20th century.
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The Merlerault is a formerly common breed of horse that originated in the canton of Le Merlerault. Bred under the Old Regime, this reputedly elegant half-bred was used to ride and pull tilburys.