The Auxois is a

horse breed A horse breed is a selectively bred population of domesticated horses, often with pedigrees recorded in a breed registry. However, the term is sometimes used in a broader sense to define landrace animals of a common phenotype located within a ...

from eastern France. It is a large breed, with some individuals weighing over , bred for

horse meat Horse meat forms a significant part of the culinary traditions of many countries, particularly in Europe and Asia. The eight countries that consume the most horse meat consume about 4.3million horses a year. For the majority of humanity's early ...

, agricultural work and leisure pursuits. Overall, members of the breed are solid and muscular in appearance. They are usually

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'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

or bay roan in color, although some other colors are accepted by the

breed registry A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry, 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 w ...

, and are known for their power and docility. The Auxois is a direct descendant of the Bourguignon of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. In the 19th century, blood was added from other French draft breeds before the creation of a

stud book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry, 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 wh ...

in 1912. After the creation of the stud book, only purebred Auxois or Ardennais and Trait du Nord crosses could be registered.

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

interrupted efforts to set the breed standard, but testing resumed in 1920, and between then and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the Auxois was the pride of regional farmers. The breed reached its peak in the 1930s, but by the 1960s began to decline with the advent of mechanization. By the 1970s, the Auxois had almost become extinct, and the French government began pushing the breeding of all native draft horses for meat production, as opposed to agricultural usage. However, the meat of the Auxois was not considered high quality, and this, combined with a lower-than-expected market for meat, led to a continued decline in French draft horse populations. In the 1990s, the French government reversed its position on breeding for meat, and began promoting draft breeds for leisure pursuits. The Auxois continues to be rare, having the eighth-smallest population numbers of the nine native French draft breeds. An annual breed show is held in

Semur-en-Auxois Semur-en-Auxois () is a Communes of France, commune of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department in eastern France. The politician François Patriat, the engineers Edmé Régnier L'Aîné (1751–1825) and Émile Dorand (1866-1922), and th ...

, and the Auxois is frequently seen at the Paris International Agricultural Show.

Breed characteristics

The Auxois is a horse of great size, larger than the Ardennais and almost as large as the Trait du Nord. It is massively muscular in build, built for heavy pulling. The average height is , with an ideal height of to for stallions and for mares. They weigh from to more than , depending on whether an individual horse is bred for meat, agricultural work or leisure pursuits. The head is relatively short, with a wide forehead. The neck is also relatively short and muscular, the shoulders long and sloping and the chest wide and deep. The body is solid, with a broad, short back and loins. The hindquarters are well-muscled. The legs are robust, although they can appear small in relation to the mass of the body. They usually have less

feathering Feathering is a technique used in computer graphics software to smooth or blur the edges of a feature. The term is inherited from a technique of fine retouching using fine feathers. Paintbrush feathering Feathering is most commonly used on a ...

on the legs than other French draft horse breeds. Horses registered with the studbook may be branded on the left side of the neck with the letters "TX". This brand is generally applied during breed competitions, and only after the age of two. Auxois horses are usually

or bay roan in color, although they can also be

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

or red roan, similar to the Ardennais.

gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

and seal brown (the latter called black pangaré by the breed registry, although these horses are genetically brown, not black with

pangaré Pangaré is a coat Phenotypic_trait, trait found in some horses that features pale hair around the eyes, muzzle, and underside of the body. These pale areas can extend up to the flanks, throat and chest, behind the elbows, in front of the Stif ...

markings) are also accepted for registration; all other colors are excluded. The Auxois is known for its power and docility, having a calm and gentle temperament. Like the Ardennais, it is an easy keeper, able to survive outdoors in all seasons, even in the harsh climatic conditions sometimes seen in Morvan and Nievre. The majority of Auxois are still bred for meat production, and in 2001, 50% of the horses bred were intended for slaughter. However, the power and gaits of the breed make them valued for competitive and leisure

driving Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a land vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. A driver's permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met, and drivers are required to ...

, as well as equestrian tourism. The smaller horses of the breed are used for milk production. The Auxois is used for celebrations, such as weddings, and

historical reenactment Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational entertainment, educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historical uniforms and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a histor ...

s. It is also used for logging, and in recent years, has been increasingly used in agriculture, being found in vineyards, gardens and farms. The use of them for the maintenance of rural roads is also in planning.

History

The history of the Auxois is closely tied to its homeland, for which it is named. The rich pastures of the Auxois area, including the French Gold Coast, parts of

Yonne Yonne (, in Burgundian: ''Ghienne'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight con ...

, the

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is B ...

and northern

Nièvre Nièvre () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, central-east France. Named after the river Nièvre, it had a population of 204,452 in 2019.Bourguignon of the

, a small, robust, tough horse used for riding and driving. A now-discredited theory once held that the Auxois was a descendant of the even older Solutre horse, the bones of which were found in the area where the breed was developed.Collective 2002, p. 108 Originally the Morvan horse also existed in the same area, but was absorbed into the Auxois after extensive

crossbreeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

. During the 1840s,

Percheron The Percheron is a horse breed, breed of draft horse that originated in the Huisne river valley in western France, part of the former Perche province, from which the breed takes its name. Usually gray (horse), gray or black (horse), black in col ...

blood was introduced to the breed, followed by Boulonnais blood in the 1860s and Ardennais and possibly Nivernais blood in the late 19th century. Care was not taken to fix a specific breed type, though, and so the physical characteristics were variable.Sourdillat, p. 336 Breeders introduced foreign

stallion A stallion is an adult male horse that has not been gelded ( castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cre ...

s before creating a

for the breed. The breed took its name from the "rich valley of Auxois", where the crossbreeding and selection for the new breed took place. The local mares created from 19th century breeding were crossed with Ardennais and Trait du Nord stallions, sought after for their large size and power, which made them valuable for agricultural work. The birthplace of the breed is around the Cluny Stud, and it was originally considered to be a sub-type of the Ardennais breed. The first attempts to create a

in 1903 and 1904 failed. In 1912, another attempt was made, this time successful, and a stud book was created in

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

in 1913. With the creation of the stud book, only purebred Auxois or Ardennais and Trait du Nord crosses could be registered. However, by 1917, the physical characteristics of the breed were still not fixed, and leaders of the equine community were critical, and doubtful of whether the Auxois was a breed in its own right or still merely a subtype of the Ardennais. They were also unsure whether it was a good idea to accept the recognition of another regional breed, of which France had many.

World War I and World War II

World War I interrupted the efforts to secure a breed standard, with stud book selection not resuming until 1920. Within a few years, the ideal height was set around , and its breeding spread throughout Auxois and neighboring regions. Between World War I and World War II, the Auxois was the pride of regional farmers. Before the advent of motorization, it was the preferred pulling animal, even for slow work, winning out over the local Charolais cattle breed used as oxen. The Auxois was bred solely for agricultural work, and used exclusively for this purpose.Bataille, p. 137 The strongest horses were used for multi-horse hitches in the fields and for logging. The Auxois competed in popularity with the Nivernais horse, and it was not uncommon for farmers in the region to have both the black-coated Nivernais and the red-coated Ardennais and Auxois to satisfy the color preferences of all potential buyers. In the early 1930s the Auxois reached the peak of its physical development.Mavre, p. 38 It was described, like the Ardennais and the Trait du Nord, as a born plowhorse, with a neck naturally held so low that the nose almost touched the ground. It was developed entirely for traction, and its conformation allowed it to move huge weights over short distances. At the same time, it became more popular than the Nivernais, and was considered a southern representation of the Ardennais breed. Merchants visiting Burgundy

horse fair A horse fair is a (typically annual) fair where people buy and sell horses. In the United Kingdom there are many fairs which are traditionally attended by Romani people and Romanichal, travellers who converge at the fairs to buy and sell horses, ...

s appreciated the breed, and deemed its bay coloration better able to hide dirt than that of the light gray Percheron or black Nivernais. The peak populations and usage of the Auxois and other French draft horses was short due to the advent of mechanization in the 1960s.

Post-war to 1990s

During World War II, fuel stocks were used by the armies, and were unavailable to farmers. This allowed horses to remain a key aspect of agriculture and transportation until the end of the war. After the war, farmers rapidly mechanized their operations. The Auxois and other draft breeds were quickly abandoned in favor of machines, and population numbers began to fall in the early 1950s and collapsed completely in the 1960s.Mavre, pp. 34–35 By the 1970s, the Auxois had almost disappeared, although many villages in the breed's homeland retained a small number of mares for traditional competitions. In the early 1970s, Henry Blanc was appointed as the new director of the French National Stud, and began the conversion of French draft breeds into animals bred for slaughter into

. The stud encouraged farmers who could no longer find buyers for their animals to fatten them for resale to the slaughter markets. Breeding for the production of meat helped to safeguard the Auxois breed by keeping its

gene pool The gene pool is the set of all genes, or genetic information, in any population, usually of a particular species. Description A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can survi ...

intact, but also transformed the previously powerful breed into one bred solely for weight — the main consideration in pricing at slaughter. In 1976, an official French decree changed the name of the category in which the Auxois fit from "draft horses" to "heavy horses" and encouraged farmers to select the heaviest breeding stallions possible, to increase the average weight of the breed. The National Stud approved this change, and between the 1950s and the 1980s, the average weight of the Auxois increased from to or more. Auxois01 SDA2011

The conversion to meat was unfavorable for the Auxois, however. The Percheron was preferred for the quality of the meat and the Ardennais and closely related Auxois were considered to have some of the lowest quality meat. In addition, the promised market for horse meat did not materialize, and French slaughterhouses were overwhelmed by imports of cheap horses from the Americas and Eastern Europe. Because of this lack of profitability, the population of most French breeds, including the Auxois, continued to decline until 1994. The collapse in prices then forced the National Stud to redirect its draft horse-related activities. In the early 1990s, recreational riding enjoyed a revival in France, while the consumption of horse meat dropped. In 1991, the Agricultural College in

began the production of horse milk using Auxois mares in Bierre-lès-Semur. In 1994, the French Official Journal published a decree restoring the name of "draft horse" from the almost 20-year use of "heavy horse". In 1996, another decree prohibited the docking of tails of all French horses. French farmers moved towards the production of animals for recreation or agricultural uses, and the National Stud began supporting this aim. In July 1998, a promotional center for the Auxois opened in Bierre-les-Semur, through regional and departmental grants and using the National Stud to promote the breed. It focuses mainly on the training of young horses for riding and driving, and showcases various performances, as well as providing

shoeing Shoe-throwing showing the sole of one's shoe or using shoes to insult are forms of protest in many parts of the world. Shoe-throwing as an insult dates back to ancient times, being mentioned in verse 8 of Psalm 60 and the similar verse 9 of P ...

services and birthing assistance. In 1999, a study was undertaken of Auxois breeders, which showed opposition to changes in the breed. The author recommended expanding the breed standard to open new markets and save the Auxois from extinction.

Present

As it has been since the creation of the Auxois stud book, only purebred horses and Ardennes and Trait du Nord crosses are allowed to be registered. This is to ensure selection for the desired breed characteristics, which are now a lighter and more active horse than was seen during the time of breeding for horse meat. Horses bred through

artificial insemination Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment ...

and

embryo transfer Embryo transfer refers to a step in the process of assisted reproduction in which embryos are placed into the uterus of a female with the intent to establish a pregnancy. This technique - which is often used in connection with in vitro fertili ...

are allowed to be registered; those potentially bred through

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical genomes, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction; this reproduction of an organism by itself without ...

are not. The ''Syndicat du Cheval de Trait Auxois'' (Auxois Draft Horse Association) is the national registry, managing the stud book, breed standard and promotion of the breed. An annual breed competition is held in September in Semur-en-Auxois. The Burgundy region continues to celebrate the breed, and there is a museum dedicated to it in Bierre-les-Semur. The Auxois is also regularly seen at the International Agriculture Show in Paris. The population of Auxois is very low, and it is one of the rarest of the nine French draft horse breeds. In 2001, it had the eighth-smallest population of the nine breeds, making the threats of

inbreeding Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely genetic distance, related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genet ...

and extinction very real. In 2006, 250 active breeding mares and 32 stallions were reported, with 125 breeders (the term breeder applying to any person owning at least one active breeding mare). The Auxois represented 1 percent of total French draft horse registrations in 2007. Burgundy is by far the main breeding area, with a few horses in the

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône a ...

and

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

regions. There are no known registered Auxois living outside France and it is almost unknown outside of its home region, even within the rest of France. Of the nine French draft horse breeds, the Auxois is the only one that is not exported. Between 1992 and 2011, between 80 and 146 foals were born each year, with numbers ranging from 105 to 128 between 2007 and 2011.

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{Horse breeds of France Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in France