Reaching Beauce at three years old, he is subjected to hard work. The work is easy enough, but there is much of it. He must be quick, the breadth of land is very extensive, and the work must be done. Sowing and harvesting—these two words sum up the Beauceron agriculture. Otherwise expressed—plowing and hauling. As regards the horse, all must be done promptly and quickly.
But if he be hard worked, on the other hand, nothing is denied him. He eats as much grain and hay as he pleases. What difference does this make to the farmer? Do not his labor and his manure pay for his nourishment? And, moreover, how act otherwise? As we have seen, nothing can supply his place. Necessity has no law.
He lives in this way a year, with abundant food. Sometimes he succumbs; the mortality is quite large in this region. But the stock which remains after such a training offers many guaranties to the dealer who buys it to transfer, if they suit, to the express and omnibus companies; or if they belong to the draft race, to the contractors, wagoners, and builders, of Paris. At five, he is bought by the horse-dealer at the annual horse fair on St. Andrew’s Day in the town of Chartres. There he is delivered, the farmer leading his horse upon the ground. The prices vary from 1,000 to 1,400 francs. The profit is small, sometimes nothing, the greatest gain being his work, which cannot be dispensed with. The feeble have perished; the survivors owe their lives only to their robust constitutions.
Before dedication to his final use, he has thus passed through four hands; all these have shared the risks of his rearing. The most serious have been for the last owner; but he was also the wealthiest, and to him also has he been the most useful.
Thus, we see, the foal costs almost nothing, and his work pays for his keep. Perfectly well fed, and exercised from his tenderest age, the Percheron has always been the first draft-horse in the world, and he would have constantly improved, if his admirable qualities themselves had not led to his degeneration.
CHAPTER VII.
CAUSES OF THE DEGENERACY OF THE PERCHERON HORSE.
The breeding of the Percheron horse has been so much the more stimulated, in consequence of his situation, his well-known qualities, and the favorable economical circumstances in which he is placed.
Was not everything in his favor? Sure and increasing sales and great facility in raising?
In a word, Perche is not large; the number of horses that it can produce is limited, and not being able to answer all the demands made upon it, competition stepped in.