 After the Napoleonic Wars , there were almost no saddle horses remaining in France . This situation was exacerbated by improvements to the roads , resulting in a large demand for carriage horses , further reducing demand for riding horses . Between 1815 and the 1850s , only the wealthy and the army continued to purchase riding horses . Early in the 19th century , in Lower Normandy , breeders focused on the Carrossier Normand , the ancestor of the Anglo @-@ Norman and the French Trotter , which was mainly used as a carriage horse . When the Carrossier Normand was crossed with Thoroughbreds , a practice which likely started around 1830 , the resulting mix was called the " Anglo @-@ Norman " . When other local native mares were crossed with Thoroughbreds and Arabians , however , the early results were disappointing . However , despite very low population numbers of riding horses , in the early 1850s , author Ephrem Houël noted a type of Norman saddle horse still extant in Le Merlerault . 
