Boulonnais horse

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 This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the French Wikipedia. (August 2011)
Boulonnais

Young Boulonnais stallion
Distinguishing features Elegant heavy horse, found in many colors
Country of origin France
Common nicknames White Marble Horse
Breed standards
Les Haras Nationaux ( French National Stud) Breed standards
Horse (Equus ferus caballus)

The Boulonnais, also known as the "White Marble Horse",[1] is a heavy draft horse breed. It is known for its elegant, though large, appearance and is found in many colors. The breed's origins trace to a period before the Crusades and, during the 17th century, Spanish Barb, Arabian and Andalusian blood was added to create the modern type. During the early 1900s, the Boulonnais were imported in large numbers to the United States and were quite popular in France; however, the European population suffered severe decreases during 20th century wars. There were originally two strains of Boulonnais – the smaller has died out while the larger is still bred in small numbers in Europe, mainly by studs funded by the French government. The breed was originally used to pull carts full of fresh fish from Boulogne to Paris but today is bred mainly for horsemeat. It has also been used to create and refine several other draft breeds.

Contents

[edit] Breed characteristics

Head of a Boulonnais horse.

There were two principal varieties of Boulonnais. The larger was the "grand Boulonnais", which stood 1.60–1.70 metres (15.3–16.3 hands) high and weighed 650–750 kg (1,400–1,700 lb),[1] bred in the 19th century for farm work in the sugar-beet fields.[2] An earlier and smaller type, the Petit Boulonnais or Mareyeuse or Mareyeur, was used in the rapid transport of cartloads of fresh fish (la marée) from the Pas-de-Calais to Paris;[2] it stood 1.50–1.60 m (14.3–15.3 hands) and weighed 550–650 kg (1,200–1,400 lb).[1] Other varieties included the Trait Picard in the valley of the Somme, and the Cauchois, in the Pays de Caux of Upper Normandy. The Boulonnais today stands from 1.50 to 1.70 m (14.3 to 16.3 hands) or more.[2] It has a short, elegant head with a broad forehead and a short, muscular neck. The breed has a full chest, rounded rib cage and a sloping shoulder. The legs are fairly short but robust and strong.[1] Unlike other draft breeds such as the Shire or Clydesdale, it has no heavy feathering on its lower legs.[3] The breed is generally branded with a small anchor mark on the left side of the neck.[1]

In the late 18th century, breeders of the Boulonnais preferred lighter colors and the breed changed from a predominance of blacks and bays to one of grays and roans. In the late 19th century, the Boulonnais could be found in "all colours and all shades, such as bay, red roan, blue roan and dappled grey, none of which predominates".[4] In the later years of the 20th century, breeders began to again prefer darker colors such as bay and chestnut.[5]

Due mostly to the many additions of Oriental blood, the Boulonnais has an elegant appearance that is not often found in heavy draft breeds and it has been called "Europe's noblest draft horse".[5] The fineness of the skin and delicate appearance of the veins has allowed the horse to be described as looking "like polished marble",[5] leading to its "White Marble Horse" nickname.

[edit] History

The Boulonnais breed is thought to have emerged from the crossbreeding of native French mares and stallions brought by the Numidian army in 55–54 BC. During the Crusades, two breeders, Eustache, Comte de Boulogne, and later Robert, Comte d'Artois, wanted to create a fast, agile, and strong warhorse for knights to ride in battle. They crossed the existing heavy French stallions with German Mecklenberg mares, similar to modern-day Hanoverians. During the 17th century Spanish occupation of Flanders, a mixture of Spanish Barb, Arabian, and Andalusian blood was added to the breed, to create the modern Boulonnais type.[6] By the 17th century, horse dealers were coming from Picardie and Haute-Normandie to the Boulonnais region to buy the local horses, which enjoyed a good reputation among breeders.[7] In 1884, the Boulonnais was called the "largest and most valuable of that kind of horse in France". At that time, they were used to move heavy blocks of building stone in Paris, with six to eight horses drawing blocks of several tons.[8]

Engraving of a Boulonnais, 1861.

During the early 20th century the Boulonnais was imported into the United States in large numbers, where it was registered along with other French heavy horse breeds as the "French draft horse". Breed members in the United States were registered with the Anglo-Norman Horse Association (or National Norman Horse Association) beginning in 1876, an association that was renamed the National French Draft Association in 1885.[9] This association declared in 1876 that the Boulonnais, Norman, Percheron and Picardy breeds were all essentially the same, and should all be known as the "Norman horse".[10] They later declared that all of the "Norman horses" were in fact "Percherons", regardless of actual breeding. This was mostly in order to sell mixed breed draft horses to American consumers at higher prices, and the Illinois Board of Agriculture soon ruled that only those Percherons who came from proven Percheron stock were to be registered as such, and all other breeds, including the Boulonnais, were to be considered separately.[11]

The Boulonnais was once a popular workhorse in France, with an estimated population of over 600,000 in the early 1900s. World War I and World War II almost destroyed the breed, as their home area saw heavy combat in both wars and the bands of broodmares were scattered. The smaller Boulonnais type has died out, but the larger Boulonnais is still bred in small numbers, with the American Boulonnais Horse Association estimating a population of less than 1,000 animals remaining in Europe.[6]

Many studs are government-funded, in order to prevent the breed from dying out.[3] The French breed registry, Haras Nationaux, allows the registration of horses bred using artificial insemination and embryo transfer, but does not allow the registration of cloned horses.[12] It considers the breed to be endangered, along with several other French draft breeds. A 2009 study of French equine genetics theorized that the Boulonnais, along with four other French breeds, should be a conservation priority in order to maintain maximum genetic variability in France's native horse population.[13]

[edit] Uses

During the 17th century, the smaller Mareyeuse type was used for transporting fresh fish from Boulogne to Paris, a distance of almost 200 miles, in under 18 hours. This journey is remembered annually in the Route du Poisson race.[6] Only the mares were used in the relay-style trip, pulling small carts full of ice and fish.[7] Falling demand for the breed means that today it is bred mainly for horsemeat.[6]

The Boulonnais provided part of the base for the Anglo-Norman breed, which was later to play a large role in the creation of the Selle Francais.[14] It was also used in the creation and refinement of the Italian Heavy Draft,[15] the post-World War II improvement of the Schleswig breed,[16] and the creation of the early 19th century Ardennes types.[17] Some equine scholars theorize that if the smaller Mareyeur type of Boulonnais had survived, it would have been an ideal horse to cross with the Thoroughbred or Anglo-Arabian to produce a warmblood for competition.[5]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Bongianni, Entry 88
  2. ^ a b c Le Boulonnais Syndicat Hippique Boulonnais. Les Haras Nationaux 2010. (in French) Accessed August 2011
  3. ^ a b "Boulonnais". International Museum of the Horse. Kentucky Horse Park. http://www.imh.org/horse-breeds-of-the-world/boulonnais/. Retrieved 2010-08-17. 
  4. ^ Hayes, p. 373
  5. ^ a b c d Edwards, pp. 264–65
  6. ^ a b c d "The American Boulonnais Horse Association". http://www.angelfire.com/ga2/riverchase/boulonnais.html. Retrieved 2010-08-24. 
  7. ^ a b Hendricks, p. 79
  8. ^ Anderson, p. 261
  9. ^ Bailey, p. 461
  10. ^ Butterworth, p. 459
  11. ^ Derry, p. 74
  12. ^ Sodor, Christopher. "Reglement du Stud-book du Cheval Boulonnais" (in French). Les Harax Nationaux. http://www.haras-nationaux.fr/portail/uploads/tx_vm19hnreglementation/reglement_boulonnais_31octobre2006.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-24. 
  13. ^ Leroy, Grégoire; Callède, Lucille; Verrier, Etienne; Mériaux, Jean-Claude; Ricard, Anne; Danchin-Burge, Coralie; Rognon, Xavier (2009). "Genetic diversity of a large set of horse breeds raised in France assessed by microsatellite polymorphism". Genetics Selection Evolution 41 (5). http://www.gsejournal.org/content/41/1/5. 
  14. ^ Dutson, p. 220
  15. ^ Edwards, p. 258
  16. ^ Edwards, p. 275
  17. ^ McBane, p. 98

[edit] References

Horse breeds of France
These are the horse breeds considered in France to be wholly or partly of French origin.
Many have complex or obscure histories, so inclusion here does not necessarily imply that a breed is predominantly or exclusively French.

Ardennais  ·  AQPS  ·  Auvergne horse  ·  Auxois  ·   Barraquand horse (also known as Vercors horse)  ·  Boulonnais (Mareyeur, Cauchoix, Trait Picard, Bourbourien, Petit Boulonnais)  ·  Breton (Trait, Postier, Cheval de Corlay, Centre-montagne)  ·  Camargue horse  ·  Castillonnais  ·  Comtois  ·  Corse horse  ·  French Anglo-Arab  ·  French Saddle Pony  ·  French Trotter  ·  Henson  ·  Landais  ·  Mérens  ·  Nivernais  ·  Norman Cob  ·  Percheron  ·  Poitevin  ·  Pottok  ·  Selle Français  ·  Trait du Nord

Extinct breeds
†Angevin  ·   †Anglo-Normand  ·   †Augeron  ·   †Berrichon  ·   †Bidets  ·   †Bourbonnais  ·   †Bourguignon  ·   †Carrossier Normand  ·   †Charentais  ·   †Charolais  ·   †Demi-sang du Centre  ·   †Dombes horse (see also Bresse horse and Demi-sang de l'Ain)  ·   †Limousin horse  ·   †Loire horse  ·   †Morvan horse  ·   †Navarrin horse  ·   †Saône-et-Loire  ·   †Tarbésan  ·   †Trait du Maine  ·   †Vendéen
For additional breeds of horse please see the List of horse breeds

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