The Ardennes is one of the oldest draught horses in France and Belgium, and probably in Europe. It has been known since Antiquity: in his ‘Commentaries on the Gallic War’, Julius Cesar described it as a “rustic, hardy, and tireless” horse. In the Middle Ages, the Ardennais was involved in all the crusades. Later, among the draught horses that pulled the artillery pieces and carts of Napoleon’s Great Army, they were the only ones to survive the Russian campaign. Today, it is for their docility and their medium size that the Champagne winegrowers use them in the vineyards.