The Selle Francais (also known as 'French Saddle Horse' and 'SF') is a French warmblood sport breed, which excels in show-jumping and eventing.

A national French saddle Horse:
The story of the Selle Francais starts in 1958. Prior to this year, France had many halfbred horses, which were usually named after the regions in which they were bred. These horses often had Anglo-Norman origins, and were mostly destined to serve as army horses.

In 1958, it was decided to start a national breeding program for a national saddle horse (Selle Francais), and to use all of the regional halfbred horses to establish the new breed. Therefore, a new studbook was started, which included all of the regional horses.

Bred to the highest standard:
Originally, the Selle Francais studbook was closed to other breeds. However, it was opened since then in order to allow the introduction of new genes into the breed.

Today, the Selle Francais studbook allows crossbreeding with other warmblood sport breeds, as well as with Arabians, Thoroughbreds, and Anglo-Arabs, given that they pass conformation assessments, or, in the case of jumping and eventing, prove to have exceptional performance in international competitions.

An epic jumper:
Compared to other sport warmbloods, Selle Francais horses have a very muscular build, including in their necks and legs which can be thick. Therefore, Selle Francais horses might appear to be heavier than other sport warmbloods.

Nevertheless, the Selle Francais is a superb jumper that excels in both show-jumping and eventing. In 2019, this breed was ranked as one of the top five breeds in the world in both of these disciplines.

The Selle Francais today:
Over the years, the reputation of the Selle Francais crossed far beyond the French borders. Today, it is one of the more famous sport breeds worldwide, and is popular in Europe and the USA among riders of international levels.

Conformation:
Selle Francais horses have long necks, long backs, and long legs, all geared toward maximizing their jumping ability. The withers are prominent, and the body is muscular. The mane is short or medium in length.

Performance metrics:
The following are the: range, average, (SD), and MOE of performance metrics of ordered Selle Francais horses in Horse Isle (not bred ones). In rare cases, horses might have metrics outside of the range. Breeders can produce horses that are beyond this range.

Speed: 17.3-18.8, 18.0 (0.3), 0.06.
Sprint: 65-74, 69 (2), 0.40.

Accel: 0.87-1.04, 0.98 (0.03), 0.01.
Decel: 1.03-1.17, 1.10 (0.03), 0.01.

Jump: 5.58-5.77, 5.67 (0.05), 0.01.
Pull: 2.68-3.46, 3.05 (0.18), 0.04.

Turning: 50.86-63.48, 56.23 (2.57), 0.50.
Reverse: 2.4-3.0, 2.7 (0.1), 0.02.

Stamina: 47.23-52.90, 50.38 (1.23), 0.24.
Reaction: 0.79-0.88, 0.83 (0.02), 0.00.

Coats & Height:
Colors: bay, black, brown, chestnut, grey, cream-dilutes, and dominant-white.

Additionals: flaxen, linebacked, rabicano, sooty, all rare patterns. Roan exists but is extremely rare. The coat is usually solid and often has white markings. In rarer cases, it can be frame-overo, tobiano, white-spotted sabino, or leopard.

Breeding notes: dominant-black doesn't naturally exist in this breed but can be bred into it.

Height: usually 15.3hh to 16.3hh, but the full range is 15.1hh to 17.3hh.