Anglo-Norman Horse

Main application area: horse riding or working

The Anglo-Norman, also known as the Anglo-Normans, Cob Normand, or (before 1830) as the Normans, is a French race horse, which is warm-blooded. The original breeding area is Normandy in northwestern France.

The breed has been bred into three types: an elegant carriage horse – coachbuilders Normand, as mid-heavy work horse – Cob Normand up to 800kg in weight and Selle for good cantering and jumping ability.

Today Cob Normand has a medium sized head with rather large ears, and occasionally a mild Roman nose, a strong, long neck and a well-developed withers. The shoulders are sloping, the back is rather long. The croup is long, slightly sloping and muscular, the limbs are short and strong. The height is around 150-155cm. Foxes and brown are most common. Remarkably, they have late maturity at six to seven years.

Anglo-Normans and the races that succeeded them are considered active, energetic and spirited, but benign.

Breeding History

Cob Normand

It is believed that for the breeding of both domestic (Armoricans were used) they brought horses. The Norman were cold-blooded animals. From 1730 a critical period began for the race, since the stock had been dramatically thinned to farmed animals through the forcible entry of horses for military service for the English-French war.

Due to lack of breeding, horses were replaced by almost any other breed, which had almost caused the complete demise of the Norman race. It was not until 100 years later, the race was regenerated by crossing the English full-and half-breeds.

The Norfolk Trotter Rattler Young developed the cold-blooded Normans to Anglo-Normans, a warm-blooded animal. At that time, they were introduced for breeding stock and performance tests, so that up to about 1860 a solid race was built.

In 1958, the riding horse was removed, along with other proven pedigrees such as the Selle Francais by the Anglo-Normans and continued working. Parallel to the work, carriage and horse were bred in 1900 by the selection of Trotteur Francais.

From the early ’50s of the 20th Century, efforts were made to divide the race into their types, with the aim to include them in separate stud books. Thus arose in 1958, the Cheval de Selle Francais (opening pedigrees on March 8th 1967) and the Cob Normand. The studbook of the Anglo-Normans has not been continued since then.

The Anglo-Norman gained special significance by crossbreeding with other breeds. In Germany, it was successfully used for breeding at Oldenburgers, Holsteiners and Wurttembergers, as well as in Switzerland (and Freiberg) and hermit in the Netherlands and Sweden.

In Hungary, the Anglo-Norman stallion Nonius founded a new breed of the same name, which is also grown in two types (labor and horse). Often, experience with cross-breeding to other breeds and the late maturity of the Anglo-Normans inherited by the offspring, still requires a cautious approach to training.