"The French Horses." Topic

Two local breeds horses were chosen for military use in France during the Old Regime, the "Ardennais" and the"Navarrine" races.
A native of Bearn, Navarre the French Navarrine race,named too as Navarin, Navarrois, Bigourdin or Tarbais, was a former French breed horse which disappeared, but grew on the plains of the Pyrenees near Tarbes and Bigorre, in the Low and High Pyrenees, extending across the Southwest of France.
Mount of great prestige in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Era with reputation that reaches throughout the eighteenth century, where this little horse, strong, with a fine appearance and great vivacity was used by the Light Brigade and also equipped the Line Cavalry .
For its usability for the practice of classical training thanks to its extreme elegance, was regarded as one of the best races of French saddle horse, promote the maintenance of their production at all costs from 1762 until 1779.

The Ardennais race, or of the Bulge, was a type of horse not very big, but very strong,with highly mobile, very lively and always ready to work, yet very submissive and sweet to his owner.
The Romans had used it as a war horse, creating a high reputation in the battlefields.
This was one of the oldest European horse breeds, coming to think that probably would come down from prehistoric horses, according to remains found in the region of Solutré, whose descendants toured the river Meuse in the Ardennes established today between France and Belgium.

(The Ardennais)

These two races, the Ardennais and Navarrine, not being a horse of great size, were crossed with the Spanish race, specifically Andalusian stallion, known in France as race "Andalou", achieving an excellent horse for military use, providing this junction, the Navarrine and Adennais races, the desired size and a change in the size of your rump, neck and face, resembling a Spanish thoroughbreds.
In the early nineteenth century, Napoleon seeks to improve the local French horse breeds, according to the demands of the war at that time.
In 1806, the armies of Napoleon, had great need for large numbers of horses, in order to equip his troops assembled, recreating this year, the National Stud Management, under the authority of the Ministry of Interior by Decree of 4 July, 1806.
So, the stables of Tarbes were created in 1806 and Pau in 1807, creating a unique zootechnical development for different types of crosses of races to get different types of horses for military use, creating the best war mount from the Napoleonic era with the crossing from the Ardennais-Navarrine with English thoroughbreds, crossed with imported Arabian stallions bred from the East. Due to extensive studies that concluded to avoid the cruse with Spanish horses as their characteristics were closer to the Baroque Horse, obsolete for military exigencies of the moment, setting aside his crossing, being far from equal to the Oriental races.
These new crossings contribute the loss of the main Spanish properties acquired as his typical disappearing neck, head and amplitude, the slenderness and elegance gained from the crossing purebred stallions English and Arabic, while retaining the bulk purchased by its intersection with the race of the ancestral Andalou.
This improved breed, obtained with the crossing of the thoroughbred English and Arabic, with the two local races in turn crossed with Spanish stallions above, improve the score to getting a horse both strong and lightweight, inheriting the beauty, elegance , strength and lightness provided by the Arab race, but keeping the ancestral skills to adapt to the chair and support the weight of the rider at a time which takes the size, strength and sense of direction speed of the English race.
It's not take long for the new Ardennais, to become the favorite horse of Hussars and Chasseurs formations but also equip other units being used at once, as the light artillery, standing in the Campaign of Russia for its ability adaptation to extreme temperatures sustained in the aforementioned campaign.
So, the french had a new race, the Anglo-Arab.
Contrary to what its name left to assume, the Anglo-Arab breed, is a French race despite being conceived in England, indeed unfolded in the France of Napoleon. The English strove to be the first to create a very fast horse, thoroughbred Englishmen crossing Arabian horses, but it was in France where the breed was actually developed, whose first tests took place under the direction of the National Stud reinstated by Napoleon.

(Arab pure-sang)

(The French Ango-Arab horse from Napoleon Armies)

Oht from History professor Françesc Pintado.

Hope you enjoy!

Amicalement
Armand

Thanks Armand! I have an interest in horse breeds and realy enjoyed that.
So that first photo is an original Ardennais?

Yes Maxshadow, it is.
Glad you had enjoy the thread!.

You can find Ardennais up today in France, unfortunally,there are not more Navarrines.

Amicalement
Armand

Yes. This was very helpful for me for when I paint cavalry. Thank you.

They are a gorgeous horse. Any idea about their average height in hands? Very sad about the Navarrines.

"The Ardennais is a horse type bréviligne. The current standard of the breed meets the following characters: size is 1.62 m for males, 1.60 m for females, the birth weight is 50 to 80 kg, the adult weight of 700 to 1000 kg, the color is bay or roan, possibly chestnut, gray iron, sometimes isabelle, the head is expressive profile snub or straight, protruding orbits, ears small and pointed forward, the neck is grafted, often artful in the male, the body expresses the mass, density, strength, chest broad and deep, back and kidney powerful and well-supported, wide hips, the hindquarters long and muscled shoulder is tilted, arms, forearms and legs are very muscular, joints low, wide, well affirmed, feet wide at horn sound."
Oht from "Le Guide des Chevaux de Trait"

Hope it helps you my friend Maxshadow!.

Amicalement
Armand

Yes thanks Armand, I was wondering if they were pony size becuse somthing about their head and shoulders reminds me of pictures of the old celtic british ponies.

Thanks for these Armand.

The drawing of the Navarrine looks a lot like a early hanoverian have a good look at the nose ( the unique hanoverian dish nose)and the the steep setting of the foreqauters.

cheers
Matt

A votre service mes amis!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand