The Trait Breton is a French breed of draught horse. It originated in Brittany, in north-west France, from cross-breeding of local horses with various other breeds. It is strong and muscular, and often has a chestnut coat.
The Trait du Nord, previously also known as Ardennais du Nord or Ardennais de type Nord, is a breed of heavy draft horse developed and bred in the area of Hainaut in western Belgium and in northeastern France. Originally considered a subtype of the Ardennes, it was recognized as an individual breed with the opening of a studbook in 1903. Developed in the fertile Flemish grasslands, it was bred for size and pulling power for agricultural work. By 1855, the horses bred near Hainaut were considered by some veterinarians to be superior to other Flemish draft breeds. The Trait du Nord was used extensively in mining from the late 19th century through 1920, with lesser use continuing through the 1960s.
The Landais is a critically-endangered French breed of small horse or pony. It originated in the marshy plains and woodlands of the département of the Landes, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France, but is more often reared in the département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, particularly in the arrondissement of Pau. Due to influences from Arab and Welsh blood, it shows more similarity to Oriental horses than to other Celtic breeds. It is used for riding and driving, and is a good trotter.
The Mérens, Cheval de Mérens or Caballo de Merens, still occasionally referred to by the older name of Ariégeois pony, is a small, rustic horse native to the Pyrenees and Ariégeois mountains of southern France, where the river Ariège flows, and northern Spain, near Andorra. Two general types, a small, light traditional mountain horse and a taller, sportier modern type, are found. Always black in color, Mérens must meet strict physical standards in order to be registered in the stud book. The breed is known for its sure-footedness on mountain terrain, as well as for its endurance, hardiness and docility. The French breed registry organizes regional offices, and partners with other national organizations in Europe to preserve and promote the breed. The organization enforces rigorous selection of breeding stock, with a goal of increasing quality in the breed. In the past, the Mérens was used for farm work, draft work and as pack horses. Today it is mainly used as a saddle horse, although some members of the breed have been successful in carriage driving. Many Mérens are taken on an annual transhumance, in which they are moved higher in the mountains during the summer and into the valleys for the winter. An old practice, it fell into disfavor, but has recently re-emerged.
Viscount Antoine Henri Philippe Léon Cartier d'Aure was a French riding-master, and author of important treatises on dressage. He was écuyer en chef of the Cadre Noir of Saumur, and later to the Emperor of France, Napoléon III. He was made an officer of the Légion d'Honneur in 1849.
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 Castillonais or Cheval Ariègeois de Castillon , also formerly called Cheval du Biros or Saint-Gironnais, is an ancient breed of small rustic saddle-horse from the Ariège département of south-western France. It may be dark bay or seal brown. It stands 135–155 centimetres at the withers, with an average height of about 145 cm. It is used principally for trekking and for driving.
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.
An Établissement public à caractère administratif is, in France, a public law legal person with a certain administrative and financial autonomy to fulfil a mission of public interest under the control of the State or a local authority.
The Henson Horse, or Cheval de Henson, is a modern horse breed from northeast France. It was created by the selective breeding of light saddle horses with the smaller, heavier Norwegian Fjord horse to create small horses suitable for the equestrian vacation industry. The breeders' association, Association du Cheval Henson, was formed in 1983. In 1995 the studbook was closed to horses not born from Henson parents, and in 2003 the breed was officially recognised by the French government agencies for horse breeding. A hardy breed of horse, each winter the broodmares and youngstock from several breeders are let loose together to graze freely in the wetland reserves in France.
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 Haras national du Pin is a French national stud located in Le Pin-au-Haras district, in the Orne (61) department of the southern Normandy region. It is the oldest of the French "Haras Nationaux".
The 2022-23 Championnat National 3 is the sixth season of the fifth tier in the French football league system in its current format. The competition is contested by 168 clubs split geographically across 12 groups of 14 teams. The teams include amateur clubs and the reserve teams of professional clubs. The competition starts on 28 August 2022 and is scheduled to end on 4 June 2023.
Kheir is a gray Barb horse, born in 2004 at the National Stud of Chaouchaoua in Algeria, and then given as a diplomatic gift to the French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007. He was subsequently sent to the National Stud of Les Bréviaires in France and trained for equestrian shows.
The National Stud Farm of Chaouchaoua is a stud in Tiaret in Algeria. The institution is dedicated to the preservation and improvement of Algerian horse breeds, founded in 1874. It is now a center of expertise for issues related to breeding and care of equines.
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.
Niger was a trotter horse originated from a lineage of the now-extinct French Trotter breed. A son of The Norfolk Phœnomenon, he was a grandson or great-grandson of the English stallion The Norfolk Phenomenon. His dam, Miss Bell, was a half-blood mare of English or American origin, reputed to have served Napoleon III.
Persik, born on 1 April 1969 and died on 24 August 2001, was a gray-coated Arabian horse who was the leading sire in the equestrian discipline of endurance from 1975 until his death in 2001. His eclectic origins include Polish and Russian bloodlines, as well as French and English, in particular the famous Skowronek. Purchased in 1973 from the Tersk stud farm, Persik was imported to France by Jean Cougul, a breeder from Vigoulet-Auzil, then bought by the Cévennes National Park with the aim of breeding horses suitable for trail riding. In 1975, Persik won the first edition of a well-known endurance race, the 130 km de Florac.
The Haras National de Lamballe is one of five equestrian centers in the French region of Brittany. Originally, it was a depot for royal stallions, created in the autumn of 1783 in the sole stable of a barracks in the town of Lamballe. Abolished in 1790, briefly recreated in 1825, this national stud took on its definitive form in 1842, when it was given the task of making breeding stallions available to the owners of the 70,000 broodmares in its district. Numerous extensions led to the construction of eleven new stables until the beginning of the 20th century, housing up to 350 stallions of all breeds. The National Stud played a major role in the development of the Norfolk-Breton breed, the future Breton horse, by importing Norfolk Trotter stallions from England. It was also responsible for the success of the half-Ardennes stallion Naous, one of the founding stallions of the Breton horse breed.
