Horses, donkeys and the places they call home
Equids in France
A riding-school horse, a pony in a field, a carriage passing through a village or a donkey on a path: equids remain part of French landscapes. Their story reaches far beyond riding centres and racecourses. For thousands of years, horses were wild animals that people watched and hunted. Later they carried travellers, pulled farm tools, transported goods and accompanied armies.
This is also a story of donkeys and mules, breeders, drivers and riders. It leads from prehistoric caves through Roman roads, medieval fairs and nineteenth-century cities to today’s sport, leisure and working traditions.
How many equids live in France?
France had an estimated population of nearly one million equids at the end of 2024, according to the French Horse and Riding Institute, IFCE. That broad group includes racehorses, riding-school ponies, donkeys and leisure animals. The three figures below describe animals present, places registering young equids and the size of the equestrian federation’s rider network.
Equids present in France
995,700
Horses, ponies, donkeys and other equids estimated alive and present in France on this date.
Source: IFCE — ÉCUS Yearbook 2025
Breeding premises
21,331
Places registering at least one young equid during the year. Figures were provisional at 28 October 2025.
Source: IFCE — Key figures 2025
FFE licensed riders
625,406
Riders licensed by the French Equestrian Federation for the 2025 season.
Horses, ponies, donkeys and mules: the animals behind the total
“Equid” brings this family together, including donkeys and horse–donkey hybrids. Everyday distinctions between a large draught horse, a small pony and a donkey do not always match statistical categories based on breed, recorded origins or use. The IFCE estimate describes the whole group present in France.
Source: IFCE — ÉCUS Yearbook 2025
Horses and ponies
A pony is a small horse. Horses and ponies belong to the same species, although sport and registration systems use separate categories. Draught horses, sport horses and riding-school ponies represent very different uses within that species.
Donkeys
Donkeys are another species within the equid family. France has its own donkey breeds and associations, together with a long history of carrying loads and working. The Poitou and Norman donkey profiles introduce that heritage.
Fewer equids between 2019 and 2024
The IFCE series falls from 1,058,200 equids at the end of 2019 to 995,700 at the end of 2024: 62,500 fewer animals, or about 5.9% over five years. The bars show a decrease each year, with a larger fall early in the period.
IFCE uses SIRE, the national system holding equid identities. An animal enters the system with its identity and remains known throughout its life. A death or a move abroad may be reported later, so IFCE adjusts the records to estimate animals still alive and present. Keeping a very large family’s address book up to date requires knowing about departures as well as arrivals.
Source: IFCE — ÉCUS Yearbook 2025 · IFCE — Economic Observatory, January 2026
- 20191,058,200
- 20201,041,700
- 20211,025,900
- 20221,014,600
- 20231,004,200
- 2024995,700
Equids in France: from wild horses to today’s companions
People lived alongside wild horse herds long before they learned to ride. The relationship changed over the centuries as horses became mounts, sources of power, valuable possessions, military animals and companions for sport and leisure. Our journey begins in prehistoric landscapes and ends at today’s clubs and farms.
Prehistory
Wild horses in the landscapes of hunters
Before roads, stables and cultivated fields, horses shared the territory of present-day France with human groups. People watched them, followed their movements and hunted them. Horse bones at Solutré in Burgundy preserve evidence of animals killed and butchered across a long history of hunting.
At Lascaux in Dordogne, horses left another kind of presence. Their painted and engraved figures appear alongside aurochs, deer and other animals. Outlines, manes and postures give a sense of movement and reveal the attention prehistoric people paid to the animals around them.
This opening chapter invites a different view of a familiar animal. The horses belong to a wild landscape, encountered on foot. Yet their silhouettes remain recognisable to visitors today, creating a connection across thousands of years.
Source: French Ministry of Culture — Lascaux · French Ministry of Culture — Solutré Museum of Prehistory
Third millennium BCE
Horses become part of human journeys
Much later, people across Eurasia raised horses and increasingly managed their reproduction. Ancient-genome research published in 2024 places the rapid expansion of the lineage behind most modern domestic horses around 2200 BCE, within a world of animals and transport practices moving over long distances.
Researchers compare DNA preserved in ancient remains to identify relationships between animals. Linking those relationships to the places and dates of discoveries helps trace the movement of horse lineages and the exchanges of the people who bred and moved them.
For the lands that would become France, domestic horses opened a new history of breeding decisions, skills and travel. Across generations, horses became part of journeys, power and warfare, changing how people could move.
Source: Librado et al. — Widespread horse-based mobility arose around 2200 BCE (2024)
The time of the Gauls
Horses carry wealth and prestige
In Gaul, horses supported travel and transport, hunting and warfare, and occupied an important place among elites. Keeping them required food, equipment and people able to ride or drive them. Their usefulness went together with their value.
That importance appears on Gallic coins, where horses are among the most frequent animal images. Sometimes recognisable and sometimes highly stylised, the horse travelled from hand to hand on small objects circulating through Celtic societies.
Archaeological research also reveals horses in warfare and practices surrounding death. The Henri-Prades museum’s educational dossier explores the close relationship between a warrior’s mount and social position. Equipment, images and remains illuminate an animal associated with movement, economic resources and power.
The Roman period
Horses share the roads of Gaul with donkeys and mules
Roman travellers, goods and soldiers needed transport, animals and skilled handlers. Horses carried riders and pulled vehicles; donkeys and mules carried loads and also worked in harness. Roads and paths brought these different roles together.
Mules played an important part in civilian and military transport. Loads secured on their backs could follow routes where vehicles were less practical, especially in hilly terrain. Ancient texts, images and studies of army movement reveal the supplies travelling behind the soldiers.
Remains from French sites now allow researchers to distinguish horses, donkeys, mules and hinnies. Lepetz and colleagues illuminate the place of mules in the Roman period, making these often overlooked transport animals visible in the history of everyday exchange.
Source: Lepetz et al. — Horses, donkeys and mules in France (2021) · Centre Jean Bérard publications — ancient pack animals
The Middle Ages
Horses around castles, fairs and fields
The knight and his horse dominate many medieval stories and images. A war mount was valuable, with its qualities, training and prestige all contributing to that value. Following the roads also reveals travellers, merchants, farmers, religious communities and animal handlers.
Horses worked in the countryside and accompanied trade. Breeding formed part of estate and abbey economies, while fairs and merchants connected distant regions. Historical texts show interest in Spanish and Italian horses, alongside choices shaped by intended use, reputation and price.
People built skills around feeding, breeding, hoof care, equipment and treatment. Medieval horse-care texts preserve knowledge from their time. Donkeys and mules remained part of daily life too: early medieval sites studied in northern France contain more donkey remains and fewer mules, revealing changes among familiar working animals.
Source: French Ministry of Culture — Le cheval au Moyen Âge · Prévot and Ribémont — Le cheval en France au Moyen Âge · Lepetz et al. — Horses, donkeys and mules in France (2021)
From 1665
Royal studs make breeding an affair of state
Armies needed good cavalry mounts, and buying horses abroad cost the kingdom money. Under Louis XIV, Colbert sought to develop breeding within France. The royal stud administration was created in 1665, selecting breeding animals and supplying stallions for breeders to use.
A stud farm organises horse reproduction and rearing. At Le Pin in Normandy, this policy took monumental form in the eighteenth century. Stables, courtyards and buildings constructed between 1715 and 1730 gave breeding an architectural landscape that can still be visited.
Choosing a stallion meant planning for a future foal and the military, agricultural or transport work it might perform. State decisions met local practices and users’ needs. Royal, imperial and national studs left a lasting mark on breeding regions and horse-related trades.
Source: IFCE — royal studs and horse breeding from 1665 · French Ministry of Culture — Le Pin National Stud
Nineteenth century – 1913
Horses move the cities before engines take over
Horses powered farm work, deliveries and urban journeys. Parisian horse-drawn omnibuses developed from 1828, carrying passengers along regular routes. Every departure depended on horses, drivers, stables and feed.
These activities helped shape breeding. Users sought horses capable of regular work, moving loads and maintaining transport services; the Percheron’s history includes the Parisian omnibus market. French statistics for 1913, reproduced by the US Department of Agriculture, list 3,767,000 horses, mules and asses.
Change was already underway. The City of Paris dates the withdrawal of the last horse-drawn omnibus to 12 January 1913. Other activities changed at different rates: cities, farms and mountain routes had different needs and means. Motorisation was a series of transitions while equids continued to work.
Source: City of Paris — five centuries of bus history · USDA — Horses, Mules, and Motor Vehicles, 1840–1924
1914–1918 and twentieth-century wars
Horses leave civilian life to follow the armies
In 1914, armies gathered horses from breeders and civilian activities. Transported to new places, the animals changed handlers and adapted to unfamiliar work. Their departure also altered the daily work and relationships of the people who had raised or used them.
Horses supported movement and supply, pulling artillery and vehicles and carrying what troops needed. Mules and donkeys worked on difficult routes and in mountains. Armies in turn had to provide forage, water, equipment maintenance and care.
War documents and photographs show animals in mud, convoys and camps, together with fatigue, injuries and losses. Engines and horses continued to work alongside each other into the Second World War, long after horses had left some public transport services.
Source: French Ministry of the Armed Forces — animals in war
After 1945 to today
A new place in sport and leisure
After the Second World War, tractors and motor vehicles took an increasing share of farm and transport work. Horse numbers on agricultural holdings fell sharply, changing breeders’ markets and the future of draught breeds.
Other relationships grew around riding schools, racing, sport and leisure. Ponies became many children’s first encounter with equids. Horses were bred and prepared for competition, hacking, driving and private ownership, with teaching, boarding and training becoming important activities.
Older skills also found new settings. Horses still work in vineyards, donkeys accompany market gardening and carriage driving supports local activities. The Cadre noir, breed associations and working equid organisations each pass on part of this history.
Source: IFCE — Amélioration génétique des équidés (2014) · French Ministry of Agriculture — The horse and donkey sector (2026) · SFET — Equids and training
Motorisation transforms horse numbers on farms
Agricultural statistics show the scale of this change: around 2.8 million horses on holdings in 1929, 2.4 million in 1950 and 261,000 in 1979. Tractors and motor vehicles took over many tasks previously performed by horses.
After this low point, holdings recorded 319,000 horses in 1988, 419,000 in 2000 and 401,000 in 2010. Growing numbers were linked to riding, sport and leisure. The 401,000 in 2010 are horses on agricultural holdings; the 2019–2024 chart earlier in this profile covers all equids present in France, including those kept by professionals and private owners.
Relating these counts to the number of people in the same year brings the decline in farm horses into sharper focus: about 68 horses on holdings per 1,000 people in 1929, 57 in 1950 and fewer than 5 in 1979. By 2010, the figure was around 6 per 1,000 people. This shows how the place of the horse changed while France’s number of inhabitants grew.
Source: IFCE — Amélioration génétique des équidés (2014) · INSEE — inhabitants of metropolitan France since 1901
Horses on agricultural holdings · metropolitan France, 1929–2010
Each column has its own scale, starting at zero. Both measures cover horses on agricultural holdings.
- Number of horses2,800,000Horses per 1,000 people68.3
- Number of horses2,400,000Horses per 1,000 people57.4
- Number of horses261,000Horses per 1,000 people4.9
- Number of horses319,000Horses per 1,000 people5.7
- Number of horses419,000Horses per 1,000 people7.1
- Number of horses401,000Horses per 1,000 people6.4
Calculation: horses on holdings ÷ people in the same year × 1,000. Inhabitants of metropolitan France: INSEE annual mean.
Small breeders, records and choices about reproduction
French breeding includes specialist establishments with several mares and owners producing a single foal. Around three quarters of the breeding premises in IFCE statistics register only one or two young equids a year. Many small operations sit alongside larger businesses, each contributing to the animals raised in the country.
A single foal can be a small breeding activity
A place may enter breeding statistics through one mare when a young equid is registered. The owner may have another occupation and use specialists for breeding, care and preparing the foal. These small operations help explain the large number of breeding premises.
SIRE and a studbook have different jobs
SIRE follows equid identities in France. A studbook is a breed’s register, preserving origins and parentage under its entry rules. Think of an identity file for recognising an animal alongside a family history for tracing parents and ancestors.
Breeding programmes set goals
A breeding programme sets out what breeders aim to preserve or improve and how. Assessments may concern conformation, movement or performance, depending on the animals and their uses. Breed organisations define the programme and register rules within the agriculture ministry’s approval framework.
Source: IFCE — Key figures 2025 · French Ministry of Agriculture — The horse and donkey sector (2026)
Who organises equestrian activities and breeding?
- IFCE — French Horse and Riding Institute
Information, research, training and traceability, including management of the national SIRE database.
IFCE provides a public starting point for equid documents, breeding knowledge and horse-related trades.
Source: French Ministry of Agriculture — The horse and donkey sector (2026)
- FFE — French Equestrian Federation
Equestrian activities, the federation’s club network and its competitions.
Clubs, instructors and federation competitions make this network part of riders’ lives, from early lessons to sporting events.
Source: French Ministry of Agriculture — The horse and donkey sector (2026)
- France Galop
Organisation of gallop racing.
Gallop racing brings together its own breeders, trainers, professionals and major occasions.
Source: French Ministry of Agriculture — The horse and donkey sector (2026)
- SETF — LeTROT
Organisation of trotting races and support for the French Trotter sector.
Trotting has its own organisation and events. Horses may race in harness with a sulky or under a rider in mounted trotting races.
Source: French Ministry of Agriculture — The horse and donkey sector (2026)
- SHF — Société hippique française
Training and development of young sport and leisure horses and ponies, including performance assessment events.
Events for young horses and ponies accompany their training as they learn their future sporting or leisure roles.
Source: SHF — General regulations 2026
- SFET — Société française des équidés de travail
Development of working equid sectors and uses, including training.
Training with donkeys in market gardening or horses in vineyards shows how working skills continue to be taught.
Source: SFET — Equids and training
French breeds tell stories of places and work
Their names lead through the Perche, Brittany, the Camargue, Poitou and the Pyrenees. Breeders chose animals for pulling loads, travelling, agricultural work and riding. These profiles offer ways to follow those histories through the breeds associated with them.
Horses and ponies for sport
The Selle Français and French Saddle Pony introduce breeding for equestrian sport. Their profiles explain registers, breeders’ choices and performance events across generations.
Draught horses shaped by work and transport
Percherons, Bretons and Comtois evoke regions that bred horses to pull and work. Their histories connect farms, transport and today’s draught-horse users.
Breeds named for their home territories
Camargues, Mérens and Castillonnais offer routes through southern French horse history, across wetlands, valleys and mountains.
Donkeys in French history
Poitou donkeys were linked to Poitevin mule production: a male donkey was crossed with a Poitevin draught mare. Norman donkeys introduce another regional heritage of breeding and work.
Living practices, from vineyard horses to the Cadre noir
Equitation in the French tradition
Inscribed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage in 2011, this practice passes on the pursuit of a harmonious relationship between rider and horse. The Cadre noir in Saumur is its best-known community.
This tradition considers how a rider asks for a movement, receives a response and develops work with the horse. Cadre noir displays make visible skills also passed on through teaching and everyday practice.
From farm work to racing
SFET presents training in using donkeys for market gardening and horses in vineyards. Racing has its own major occasions, including the Prix d’Amérique for trotters and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for gallopers.
In a vineyard or market garden, work joins the animal, the person guiding it and the tool it moves. SFET schools teach these skills. Racing, competitions, outings and performances connect equids with the public in other ways.
Source: SFET — Equids and training · French Ministry of Agriculture — The horse and donkey sector (2026)
Sources for this profile
These references bring together the research, historical documents and statistics used in the story. Recent figures refer to the end of 2024 for equids, 2024 for breeding premises and the 2025 season for federation licences.
- Henri-Prades Museum — horses and the Gauls
Educational dossier on horses in Gallic societies, warfare, prestige and coin imagery.
- French Ministry of Culture — Le cheval au Moyen Âge
Presentation of Élisabeth Lorans’s edited volume on breeding, work, care, stables and medieval horse society.
- Prévot and Ribémont — Le cheval en France au Moyen Âge
Publisher’s presentation covering economic activities, breeding, trade and horse-care texts.
- IFCE — royal studs and horse breeding from 1665
Camille Wilhelm’s research on the royal stud administration and early modern breeding.
- French Ministry of Culture — Le Pin National Stud
History and architecture of the eighteenth-century stud buildings.
- City of Paris — five centuries of bus history
Horse-drawn omnibuses from 1828 and the withdrawal of the last service on 12 January 1913.
- French Ministry of the Armed Forces — animals in war
Gathering, transport, work and life of equids accompanying armies.
- Centre Jean Bérard publications — ancient pack animals
Texts and images of equid load carrying, including military movement.
- IFCE — Amélioration génétique des équidés (2014)
Table 1.2, page 12, citing SSP: horses on agricultural holdings from 1929 to 2010.
- INSEE — inhabitants of metropolitan France since 1901
The demographic situation in 2022 and long time series, table T1, FM sheet, “Population moyenne” column. Supplies the number of people for all six historical chart years, used to calculate farm horses per 1,000 people.
- Agreste — horses on agricultural holdings in 2024
Annual agricultural statistics for 2024, provisional results, April 2025, p. 22: 289,788 horses on holdings across France. This matches the French 2024 value in the comparator’s FAOSTAT extract.
- Librado et al. — Widespread horse-based mobility arose around 2200 BCE (2024)
Ancient genomes and the expansion of the lineage behind most present-day domestic horses.
- IFCE — ÉCUS Yearbook 2025
Page 87: estimated equids present in France at the end of 2024 and the published categories.
- IFCE — Key figures 2025
Breeding premises and their distribution by the number of young equids registered in 2024. Figures provisional at 28 October 2025.
- IFCE — Economic Observatory, January 2026
Slide 15, citing FFE: 625,406 licensed riders for the 2025 season.
- USDA — Horses, Mules, and Motor Vehicles, 1840–1924
Statistical Bulletin No. 5, January 1925, Table 17, printed page 12: French figures for 1913, in thousands.
- French Ministry of Culture — Lascaux
Presentation of the themes and animals depicted in the cave.
- French Ministry of Culture — Solutré Museum of Prehistory
Museum entry: evidence of hunting, collections and the origin of the cliff-hunt story.
- Lepetz et al. — Horses, donkeys and mules in France (2021)
Study of ancient and medieval equid remains: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 40, 103250.
- French Ministry of Agriculture — The horse and donkey sector (2026)
An overview of the sector’s organisation, institutions and activities.
- SFET — Equids and training
Schools and courses, including donkeys in market gardening and horses in vineyards.
- SHF — General regulations 2026
Framework for training, development and performance assessment events for young equids.
- UNESCO — Equitation in the French tradition
The 2011 inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.