page_title: Anglo-Norman horse
section_title: 20th century
hierarchical_section_title: Anglo-Norman horse / History / 20th century
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Olivier Guillon et Lord de Theize lors de la Coupe des Nations du CSIO-5* de La Baule (17 mai 2013).
context_page_description: 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 Anglo-Norman was developed in the early 19th century, and along with Thoroughbred and local Norman blood, influences were seen from other breeds, including British and Russian trotting horses. By the mid-19th century, the Anglo-Norman was a popular breed throughout France, and in 1864 a breed association was founded.
context_section_description: With the mechanization of transport and the military in the 20th century, the Anglo-Norman was no longer in demand as a carriage and military horse. In addition, World War II and the German occupation of France caused significant damage to the Norman homeland of the breed as fighting destroyed farms and killed half of the horses at the National Stud at Saint-Lô. Most of the surviving were of the Norman Cob breed, and horses lost their status as animals of luxury and leisure. Many farms were left in ruins, and breeders were left rethinking their breeding aims. Certain provisions of the Marshall Plan convinced them not to focus on breeding draft horses, and that type began to disappear. Instead, emphasis shifted toward producing horses for equestrian sports, and a stud book was created for the Anglo-Norman breed on December 7, 1950, at Saint-Lô. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Anglo-Norman became a major force in international equine competition. At the 1964 Summer Olympics, the Anglo-Norman Lutteur B won a gold medal in show jumping.
  In 1958, the Anglo-Norman studbook was combined with other regional warmblood saddle horses such as the Demi-sang du Centre and the Vendéen in order to create a unified national warmblood studbook for the Selle Français or French saddle horse. The French government actively supported the merger of regional types and breeds with a large financial appropriation. In spite of this merger, for decades afterwards, horses from Anglo-Norman bloodlines were clearly identifiable within the Selle Français due to differences in conformation.
  In August 1996, breeder Fernand Leredde, of the "Haras des Rouges" stud farm, developed the idea of the Cheval de Sport Anglo-Normand (CSAN, or Anglo-Norman Sport Horse), to preserve the genetic heritage of four generations of Anglo-Norman horses still extant within the Selle Français breed. The plan moved forward in August 2008 with the support of other professional breeders. Their argument was that the Selle Français had become increasingly crossed with other European breeds since the advent of artificial insemination in 1980 and the opening of the stud book to horses of foreign breeds in 2000; the theory of jus soli allowed horses of foreign bloodlines to be called Selle Français if they were born in France. The breeders allying themselves with Leredde prefer to return to the original French Anglo-Norman as a regional sport horse. However, when Anglo-Norman breeders as a whole were asked to vote, they rejected the idea of amending the studbook.
  The idea for the new stud book was presented in December 2009 and November 2011 to the Commission des livres généalogiques (Stud Book Commission) and on May 24, 2013, to the Ministry of Agriculture. The president of the Association nationale du selle français (French Saddle Horse Association), Bernard Le Courtois, publicly spoke out against the idea on June 18, 2013, arguing that competition from other countries is already strong in the world of sport horse breeding, and that creating competition within France should be avoided. He described the proposed re-opening of an Anglo-Norman stud book as "criminal", saying it would be a step backwards led by a "small group of unscrupulous and fanciful breeders". In response, the Syndicat des Éleveurs et Cavaliers professionnels de chevaux et poneys de sport (Union of Breeders and Professional Riders of Horses and Sport Ponies) defended the project by stating that the breeder behind the Anglo-Norman stud book project is one of the top in his field in the world, while the Selle Français stud book is "the largest and the most in decline in Europe". In August 2014, this new stud book was approved by the French government, and made official on May 27, 2015, submitted for publication in the JORF edition of June 4, 2015. As of September 2015, this stud-book has no horses registered in it yet.
caption: A Selle Français competing in show jumping in 2013
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