The story
Under the Ancien régime, there were always more stallion depots in the north of Brittany than in the south. The Haras system was notoriously inefficient in Brittany, not least because breeders were looking for more diverse stallions, and remained attached to the local Breton bidet breed. Under the Consulate, in 1803, Chaptal looked for locations to establish a new stallion depot in Morbihan: the Josselin Castle, the Abbey of Saint-Jean-des-Prés, the Crévy Castle, the Truscat Castle, and the Ursulines' enclosure in Ploërmel were all considered, before a choice was made for the Abbey of Langonnet, in 1806.
On November 12, 1842, the districts of Brittany were defined on the basis of these two stud farms. As the Langonnet depot was poorly served by narrow, impassable roads, a new location was sought from 1849 onwards. The Abbey de la Joie, in Hennebont, was one of the proposed sites.
Establishment and inauguration
A decree issued on November 10, 1856 authorized the transfer of the Haras National from Langonnet to Hennebont, on a 5-hectare site around the Abbey of La Joie. The site exchange was signed by the Prefect of Morbihan on December 31. The exchange was concluded between the congregation of the Pères du Saint-Esprit and the French state: the congregation wished to settle in Langonnet. To make the exchange with Hennebont, owned by Sieur Queron, more equitable, the congregation pays for the construction of a stable for 32 stallions, an enclosing wall, a gate and two pavilions, one for the janitors and the other for the head groom. The transfer of the stud is managed by its director, Mr. Drieu. This operation was accompanied by a re-division of the Breton districts, with the Haras National de Lamballe losing the management of Ille-et-Vilaine to Hennebont, in exchange for the northern part of Finistère. As Gérard Guillotel notes, this division seems illogical, and penalizes breeders in Ille-et-Vilaine, who are geographically closer to Lamballe than to Hennebont: it was justified at the time by the future development of the Haras National de Lamballe.
The law ratifying the exchange was signed by Napoleon III on May 19, 1857. The stud became operational that same year. The initial entrance was from the banks of the Blavet, via the conciergerie pavilion.
A forge was built in 1858. The official inauguration took place one year after the opening, in the presence of Napoleon III and the Empress, on August 15, 1858, Saint-Napoleon's Day. The facades were whitewashed for the occasion. The mayor of Hennebont, Olivier Levier, thanks the Emperor in his speech. A full-length portrait of Napoleon III, wearing the imperial mantle, is kept as a souvenir in stable no. 1.
Up to the beginning of the 20th century
Work is carried out to increase the capacity of the stud: stables numbers 2, 3 and 4 become operational in 1880.
Initially focused on breeding draft horses, the Haras National d'Hennebont acquires Anglo-Norman and Norfolk Trotter stallions, with the aim of lightening the Breton breed through crossbreeding. Among his initial stallions is the Norfolk Trotter Grey Shales, transferred from Langonnet. The "missions to the Orient" led to the arrival of ten Arabian thoroughbred stallions at Hennebont between 1874 and 1892. The establishment's first director began promoting the Cornouaille Postier horse, the Morbihan Petit draft, and a heavier draft horse in Ille-et-Vilaine. The Odet basin (between Scaër and Quimper), the Redon region and northern Ille-et-Vilaine all have a tradition of breeding horses for cavalry. In 1900, the Haras National d'Hennebont no longer had any Arabian or Anglo-Arabian stallions, having 148 stallions, mostly half-bloods, for 36 Postiers and 15 Breton draft stallions, serving around 12,000 mares in its district.
From 1901 to World War II
In 1901, a certain Mr. Perrin sold the Haras National a hectare of land to the north. This enabled the construction of stables numbers 5, 6 and 7. The director's and staff quarters were built in 1902. The third stud officer arrived in 1907, when the "supervisor's" house was built; the assistant director arrived the following year, and an infirmary was also created in 1908.
Read the full text
Between 1900 and 1914, the number of half-blood horses declined, in favor of Postier and Trait Breton. At the same time, the Breton bidet tended to disappear. In 1914, the stud had 262 breeding stallions.
In 1914, a 4-year-old mare from the Corlay line, Caroline, bred by the Haras National d'Hennebont, won first prize at the Concours Central Hippique de Paris, as did her breeder, Mr. Roux from Scaër. Particular attention was paid to maintaining horse births during the World War I, in particular the production of the Breton Postier, the artillery horse par excellence. After the armistice, the Haras National d'Hennebont employed over 100 staff. Agricultural needs lead to an increase in the number of draft stallions, as well as imports of Ardennais stallions, although there are fewer of them than at Lamballe.On November 8, 1920, a further 7 hectares were acquired from Mr. Perrin, including the lower part of the abbey with its 17th-century buildings and outbuildings, for the total sum of 302,000 francs. In 1923, the Haras lost its Breton stallion purchasing centers in Carhaix and Combourg. The following year, 20,917 mares were covered in the Hennebont district. In 1927, the Hennebont site had its largest number of stallions, 293, making it the 4th largest in France. More than half of the stallions are listed as Breton Postier, while 132 are Breton Trait, following the division of the breed's studbook in 1926. There were 93 employees at the time. In 1929, Hennebont had no saddle stallions. The spread of motorization led to a decline in the Haras' activities in the years leading up to the World War II.
During World War II
In 1939, the mobilization of a certain number of grooms led to additional work for those who had not been mobilized by the needs of the war. However, the stud's director, Mr. Poujols de Molliens, managed to maintain the equestrian activity on site throughout the war years. The wartime situation reinforced the idea of "cultural breeding", designed to resist defeat and then German occupation. The continued presence of Mr. Poujols de Molliens, who held the post for 15 years, ensured a certain stability.
German troops reached Hennebont in June 1940. Around 4,000 prisoners of war were held on the Hennebont site until 1942, a few managing to escape by wearing the uniforms of grooms. In 1943, the Germans occupied almost the entire site, setting up an ammunition depot and a food depot. The latter was regularly looted by grooms in contact with the French Resistance (including Haras supervisor Michel de Kersabiec), who knew the German patrol schedules. An anti-Nazi German soldier helps these grooms, enabling a French officer to reach England, with a special message sent to the Resistance fighters at the Haras National d'Hennebont via the BBC. Hennebont was liberated by the Allied forces on August 16, 1944, thanks to sabotage of the Blavet bridge, which prevented the German garrison stationed at the Haras from reaching the Lorient pocket. The German soldiers at the Haras surrendered, after demolishing the director's house with shellfire from Montagne du Salut.
When the Lorient pocket surrendered on May 10, 1945, the Haras National d'Hennebont was transformed into a German prisoner-of-war camp. After the war, the stud almost no longer housed horses, but soon returned to its traditional functions.
From 1945 to 2007
The decline of the draft horse accelerated after 1945, although it was relatively slow and gradual in Brittany, leading to a loss of motivation among breeders. Foreign missions (Italy, Spain, Japan...) kept the Breton breed alive. The conversion of Breton horse breeding to meat production is helping to maintain the breed's numbers. Director M. Gendry began converting the breeding program to this end as early as 1946. From 1952, Marcilhacy continued this policy. The system of rolling trucks became widespread, to bring stallions to breeders who had difficulty moving their mares to the stud farm or breeding station. Since the 1960s, livestock premiums have encouraged breeders in the Hennebont district to keep draft horses. In 1954, over a period of 17 years, a breeder stallion, Gerfaut, assigned to the Bannalec station in Finistère, had a lasting influence on the Breton breed in the Hennebont district, through cross-breeding with postal mares.
The Société Hippique Nationale d'Hennebont opened in 1964, marking the establishment's move towards equestrian sport. Mr. de Dieuleveult took over as director in 1965, favoring racehorses and sport horses and increasing the number of stallions. His three successors continued in this vein, while maintaining a large Breton herd. In 1970, with 217 stallions, Hennebont was one of France's largest stallion depots; in 1973, twelve bloodstock stallions were stationed there.
The stud was also one of the pioneers in the use of equine artificial insemination in France, the technique being tested on its draft stallions as early as 1981. In 1985, it sent a huge Breton butcher-type breeding stallion, named Oscar, to the Bannalec station. The great storm of October 16, 1987 severely damaged the site.
In 1993, Hennebont had 34 employees and 12 breeding stations in its district: Fouesnant, Pleyben, Quimper, Gourin, Malestroit, Combourg, La Guerche-de-Bretagne, Lohéac, Plerguer, Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier and Vitré. Its national equestrian society has 45 horses and ponies at its disposal. The Haras National d'Hennebont also manages some twenty horse-racing societies, and 22 racing societies in its area, the most prestigious of which is Dinard.
Transfer to joint management
Since 2007, the Syndicat Mixte du Haras national d'Hennebont has managed the site's buildings and trees, with the exception of the Abbey de la Joie and the Pavillon de la Porterie. The syndicat mixte is made up of the Brittany region, the Morbihan department, the Lorient Agglomération and the town of Hennebont.
On October 15, 2015, the French Horse and Riding Institute (Institut français du cheval et de l'équitation, IFCE by its acronym in French) announced that the stud farm would be put up for sale in January 2016. In April 2016, the town of Hennebont and Lorient Agglomération officially announced that they had negotiated an agreement with the IFCE to become owners of the entire site, comprising the 32 buildings, including the Abbey of La Joie, spread over 23 hectares, for 800,000 euros (750,000 euros according to the La France agricole website), on condition that the partners in the syndicat mixte undertake to help manage the site. The transfer of ownership will take place before the end of 2016. The planned project is to perpetuate horse-related activities, making the stud farm a tourist attraction in the Lorient basin.
In September 2018, the stud will host Équi-meeting, dedicated to equine mediation. In August 2019, the Haras d'Hennebont will welcome a Japanese delegation interested in Breton draft breeding.
The Société Hippique Nationale closes in September 2019, after 55 years of existence: its lease has not been renewed, forcing it to vacate the premises by the end of 2019 at the latest. The fate of the association's 50 horses and 4 employees remains unknown.
From Wikipedia’s article on Haras National d'Hennebont, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3