the Ardennes horse back in the saddle

Sweet words for a sweet horse. The Ardennais is the mythical horse of the Ardennes. For 15 years, it has been Georges Villeval’s great passion. For Duc and Axel, his babies aged 7 and 10, he quit his job in the restaurant industry and became a carter-driver. “The Ardennes, you can ask him anything. He’s a Swiss army knife”, assures this enthusiast. Like the workers of the American West, Georges Villeval is in total osmosis with his horses which symbolize his territory. “It’s part of our genetic heritage. The Gauls already had Ardennes”he explains.

A regeneration

For centuries, the Ardennes were everywhere, from logging to farm work. With the arrival of tractors in the 1950s, the animal will disappear. In the mid-2000s, a handful of enthusiasts helped him regain his identity. Sébastien Colinet, a breeder-selector, contributes to the regeneration of this forgotten animal. This year, he already has eight foals.