Tell me about the Percheron breed

shanti

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 October 2016
Messages
227
Visit site
Yesterday I had the pleasure of riding a mammoth 17.3h Percheron. Now, I'm only 5ft 1 and fairly petite so I have never considered large breed horses for myself as I figured I would feel unbalanced and frankly, look silly.
Well, now I am completely in love and I want one!! Such a comfortable ride, I felt like I was floating the whole time I was riding (though his width has caused some aching legs today) and I felt so safe and secure.

So being totally naive regarding this breed (and also being extremely impulsive and reckless regarding the acquisition of animals) I wondered if anyone could tell me some information about them, pros/cons, temperament, anything really :) Thanks!
 

OrangeAndLemon

Afraid of exorcism
Joined
5 October 2015
Messages
11,429
Location
Cheshire
Visit site
My heavy is actually quite a clean and tidy boy in the stable, but yes, I always get a two wheel Barrow because there is more.

I'd suggest riding a few time to be sure. The movement of these horses is huge so it can be hard on your back to soak up and go with that movement. Go for some long hacks and see how creaky you are feeling.

While there is a feeling of security that comes from them having a larger centre of gravity, it is harder to get your leg around them which can leave you feeling like a pea on a drum. For the same reason, prepare to always look like a novice when riding, there is so much horse to ride and balance it can take a lot of work if they aren't yet perfectly schooled.

They must have impeccable manners on the ground because this is when you are at your most vulnerable. Leading mine is always at the end of the rope so that I am safely out of the way of any trips or stumbles. But that means he must lead and listen to me like an angel, regardless of what is going on around.

Everything will cost more because you need more of it; shavings, feed, balancer, hay, medication costs etc

The absolute worst thing...dismounting and landing on a cold day; It's such a long way down. I got a R-stor handle to use for dismounting. Similarly, hopping on and off for gates etc is a pain.

I got a heavy because his temperament was exactly what I wanted. He is much bigger than I wanted but I said I could compromise on anything except temperament.
 

Archangel

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 January 2008
Messages
10,367
Location
Wales
Visit site
I absolutely love them. Such power. Lovely temperament and very willing. As with any horse you need one that is brought up and trained properly. Don't mistake a stoical disposition for being a walkover. Quiet and biddable works a lot of the time but when they wake up and are not quiet and not biddable you really need to know what you are doing.

Have you thought about a first cross? - every one I have seen (Arab x P and TB x P) have been fabulous.
 

OrangeAndLemon

Afraid of exorcism
Joined
5 October 2015
Messages
11,429
Location
Cheshire
Visit site
Check with your farrier the cost of shoeing one.
Really good point. I've just taken the front shoes off mine but it's not always an option with horses who are built on the forehand.

I was paying £70 just for front shoes (and £100 for a full set a couple of years ago) but a friend with a heavy who needed remedial shoeing was looking at a bill of around £200 every 6 weeks for special front shoes (still barefoot at the back) she has managed to get them cheaper but only by changing farriers.
 

poiuytrewq

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 April 2008
Messages
17,382
Location
Cotswolds
Visit site
Really good points raised above!
Stable size, the extra amounts of everything, bedding hay feed.
Farrier bills are often more.
I used to look after a shire and was surprised at the amount extra he cost.... also cringed are the field in winter when I turned him out and he hooned round with his big heavy feet ? gorgeous though!
 

Gloi

Too little time, too much to read.
Joined
8 May 2012
Messages
11,227
Location
Lancashire
Visit site
I was at a farm where they bred Shires for a while and the amounts of everything, food , bedding , poo was enormous. Another problem was just how destructive they could be a big Shire bum having a scratch can have a lot of power behind it. I remember a few stables being demolished.
 

shanti

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 October 2016
Messages
227
Visit site
All very sensible points. While riding him he did remind me of my Neapolitan Mastiff, big, lumbering and docile however he is also destructive, super expensive and stubborn so I guess I will try to imagine a massive version of him and it may squash my impulsiveness lol. They are lovely though. Guess I will wait to win the lotto?
 

OrangeAndLemon

Afraid of exorcism
Joined
5 October 2015
Messages
11,429
Location
Cheshire
Visit site
I hope I haven't put you off heavies. They are awesome. As Archangel said, the power is immense. Mine 'took off with me' yesterday (kind of, he always comes back as soon as I ask but I was on a long rein so it took a couple of strides, the horse in front went unexpectedly) but that pure power and lowering of the back end is just incredible. It was a full on acceleration but I wasn't thrown about and never felt out of balance with him. He is very well schooled so comes back as soon as I ask, even if the horse in front is disappearing out of sight.

There are Facebook groups for ridden heavies and you can take a look at Archie the Suffolk and Ernie the Suffolk for some inspiration.
 

PapaverFollis

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 November 2012
Messages
9,544
Visit site
I really want a Percheron cross...

The full heavies must just make so much pooop! ? The Beast can do over a barrow full of just manure in a stable overnight and she's only like a miniature heavy horse. She definitely counts as a heavy horse though because Ruggles rug sizing says so.

But if I had a no holds barred dream horse I think Percheron cross would be there. If someone else was doing the poop and buying the feed etc I'd want a full Percheron too! ?

To be fair this is based on knowing not that much about them other than what Ive read and what other people have said!
 

J&S

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 June 2012
Messages
2,488
Visit site
I have ridden a Percheron x, he was only small but felt like a War Horse! He could be all things to all riders, sweet, quiet and also turn on the flamboyant if required. I have also seen them in France at the National Stud and they are majestic.
 

scruffyponies

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 March 2011
Messages
1,783
Location
NW Hampshire
Visit site
I would love a heavy. My reasons not to are:

It could not be kept out 24/7, unshod and with no hard feed like my others Aside from the expense, this would make life difficult.
Normal trailers and tow cars are no good, so you can't even just hire transport when you need it, you'd need something specialised.

Also, on a practical level, getting off and on again out hacking should not need a week of planning.
 

AdorableAlice

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 October 2011
Messages
13,000
Visit site
I have a half bred, the infamous Ted The Twit. Out of a pure Shire by a big Vanner Stallion. Ted looks like a mini (17.1h) Shire with feather on and more HW hunter when clipped out. Temperament wise he is sharper than most fit TB's but very intelligent and trainable, he is also pumped with anxiety and gets stressed very easily. I also have a half bred Clyde. She is small at 15.3 but has loads of bone and is a true maxi cob. Her temperament is very different to the Shire X. Still a very forward ride, but not sharp, highly intelligent and able to use that against you if you let her. Both of mine look ideal for novice riders but neither are. I would buy Clyde X again but not Shire. Never ever assume a heavy, crossed or not, is a plod. They are not.

The heavies come with their own specifics in terms of ownership. Shoeing is expensive and likely to be on a shorter cycle to maintain foot balance and soundness. Drugs become expensive due to the weight of the horse. 2 wormers etc. Ted needed Dilaterol by the litre rather than by the mil. Even simple supplements have to be fed at weight specific or they are useless. Mine has Boswellia which is crucial to his soundness, he needs 40g daily for his weight, that looks like a lot when scooped out of the packet.

Rugs in your tack room won't fit and popping to the saddlers for a rain sheet is impossible. There is an Evans Shop for horses, but everything is so much more expensive. Your lorry will need a good payload and be full head height with partitions that angle well. Fencing needs to be substantial but a strand of live wire stops mine doing any demolition. My Clyde X did do demolition on the wooden stables when I first had but she was rife with mites that needed treating.
 

Caol Ila

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 January 2012
Messages
7,518
Location
Glasgow
Visit site
My horse is a first generation cross by a Shire stallion, out of a TB mare. She's 16.1hh and has roughly the bone you would expect in an old school warmblood or a pure ID. Takes standard sized everything. Unlike AA's cross, she's forward but not sharp and isn't that anxious. She has opinions and quirks, but don't all horses? Like AA's, she is intelligent and trainable.

Perch crosses (and all draft crosses, really) are a dime a dozen in the US, as they became regarded as the poor man's warmblood for dressage, eventing, and jumpers. They're also popular as stock/trail horses when people want something bigger than a quarter horse. People cross heavies (usually Shire, Clyde, Perch, or Belgian) with anything and everything -- Iberians, Friesians, Morgans, Appys, Arabs, Euro-warmbloods, standardbreds, whatever, as well as the standard TB and QH. With F1 crosses, the type and temperament varies widely, so you can't easily generalize from one horse to another -- less than you can with any actual breed. I've seen some that look like full drafts. I've seen others that look more like whatever TB or QH they're crossed with. Some are lovely horses. Some can't move for sh ** t. Some are so bombproof you could drop a house next to them. Some are bonkers. Some get the best traits of the parents. Some get the worst. Most have a combination of the best and the worst, but until you have a horse in front of you, it's unpredictable how it's going to play out because of how F1 crosses work.
 
Last edited:

millikins

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 March 2011
Messages
3,895
Visit site
I saw a pair doing a demo at a county show once, pulling a vintage fire engine flat out, awesome sight. At the same show I was chatting to a lady on a ridden Percheron, that's who told me about the shoeing, think she said it cost her £120 every 4 weeks, shoes had to be made as 22" round. The TB/heavy x is an option worth looking into though.
 

SEL

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 February 2016
Messages
12,303
Location
Buckinghamshire
Visit site
Lovely breed - but then I'm a fan of heavies.

Test for PSSM though if you ever do go down the buying route. Very common in the breed and heart breaking if they are symptomatic.
 

sunnyone

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 September 2010
Messages
625
Location
France previously Dorset
Visit site
My horse spent a couple of winters, many years ago, on a farmyard with Percherons which regularly won in-hand classes at the East of England show. They were kept in a crew yard over the winters. The owner made no attempt to muck out, just deep littered them and then, in Spring, cleaned the yard with a digger and trailer.
As others have said their feet are huge and they can do real damage if they kick out, or tread on you.
 

jsprince

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 August 2014
Messages
133
Location
east dorset
Visit site
I have three pure bred mares and they all have different characters. The oldest is my go anywhere do anything horse hates standing still but will happily go where you point her, either walk into a hedge if a car comes to close or happily walk for 50 metres into a underpass. Her daughter is more playful and given an inch would take a mile but she absolutely loves people.
The last one is bolshy, a total plod who believes the only pace is walking and basically if she could would eat all day without moving.
Cost wise they live out and have nothing apart from hay in winter a round bale a week. Shoes are every eigh5 weeks and normally £175 each.
Rug wise they fit in 7ft and I buy cheap cheerful the ones working only have a lightweight because they are clipped and Miss Fatty has a full clip and never sees a rug.
they are very good at destroying gates they rub their bottoms on them and never let them near plastic water troughs mine will pick them up until the pipe comes away and you have a giant fountain in the field. Then again they will happily stay behind a single strand of electric rope, most of my friends are amazed by that.
 

AdorableAlice

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 October 2011
Messages
13,000
Visit site
I saw a pair doing a demo at a county show once, pulling a vintage fire engine flat out, awesome sight. At the same show I was chatting to a lady on a ridden Percheron, that's who told me about the shoeing, think she said it cost her £120 every 4 weeks, shoes had to be made as 22" round. The TB/heavy x is an option worth looking into though.

Are they bred anymore, it is real old fashioned breeding sadly.
 

Gloi

Too little time, too much to read.
Joined
8 May 2012
Messages
11,227
Location
Lancashire
Visit site
I haven't seen many TB-draft crosses here, although I've not really looked. But like I said above, in the US you can't get out of bed without stepping on one.
Used to breed lots of them where I was in the 80s. Always using the Shire as the mother. Made good hunters/jumpers.
 

Jill's Gym Karma

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 May 2017
Messages
100
Visit site
Apparently the French government are really pro-active in supporting their rare breeds with grants/subsidies etc. Percherons are probably the best known, but I think there are other French and Belgian heavy breeds that are a bit more compact and are surprisingly versatile.
 

MrsMozart

Just passing through...
Joined
27 June 2008
Messages
41,222
Location
Not where I should be...
Visit site
A friend has a Shire. They're not cheap to keep! And the amount of time she's spent researching feeds, etc. is not to be sniffed at.

As others have said - need 'big!' of everything. Not all yards can offer big enough stables, etc. etc. etc.

So saying, she's a lovely horse and well worth all the effort.
 

Shilasdair

Patting her thylacine
Joined
26 March 2007
Messages
23,686
Location
Daemon from Hades
Visit site
I have a half-heavy (out of a Shire mare by a Tb stallion). She's a wrecker of fields (she's so heavy she just sinks) and of rugs (and I have trouble buying them big enough, particularly round the neck).
She's also sharper than any Tb.

I have recently had to stop myself buying a full Clydie though - in my experience they have an easier temperament than Shires.
 
Top