|
Auxois Horse
 Origin: France - Burgundy.
Height: 15.2-16hh.
Color: Red roan or bay.
Character: Quiet, kind, gentle, willing.
Physique: Strong heavy draught horse, similar to Trait du Nord andArdennais. Large head with longish ears and a general air of kindliness;short, strong neck; massive front; powerful body with deep girth; strong hindquarters with sloping croup and low-set tail. Strong legs with com-paratively little feather for a horse of its type. Hardy and enduring.
The Auxois is the old heavy horse of north-eastern Burgundy. It hasexisted since at least the Middle Ages, and seems originally to have been asomewhat smaller and lighter breed. It was used to pull coaches and wasalso valued as a draught horse.
More modern methods of farming and the quantity of heavy worktriggered by the Industrial Revolution called for a stronger, heavier type ofhorse, and 19th-century breeders of the Auxois began to cross their maresto Percheron and Boulonnais stallions. Subsequently the Ardennais becamethe preferred cross and today's Auxois carries much Ardennais blood. Thebreed is now carefully controlled for type and color.
| 
