Comtois

Origin: France (Franche Comté)

Color: Usually bay or chestnut with a flaxen mane

Avg Height: 14.1 to 15.1 hh

Avg Weight: 1,100 to 1,320 lbs

Build: It has a square head with a straight profile, small mobile ears, a broad forehead and full forelock. The short and muscular neck has a full mane. Its withers are moderately well defined, wide and muscular. The back is straight, the croup wide and sloping, and the tail is set-on low. It chest is deep and wide, and its shoulder is long and sloping. The legs are slender in relation to its body size, but they are strong, sometimes showing a tendency to sickle hocks. The legs are feathered in their lower parts, and the feet are solid.

Temperament: Docile, active and willing.

Main use: With the qualities of being strong, having good endurance, and sure-footedness, the Comtois has an aptitude for heavy draft and farm work.

Special abilities: The Comtois has a quick lively action, which is an unusual in a heavy draft breed. It is very sure-footed, which enables it to tackle steep and rugged mountain tracks and roads, as well as having a great stamina.

History: The Comtois is of very early origins and has probably been bred in the Franche Comté region since the 6th Century. Almost certainly descending from the Germanic horses, which were imported into France by the Burgundians, it was used in the Middle Ages as a war horse. (The Burgundians were a people that came from northern Germany, and in 411 they founded the kingdom of Burgundy.) The Comtois was used by the French army and achieved fame as Louis XIV's mount. Now the Comtois is bred in the rugged mountainous region on the French-Swiss border. In the early 20th century it was crossed with a small version of the Ardennes which produced a stronger line. The breed is now distributed in eastern France, and is of regional importance.