Haras de la Vendée

 

Haras de la Vendée is a Stud Farm built in 1843 at the request of King Louis Philippe.  At that time, most of the stud farms were former monastic buildings converted during the French Revolution.  The Haras de la Vendée, however, was meant to be a stud farm from the very beginning.

 

 

The right side of this building is where the stallions are housed. 

 

There are 21 National stud farms in France.  This one was bought by the Conseil Général de la Vendée in 2006.  It has now become the only departmental stud farm in France keeping National Stallions, developing cultural and touristic activities, and taking part in breeding associations.  A school for show horses was also created here.

 

This middle building used to be where the Director was housed.  Now we sit in the lobby and watch videos on various subjects regarding the Stud Farm.

 

This portion of the building houses the mares.

The stud farm was built during the industrial revolution and the aim was to be able to keep as many horses as possible.  Hence, the linear architecture.

Our guide, Périne, giving us a 45 minute private tour.  We must have arrived before the crowds!

 

The inside of the building where the mares are housed.

Horses' rations are adapted to their weight and work, from 2/3 to 2 gallons.  They are fed with hay twice a day (11 pounds per horse).  Horses drink between 11 and 14 gallons of water each day, and the volume can easily double in summer.  The stalls are equipped with automatic drinking troughs.

 

The top window is where the hay is brought in and stored in the loft. 

There are 30 full-time year-round staff, with an extra 10 during the summer months.

If I don't move...  no one will notice that I've escaped my stall.

So gentle.  Taking hay from a little girl's hand.

 



A wisteria pod definitely feels like this muzzle.  

This horse was so funny, we thought he could talk.  He kept pointing to the hay bale with his head, nodding vigorously and almost requesting in words that he wanted some!  When we didn't respond, he stomped his hooves in a tantrum!

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We took a little buggy ride throughout the grounds, using a very peaceful and shady lane.  The driver (we can only see his arm here) knew Vancouver well.  He had worked with Cavalia.  He said there was a lot of French spoken with that group (not surprising since it comes from Montreal), but I didn't get the sense he had enjoyed Vancouver that much.  Too big of a city and too much noise for someone used to this quiet environment.

 

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A large centre displaying very old carriages used throughout the century.

 

 

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We then entered the old forge where the tools used for shoeing horses are still where they were last placed.  There must be a working forge elsewhere where the horses are currently being shod because this one is very much like a museum.

An anvil where the blacksmith pounds the hot iron into the shape he wants.

 

 

This horseshoe is for a front hoof because it has one elevated edge in the middle.  (It's hard to see because it's in shadow, touching our guide's hand.)  When there are two, at the "10 and 2 o'clock" positions, that shoe is for a rear hoof.

 

                                                                                                                  Various horseshoe sizes.

 

A horse's hoof is made of horn which continually grows, almost 1" per month.  It is very fragile and can easily get damaged or broken if not protected by a horseshoe, which would make the horse lame and therefore unusable.   

 

 

Where the shoe sits and where the nails are pounded in, that is all horn, like our fingernails.  The only sensation the horse feels is in the middle of the hoof.

 

About every 7 weeks, the farrier takes off the former horseshoe and heats up a new one.  Meanwhile, he cuts the excess horn.  He then takes the horseshoe which is still hot and puts it under the horse's hoof to know exactly what shape is needed.  Finally, he works it with a hammer on an anvil.  Once it is done, he plunges it into cold water to harden it and nails it under the horse's hoof, from the bottom up.  The blacksmith farrier cuts the ends of the nails which stick out of the top of the hoof and files them so that they cannot hurt the horse when it is moving, or snag anything.  He then files the horn to make it smooth.  Some horses get the full pedicure, with black polish applied!

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Different sized nails, depending on the shoe and the size of the horse.

All the tools required to do the job.

 

This is not a welding mask, but it's used to protect the face from the very hot coal oven forge that can reach 1800 degrees F.

Real bones from a horse.  Very interesting anatomy lesson. 

For shoeing workhorses, the farrier uses what is called a "work".  The leather shackles hold the horse's hooves, and the belt is put under its belly for support in case the horse feels tired being on three legs and needs a little rest.  The farrier's hands are free and he can shoe the horse without having to carry its weight, some horses weighing 1900 lbs. 

The English way of shoeing a horse is with one person, the farrier, holding the horse's foot between his thighs and working with both his hands.

The French way involves two people, one to hold the horse's foot, and the other to shoe it.

Shoeing four hooves takes about an hour and a half.

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There is an insemination lab.  We visited where the semen is collected in the breeding program although this was not the lab that is being used today.  It was interesting to see the "fake mare" with an artificial vagina.  It is just the right height but made of wood and padding.  There are stairs on one side of this fake mare where the breeder can harvest the semen through piping.  The semen is diluted in the lab and is either frozen, refrigerated or used fresh for a mare that is on the premises.

The main advantage of this technique is that it enables stallions to cover from 15 - 65 mares anywhere in the country and to carry on with their show or sport career.

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This is the Baudet de Poitou, a breed of donkey originating in the Poitou region of France.  It is one of the most distinctive donkey breeds and also among the rarest and least known.

 

 

 

It is instantly recognizable because of its shaggy coat, called a "cadanette".  It hangs in long cords or shaggy hanks when ungroomed because the hair is longer and softer than that of other breeds of donkeys. 

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There are little demonstrations or information sessions throughout the day.  This one was how to saddle a horse.  The rider is adjusting her chaps which only go from boot to knee.  The western-style chaps that cowboys wear look very different. 

She uses a chair to get up on the horse because she does this many times a day and does not want to hurt the horse's spinal cord.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We attended two shows that demonstrated the horses performing in shows like Cavalia.  The first show was how they are trained.

 

The horse on a lead.

How it takes a command without even being touched. The horse is never hurt and is trained through positive reinforcement.

The horse is never asked to perform a movement that is not in its nature.

 

The demonstration show ended with the horse stealing the trainer's hat. 

 

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The next session we attended was a presentation of the various horse breeds found on this stud farm.  We were introduced to their characteristics and what the "stud book" demands when breeding.

We saw Criollo, Spanish or Portuguese; the Barb, developed on the Barbary Coast of North Africa; the Miniature Horse, which are NOT small ponies; Selle Français, France's most important sports horse; Normandy Cob, the Anglo-Norman horse breed developed from the Thoroughbreds and heavy horses from Normandy; Friesian, (also Frisian), a breed originating in the Netherlands; and the Shetland pony, originating in the Shetland Isles, northeast of mainland Scotland.

 

Not the same black horse as the one above.  Look at the legs and the hairy ankles on the first.

 

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The final show was a demonstration of well-trained horses that had gone through all the training that we saw in that first demonstration.  This was seeing it in action, without so much explanation.  It was thrilling to recognize the horse as following orders when at first he looked stubborn or doing things that appeared unexpected. 

 

 

Ahhh...

 

 

THE END

 

 

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"There is a spirit that pervades everything, that is capable of powerful song and radiant movement, and that moves in and out of the mind. 

The colours of this spirit are multitudinous, a glowing, pulsing rainbow."

 

~  Paula Gunn Allen