HAVE A LITTLE NORMANDY HISTORY WITH OUR HORSES
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Haras du Manet in the center of Normandy. Here we see the 17h1" Alme mare
Varsovie Trefle with her filly foal by Hand in Glove, Hirondelle, in 1996.
The old-time Normandy breeders will swear that their "terroir" - their native soil, is unequivocally the finest in the world for breeding horses. The Normandy grass is renowned for its nutritional qualities and horse-breeding has become one of Normandy's main industries over the last 50 years.
(The more "internationally-aware" Normandy breeders will grudgingly admit that this quality just might extend to England and Ireland, both located on the same parallels and with exceptional grass as well. This is one of the reasons that English and Irish thoroughbreds have been imported for generations by the French National Stud to cross-breed with the local Normandy mares.)
We thought you might take a quick look at some of the lovely Normandy scenery - this is where most of the horses you find on these pages come from - and what you might expect to find when you visit France. Enjoy !
A 16th Century Normandy Manor House
This is the Haras du Manet, a 350 acre studfarm, once a "fiefdom" of the area, with rolling fields, dense woods filled with deer and wild boar, and a lovely valley with the famous trout stream the Risle flowing through it - and where we bred Selle Francais horses for a number of years, prior to returning to our "home territory" of Virginia.
Some of our mares and foals
Mixed fields and woods made for some spectacular scenery.
A few of our youngsters in the Risle Valley
When you come here, you feel like you have gone back 500 years in history - and you wouldn't feel surprised to see a carriage and four emerging from the morning mists...back to the 16th Century ...the history here is indescribable.
When you buy French horses, not only are you buying some fabulous genetics, you are buying hundreds of years worth of history and loving care by dedicated French breeders, who love their land and animals more than life itself.
Goodbye and Happy Riding !!
(Some smiling faces at the Haras du Manet)