What he does in the omnibuses, the world that visits Paris realizes and admires. And this is one of the principal attractions of the Percheron horse to the intelligent stranger. It now only remains for us to follow him upon the turf and sum up the time made in the trots won by him. The courses, for some time frequented by him, are those of Illiers, Courtalain, Montdoubleau, and Mortagne; and here he is always to be found. It is, also, indispensable to notice, in order to be strictly impartial, that these tracks, except the new one at Mortagne, finished two years ago, were only plowed fields, hard in dry weather, but cut up like a peat-bog in wet times; that the track of Mortagne, as is well known, is placed on a steep side-hill, and joins to the above defect the one of offering three steep inclines, up and down, like the roof of a house, within a distance of 3,000 feet. The horses which had done the best elsewhere failed on this track, and took a long time to make the distance. It is to this circumstance that is to be attributed the low average time, but it is this also which shows us the courage of the Percheron. When a colt of thirty months (and of these there were a number) had bravely accomplished his task and had gone two or three times around this killing track, it could be boldly predicted that there was in him the making of a staunch and valuable horse. To all this let us add, that either under saddle or in harness, the Percheron is almost always placed in an unfavorable situation. Mounted, he is put into the hands of a youth, ardent, without experience, and without calculation, who pushes him without discretion in the beginning, and is totally ignorant of the jockey’s art. Harnessed, he is covered with heavy and inconvenient gear, and he drags either a big, heavy-running wagon, or a poor, low traveling-tilbury. The following list shows the result of 196 trotting matches, officially reported upon the turf, and two trials to prove bottom, likewise certified with care, and will give an average of what the Percheron is capable of doing either upon rugged, cut-up, or hilly tracks, or upon the highways of a densely populated district. [Illustration: Decoration] CHAPTER IV. SPEED OF THE PERCHERON HORSE. MOUNTED PERCHERONS. 1¼ MILES——29 RESULTS. The best two are those of _Julie_, at Montdoubleau, in 1864, time 3 minutes 50 seconds; and of _Godius_, at the same place, in 1857, time 3 minutes 58 seconds. The poorest two results are those of _Vidocq_, at Mortagne, 1865, time 7 minutes 37 seconds; and of _Lansquenet_, same place, in 1861, time 7 minutes 48 seconds. The average time of 29 recorded trials is about 4 minutes 12½ seconds. 1⅚ MILES——31 RESULTS. The best two are those of _Vaillante_, at Mortagne, in 1864, time 4 minutes 38 seconds; and of _Julie_, at Montdoubleau, in 1864, time 6 minutes 14 seconds.