Bonheur focussed on completing The Horse Fair first, and De Morny attempted to change his mind after its good reception at the Paris Salon in 1853.

It won a gold medal when it was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1855, as a pendant to Ploughing in the Nivernais.

It was also exhibited as part of the retrospective of 19th century French art at the 1900 Exposition Universelle.

The painting was held at the Musée du Luxembourg from 1874 to 1878, and then moved to the Château de Fontainebleau, where it remains.

The print of an engraving by William Turner Davey was published in London in 1878 by Louis Brall & Sons.