page_title: Auvergne horse
section_title: 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: Auvergne horse / History / 19th century
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Gravure de chevaux auvergnats extraites d'un rapport à Monsieur le préfet du Puy de Dôme sur le service de la monte en 1873.
context_page_description: The Auvergne horse is a breed of light draft horse from the Auvergne region of south central France. It stands 143 to 147 centimetres at the withers, and weighs 450–650 kilograms. Coat colours are bay or seal brown. It is used mainly for trekking. It was recognised as a breed by the Haras Nationaux, the French association of horse breeders in December 2012. The standard is published by a breeders' association, the Association Nationale du Cheval de Race Auvergne.
  This breed has been crossbred several times throughout its history, with several distinct breeds sharing the name "Auvergne horse". A small riding horse known as the "half-blood of Auvergne" was primarily ridden by the cavalry at the beginning of the 19th century, but has since disappeared. Other work horses of Auvergne were used as a means of transportation before the advent of modern roads. The work horse was crossbred to become a light draught horse and subsequent ancestor of the modern Auvergne horse. It was used for varying field work by the inhabitants of the region.
  As with most of Europe's draught breeds, the Auvergne almost disappeared with the spread of mechanized transportation in the 1960s and 70s.
context_section_description: Napoleon I appreciated the qualities of the Auvergne horse and he requisitioned them heavily for his Russian campaign. Following these huge requisitions, by 1815 the horse population was decimated and weakened. Local horse farmers resumed their activities but the horses were no longer uniform.
  The method of raising Auvergne horses was frequently criticized. In Cantal the Auvergne gravid mare was worked until the tenth month of gestation and was not better fed in the winter. Five or six days after parturition she was sent with her foal to pasture where she often spent the night. Nursing of foals lasted five to six months. After weaning some of them were sold and exported to neighboring departments while others remained in pasture until November when the foals were returned to the stable. Their stabling lasted until April and foals were only let out to drink. In the first days of spring the foals were returned to the pasture to stay, night and day, until the month of November. At two years, the colts were castrated and all are saddled twelve months later. The horse population was more numerous in Cantal than in other departments of the old Auvergne.
  In Puy-de-Dôme horses had the same conformation and the same qualities as in Cantal but were deemed to be "less fine and less numerous" although the farming system was the same. In Aveyron, Auvergne mares were crossed with stallions from Rodez and gave birth to a small horse (1.47 m) which formed the "country breed". In summer he lived in pastures where there was abundant food. In winter he returned to the stable "where he received any food, the waste from the feeding of cattle".
caption: An engraving of Auvergne horses extracted from the report of the prefect of Puy de Dôme on the mounted service in 1873.
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