The history of the Haras National du Pin began with Colbert's official decision in 1665 to provide France with its own horse farms to no longer depend on imports. A first stud farm was immediately created in Saint-Léger-en-Yvelines without offering satisfactory results : the cultivated land was not very fertile, the parks were too far apart, and the horses were in poor health. The search for another place was then entrusted to the captain of the royal stud, François Gédéon de Garsault. In 1714, he found the ideal site in Normandy, on the lands of the Pin seignory. The royal stud farm was transferred there the following year.