Cheval du Morvan

[4][5][6]: 7  Horses were bred in the Morvan from before the French Revolution, both as saddle-horses for fox-hunting and as cavalry mounts, and for draught use.

The Cheval du Morvan became extinct with the advent of industrialisation and improved transportation in the nineteenth century.

Before the French Revolution, large numbers of saddle-horses were raised in the Morvan, both for hunting and as cavalry mounts; the muddy roads in the area and in the surrounding provinces were only passable by horse.

[3]: 514  It was raised mainly in the area round Château-Chinon,[3]: 514  where Étienne François, duc de Choiseul, then minister for war, established a Morvan stud on his lands at Chassy [fr].

[12]: 655 [13] Marcel Mavré suggested that the various wars of the 19th century were to blame,[14] while Bernadette Lizet cited other modernist factors, including the construction of railways.

[1]: 352-353  Their gait was rapid and sure-footed;[2]: 206  Paul Diffloth suggested that they were capable of trotting at 12 km/h on poorly constructed roads.

[13][20] Close to the ground,[2]: 206  they had a generic head, strong and squarish in the front and with a flat chamfer, a small hairy mouth, short ears, gaunt flanks and a flattened rump.

a landscape with fields and woods
The Morvan seen from Château-Chinon , the birthplace of the Morvan horse; until the 19th century, the horses lived in the surrounding forests
Photo en noir et blanc où un paysan tient en main un cheval noir massif présenté de profil.
The Nivernais horse was bred by crossing Percheron stallions with Morvan mares.
Photo en noir et blanc d'un paysan tenant en main un petit cheval gris bridé et sellé présenté de profil.
A Breton saddle-horse cob, morphologically close to a Morvan horse.