The value of the Percheron is more evident than ever. It is this, among the serviceable races, which is called to the greatest fortune; for, of all the ordinary breeds, it is the nearest to the blooded, in shape and qualities. His usefulness causes him to be everywhere in demand. If the railroads have driven him from the highway, they claim him as an auxiliary in the centers of population and at all their termini; for he is eminently a trotter, remarkable for the ability to move at a relatively rapid gait, and excelling in the valuable faculty of rapid draft. Since the post-coaches have ceased to use these horses, the omnibuses of the large cities, and those communicating with the railroads, require increasing numbers. This leads us to seek for the means of improving the Percheron race and of maintaining it in its original purity and perfection in the land of its birth. But let us first see what is the origin of this race, what country gave it birth, and by what characters it is to be recognized. We have, for this examination, borrowed largely of those who have known and studied Perche intimately, and hope to remain truthful in following them step by step. PART I GREATNESS AND DECLINE OF THE PERCHERONS. [Illustration: Decoration] CHAPTER I. GLANCE AT PERCHE. The Department of Perche is too well known to need a description here. We will limit ourselves to the remark that this region, which has become so celebrated for its fine race of horses, represents an ellipse of about 25 leagues long by nearly 20 broad. This ellipse is bounded on the north by Normandy; on the west, also by Normandy, and by Maine; on the east, by the portion of Beauce including Chartrain and Dunois; on the south, by the Vendomois—three portions of the ancient Orleanais. At the present time, enclosed in the center of the four departments, Orne, Eure and Loir, Loir and Cher, and Sarthe, the territory of Perche comprises the following divisions: _1st._—The district of Mortagne (department of Orne); _2nd._—The district of Nogent-le-Rotrou, and a portion of those of Chartres, Dreux, and Chateaudun (department of Eure and Loir); _3rd._—All the western side of the district of Vendôme (department of Loir and Cher); _4th._—The eastern portion of the districts of Mamers and Saint Calais (department of Sarthe). It is the summit region of the middle portion of the vast plateau extending between the sea and the basins of the Loire and the Seine. It is here that the rivers Sarthe, Huisne, Eure, Loire, Iton, Höene, Braye, Avre, Commanche, and Percheron Orne, take their source, springing up from the same plateau and crossing it on their way to the Channel and the ocean.