A large number of people attended this Sunday, around 3 pm, the parade of about a hundred horses during the Saint-Clément d’Airaines fair, which attracted almost 20,000 people. With their beautiful gray coats that turn white over time, Boulogne’s 54 purebred sires, mares and mares will appear as they do every year. 22 breeders will travel from the North, Pas-de-Calais, Somme and Seine-Maritime. This breed has a total of 72.
Looking heavy, the “real draft horses” fascinate with their light movements: “They parade while walking and then trotting. It’s incredible. It gives you goosebumps,” said a moved Christelle Dieudonné, who is in charge of agricultural competitions at the Airaines town hall and whose parents raised Boulonnais.
This important presence hides another reality. As of 2024, 148 Boulonnaise foals are registered in France, the majority in Hauts-de-France, her original birthplace. That stable figure for several years hides a sad reality. The breed is on the verge of extinction, despite financial assistance from the region for birth and breeding.
Like all draft horses, Boulonnais were used for field work, driving or unloading. He even transported fish from Boulogne-sur-Mer to Paris. Currently, it was difficult for him to find his place even on the grassland. An agreement has just been signed with the rural settlement and land development company (SAFER) to facilitate access to a plot of land for the Boulonnais racecourse and livestock union in the north, which is also in danger.
Tomorrow, 25-year-old Théo Vandekerckhove, from Bernaville on the Somme, will be at Airaines with his 4-year-old mare, Lison de Coupelle. He represents the nation’s next generation. He contracted the virus when he was very young, from his grandfather, 83-year-old Eugène Detappe.
Calm and energetic
Two years ago, Théo participated for the first time at the Agricultural Exhibition in Paris with Aurore de Bernaville, who was named best Boulonnaise, in front of his grandfather crying: “I am very proud of him,” assured the eighty-year-old man, who saw one of his stallions fly to the United States.
In 2026, the young Lutèce de Bernaville, 4 years old, will in turn enter the track at the Agricultural Fair in the draft horse category: “I tried to do everything to save this versatile breed,” explains the young man who works in construction. I love their calm and energetic temperament at the same time. Young people are turning to saddle horses, and this is a shame. In the Airaines, when they paraded in groups of four, they were very impressive! »
For Élodie Vanderhaeghe, project manager at the Boulonnais horse racing union, all solutions are welcome. This is of interest to citizens who can ask service providers to carry out one-off actions: waste collection, child collection, maintenance of sensitive natural areas. Their presence in equestrian centers for jumping or digging is also relevant: “They are wonderful horses,” he explains. The evidence is exported to Bulgaria for use as traction and breeding. »
