The French Trotter is a French

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

trotting horse Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...

bred for

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

both ridden and in harness. It was bred specifically for racing in the nineteenth century, principally in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

in north-western France.

History

Ridden

trotting races Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

in France were first held at the

Champ de Mars The Champ de Mars (; en, Field of Mars) is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh ''arrondissement'', between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after the ...

of Paris in 1806.

Selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant mal ...

of trotting racehorses began in Normandy in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Initial breeding of what would become the French Trotter was based on the local Carrossier Normand, a now-extinct forerunner of the Norman Cob; outside influences were from British Hackney,

Norfolk Trotter The Norfolk Trotter is a historical horse breed once native to East Anglia and Norfolk, England. It was said to be "a large-sized trotting harness horse originating in and around Norfolk". In 1542, King Henry VIII required the wealthy to keep a ...

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

and half-bred

hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

stallions, and later from the

American Standardbred The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...

. A

stud-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders ...

for the French Trotter was started in 1906; eligibility for registration was determined by performance. The breed received official recognition in 1922. In 1937 the stud-book was closed to horses not bred in France; a small number of registrations of cross-bred horses with Standardbred blood has since been permitted.

Characteristics

There is no breed standard for the French Trotter. It is compact and of medium size – usually between about 154 and at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle ar ...

– and is most often

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

. The shoulder is sloped and the

sternum The sternum or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels from injury. Sh ...

prominent. The facial profile is straight. Despite the influence of the

, which is predominantly a lateral pacing breed, the French Trotter performs an ordinary

diagonal trot The trot is a ten-beat diagonal horse gait where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time with a moment of suspension between each beat. It has a wide variation in possible speeds, but averages about . A very slow trot is someti ...

. It has greater stamina and endurance than the Standardbred; it reaches maturity more slowly, but may have a longer life as a racer. It can carry considerable weight, and excels in mounted racing at the trot.

Use

Approximately one third of the foals born each year are eventually selected for racing. They may be raced either in harness to sulkies, or ridden; about ninety per cent of races are in harness. The principal French trotting races are the for ridden trotters, and the

Prix d'Amérique Prix d'Amérique is a harness race held at the Hippodrome de Vincennes in Paris, France. The race takes place on the last Sunday of January every year, and has been doing so since 1920, with the exception for the years 1940-1941 when it was cancell ...

for sulky racers. A few horses excel in both types of race; by 1995, four horses had won the top prize in both disciplines. The horses not selected as racers may be used for riding, for

trekking Backpacking is the outdoor recreation of carrying gear on one's back, while hiking for more than a day. It is often an extended journey, and may involve camping outdoors. In North America tenting is common, where simple shelters and mountain h ...

, in

show-jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ...

or for mounted hunting.

References

{{Horse breeds of France Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in France Harness racing