Percheron Horses

The Percherons huge strength, wonderful temperaments, and economical metabolisms made them the trucks and tractors of their day. When the internal combustion engine came out, people found that there was no more need for these noble horses who had served them so selflessly, and they slaughtered them wholesale. From numbering in the millions right here in South Africa, the Percheron numbers sank as low as forty horses in the 1940’s. Grootfontein and Elsenburg, the government studs, struggled to preserve the breed.  

The Watt’s realized that if the human race lost these wonderful animals they were in danger of losing something of their humanity and becoming machines like they ones they used. A calling was born and they joined a handful of breeders, preserving the breed. When they started there were only eighty registered Percherons in SA. Today a revival of interest has taken place and there are over 100 registered Percherons in South Africa.