The Boulonnais, also known as the \”White Marble Horse\”, is a draft horse breed. It is known for its large but elegant appearance and is usually gray, although chestnut and black are also allowed by the French breed registry. The breed’s origins trace to a period before the Crusades and, during the 17th century, Spanish Barb, Arabian, and Andalusian blood were added to create the modern type.
About Boulonnais horse in brief
The Boulonnais, also known as the \”White Marble Horse\”, is a draft horse breed. It is known for its large but elegant appearance and is usually gray, although chestnut and black are also allowed by the French breed registry. Originally there were several sub-types, but they were crossbred until only one is seen today. The breed’s origins trace to a period before the Crusades and, during the 17th century, Spanish Barb, Arabian, and Andalusian blood were added to create the modern type. Breed numbers remain low; it is estimated that fewer than 1,000 horses remain in Europe, mostly in France, with a few in other nations. A 2009 report suggested that the breed should be a priority for conservation within France. One theory states that the origins of the breed emerged from native French mares brought by the Numidian army in 55–54 BC. However, many equine scholars are skeptical, and state that the early breeding and local climate had a greater influence on the breed than any early Oriental blood types. They crossed the existing French stallions with German Mecklenberg, Eustache, Comte de Boulogne, and Robert d’Artois, to create a fast, agile and strong warhorse for knights to ride in battle.
The smallest type of Boulonais was originally used to pull carts full of fresh fish. The larger varieties performed heavy draft work, both on farms and in the cities. Today, chestnut, gray and black is the only colors allowed byThe vast majority of horses being gray – a popular phrase says that the horses have coats \”the color of the clouds from the coast\”. The legs are fairly short but robust and strong. Unlike other draft breeds such as the Shire or Clydesdale, it has no heavy feathering on its lower legs. It has a short, elegant head with a broad forehead and short, muscular neck. Members of the Breed have full chests, rounded rib cages and sloping shoulders. All of the types were bred together to create the modern Boul Madonna horse. The Boulanais was also crossbred to create and refine several otherdraft breeds. It stood from 14. 3 to 16. 3 hands or more and weighed 1,210 to 1,430 pounds. The Picard draft came from the Picardy region, and was called the \”horse of the bad land\”, in comparison to the Cauchoix horse from the Pays de Caux area.
You want to know more about Boulonnais horse?
This page is based on the article Boulonnais horse published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 06, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
