Auxois

Origin: Auxois area of France

Color: Bay or roan, and occasionally may be chestnut or red roan.

Avg Height: 15.1 to 16 hh

Avg Weight: 1,650 to 2,425 lbs

Build: Light head with a straight profile. The forehead is broad, the ears are small, and the eyes have a gentle expression. The short, muscular neck is quite broad, and the withers are not very pronounced. The back is straight, the croup is sloping, and the tail is set-on low. It has a wide and deep chest and long, sloping shoulder. Its legs are slender in relation to the body size, but sturdy.

Temperament: Quiet, good-natured and willing horse.

Main use: Meat, milk, tractive power, farm work, clearing forests.

Special abilities: Very strong and has excellent endurance. The letters TX are branded on the left side of the horse's neck in conformation of its registration with the Syndicat.

History: The Auxois is a breed dating back at least to the Middle Ages. It descends from the old Burgundian horse. The Auxois was originally smaller in stature than the representatives of the breed today, and has been a contemporary of the Ardennais since the Middle Ages. Though considered an offshoot of the Ardennais, it has retained its red roan color, and it is less massive in its legs and quarters. Influence from the Percheron and the Boulonnais in the 19th Century, and more recently by the Ardennais and the Trait du Nord, it has become the taller horse one is likely to find today. It has been used to draw carriages and carts, but with the advent of motorization, it has become largely redundant and as a consequence, there is a drastic reduction in numbers. The breed is now strictly controlled according to type and coat color by the Syndicat du Cheval de Trait Ardennais de l'Auxois. The Syndicat is based in Dijon and has kept the Stud Book since 1913.