Posted on 06/13/2026 12:22:09 PM PDT by DFG
A casual favor turned into a lifelong fascination for Glenrock’s Mike Cushman, owner of the much-in-demand Powder River Percherons, who have become a regular sight at many of the state’s largest and most popular parades.
“I used to lease a ranch back in the late '80s, and the guy who owned it had a hitch of Belgians,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “And one day he just asked me if, in my free time, I could help him with that.”
Once he’d learned how to handle Belgians, he started his own team, but the popularity of the large draft horse was driving up prices. That led him to give two dapple-gray Percherons a try.
It was like love at first sight.
“We were trying to create something that had a little flair,” he said. “So those two just escalated from a team of four to six, and before we knew it we had 11 or 12 dapple-gray horses, and we were doing work all over Wyoming, anywhere from Jackson to Cody to Sheridan and Cheyenne and most all the towns in between.”
The War Horse Of France
Percherons are conversation starters everywhere they go.
The war horse of France, these animals are massive and athletic, while also being uncommonly beautiful and stylish.
They are actually bigger than the more well-known Clydesdales, standing at 6 feet from the withers and weighing up to 2,600 pounds. Their hooves are the size of dinner plates, which help support all that weight.
Their actual origins have been lost to time, but the oldest known record goes back before the Crusades, when mares of the Le Perche region of France were mated with Arabian stallions.
(Excerpt) Read more at cowboystatedaily.com ...
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“Bonjour, mon Amis!”
My dad had some Belgians for a while, impressive horses. Never been around Percherons.
Mes amis.
Thanks! My grandpa raised Percherons on their farm in Indiana. Almost all of his were black. The most common colors for them are black or gray. At one time they were one of the most common work horses. Some of the Amish still have them but most have Belgians (the reddish blondish ones)
Very cool! Thanks for posting this.
I bet they eat alot.
I’m not cleaning up after that.
This is what they need.
As a former off-road motorcycle guy, going around off-road on something with a mind of its own scares the bejesus out of me, I don’t mind admitting. Liked riding things that went where you pointed them, and if you screwed up, it was all on you.
They do look cool, for sure. But no interest in riding or teamstering such a creature!
AMAZING horses. I'm grateful that I got to see some on the farm. Big. People thought they were Clydesdales. Nope. The Percheron and Belgians are warhorses. And help-horses. And the gentlelest, kindest half-ton beast you can find.
So would Laz . . .
Percherons are also the mares whose urine they use to make PreMarin pharmaceutical estrogen. These poor horses are impregnated and then chained up for their entire pregnancy while their urine is collected and they are so kind and docile that they mostly just accept it. I knew someone who would rescue the horses from Canada and keep them on her property.
Based on the article, those things go a metric ton plus.
Oh, it’s a BFH.
Great story
Great story
“I know if there was a protest line with a bunch of PETA people standing there waving flags and everything, I could put these horses right over the top of them,” Cushman said. “They would do that for me.”
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