Poitevin Horse - History

History

The Poitevin breed was created in the marshes of the Poitou region, especially around Luçon, La Rochelle, Melle and Niort. It was developed through a mixture of human selection and natural selection to the marshy area that it inhabited. Although described as a draft horse, it was not selected for draft purposes, and was never popular for that use.

Remains of prehistoric horses have been found in the Poitou region, with Mesolithic remains (20,000 to 5,000 BC) being found near Surgeres and Echire. Some enthusiasts claim that the Poitevin horse is descended directly from these horses, based on physical similarities, and claim a common origin with the Tarpan horse painted on the Lascaux cave walls. However, this has not been confirmed by scientific studies, and numerous claims by other horse breeds of this same relationship have been invalidated by further research. Other horses were probably brought to the area by migrating Celts, and there is a record from the 10th century of a bishop from Rome asking the Count of Poitou for a mare from the region. These horses, like mules, were a favorite among the magistrates and ecclesiastical personnel in the medieval era, and were sold around Niort, Saint Maixent of Auvergne, Dauphine, Languedoc and in Spain. The number of horses in the area, however, was not well known before the 17th century.

The Poitevin breed began to develop in 1599 when King Henry IV of France requested that engineers, led by Humphrey Bradley, began draining the Poitou marshes. They brought with them Friesian, Brabant and a type of Flemish work horse that was well known in the 13th century. These horses stood under 16.3 hands (67 inches, 170 cm) and weighed up to 1,200 kilograms (2,600 lb). They were crossed with native Poitou mares, and this crossbreeding created a large, slow type, similar to the Flemish work horses of the Dutch marshes. This type was the forerunner of the Poitevin breed.

At the end of the 18th century, the French government tried to impose a system of crossing Poitevin horses with lighter-weight Norman and Thoroughbred horses to create cavalry horses. Despite financial incentives, private breeders protested because they felt that the resulting crossbred horses created poor quality mules upon further breeding. The changes also affected the characteristics of the breed that had been developed for work in its marshy homeland, including large hooves and a calm manner. Some sources argue that at this point the breed was employed for agricultural and logging uses. Others state that they were not pulling horses, and were instead used almost solely for the production of mules.