Breeding
hot-blooded horses in Brittany was rare and specific to the Corlay region. According to veterinarian Dr. Robert Hamon, most Breton breeding at the beginning of the 20th century involved
draft horses.
Origin Before the
Restoration, horse breeding in the Corlay region lacked specific selection processes. The breed's origins can only be traced back to the early 19th century. Records from the Corlay seigneury show that horse breeding and trading occurred under the Ancien Régime, often as part of the
corvée system. These horses were typically sold at the
Noyal-Pontivy fair. thin, and dry. Several authors, including the Société des Courses de Corlay,
veterinarian Dr. Robert Hamon, and the president of the Association des Amis du Cheval du Pays de Corlay, attribute an Oriental ancestry to the Corlay horse. However, Jean Le Tallec's historical study of farmers in Central Brittany reveals no evidence of imported horses before the 19th century, apart from nine Arab stallions brought by the de Rohan family during the
Crusades.
Training From 1806 to 1808, following the reorganization of the
Haras Nationaux, Arabian stallions and a few
Thoroughbreds were introduced to the region. The stallion depot in Langonnet,
Morbihan, included half-saddlebred stallions and made its Thoroughbred horses available to local breeders. The first influential sires were the Arabian stallion Médany and the Thoroughbred stallions Young Emilius, Stangfort, and Young Rattler. The Corlay horse has also been influenced by other breeds, such as the
Anglo-Norman, the
Vendéen, mixed
Norfolk Trotter and
Thoroughbred, the Russian
Orlov Trotter, and even the
Percheron. Competition from racehorses from Paris and
Anjou prompted local breeders to crossbreed their horses to produce saddle horses. The size of these crossbred horses increased from 1.45 m to 1.58 m. According to Guy de Sallier Dupin, it was the distribution of premiums by the Conseil Général and the Haras Nationaux, which rewarded the best breeders, that enabled the emergence of pioneering breeders of warmblood horses in Corlay through crossbreeding with Thoroughbreds and Arabians.
Rise in reputation from Corlay, seen by R. Gignoux in
Le Cheval de selle en France, A. Legoupy, 1898 Within a few decades, local breeding gained an excellent reputation. Count Achille de Montendre praised breeding in the Corlay region in a book published in 1840, calling the "Corlay breed" a horse of the future that "sells, and above all, will sell." His text was reprinted in an issue of
Recueil de Médecine Vétérinaire the following year, and later by Éphrem Houël in his ''Traité Complet de l'Élevage du Cheval en Bretagne''. The Corlay Racing Club was created in 1842, The report noted that horses not crossed with Arabs or Thoroughbreds sold much more cheaply and easily for light cavalry service. The stud also housed the warmbloods Cœur de Chêne, Ementier, Infaillible, and Lancastre, as well as the
Norfolk Trotter stallion Flying Cloud, sire of
Corlay. In 1849, the Guingamp equestrian commission recommended using Anglo-Arabs in addition to Thoroughbreds to improve the Corlay breed. By 1862, the Lamballe foal and filly competition was renamed the "Half-Bred and Light Draft Competition," requiring participants to run trotters or gallopers during the year. From 1864 onwards, premiums were only awarded to mares covered by a Thoroughbred or half-bred stallion from the stud farm administration. In 1897, Martial Cornic agreed, calling the Corlay horse "a national glory." By the beginning of the 20th century, bloodhorse breeding in Brittany was exclusively confined to the Corlay,
Rostrenen, and
Loudéac regions.
Influence of the Corlay stallion The Corlay horse owes part of its reputation to the breeding stallion named Corlay, who was considered by Bléas to be "perhaps the most famous stallion Brittany has ever had." In 1864, the first
Norfolk Trotter, Flying Cloud, was introduced. By crossing Flying Cloud with a small 3/4 Thoroughbred Corlaysienne galloping mare named Thérésine, Corlay was born in 1872. He was used as a breeding stallion at the station of the same name for 21 years, from 1876 to 1897. Corlay sired a large number of offspring who excelled as carriage horses, racehorses, and saddle horses, and are renowned for their distinction. The 19th century ended with the disappearance of the breed's ancient and traditional type, the "bidet ambleur de Corlay." A local newspaper reported that the characteristics of the Corlay horse were now fixed: combining the size of the Thoroughbred with the gentleness of Breton bidets, "these horses are perfect." In 1903, the Société Hippique de Corlay was established, organizing competitions. Competitions for yearling and two-year-old fillies made a significant contribution to improving the local breed. In 1905, the Corlay region acquired a racecourse, "Le Petit Paris." In 1911, the director of the Corlay stud praised the constant improvement in breeding. Forage crops, particularly clover, were also helping to enhance animal feed. At the beginning of the 20th century, the most influential stallions of the breed were the warmblood Soliman, who died in 1916 and was known as the sire of excellent broodmares, and the Thoroughbreds Pedlar (1905–1919), Vertumne, Roncal, Rendez-vous, and Bon. The Corlay stud supplied 1,800 horses for
World War I.
Decline Count Henry de Robien (1908) anticipated the breed's decline due to its lack of non-military outlets. In 1919, veterinarian Dr. E. Frouin, director of veterinary services for the Côtes-du-Nord, presented a report advising the abolition of saddle horse competitions in all towns in the department, except Corlay. He recommended increasing premiums to prevent the breed from disappearing. The breed was in decline, according to General de Champvallier (1921), zootechnician Paul Diffloth (1923), E. Frouin (1927–1928), They reported a significant reduction in the number of Thoroughbred and half-blood stallions between 1900 and 1927, as well as a decrease in Thoroughbred and half-blood breeding from 729 to 110 over the same period. The reasons for this decline included competition from
draft horses, competition from motor vehicles; and the difficulty of finding quality breeding stallions. Diffloth asserted that the half-blood galloping breed was "doomed to disappear." In 1927, the Société Hippique de Corlay estimated that Corlay horses had won a total of 500,000 francs in half-blood races. == Description ==