At the end of the 19th century, the formal Czar Russia was already importing coldblooded breeds from the west. It was mostly the Belgian horse, in which were at that time recognized two types, lighter and more gaited Ardennian and the heavier and more massive Brabant.
Further more were imported coldbloods from England, especially the Shire and Clydesdale, and finally also from France the Percheron. The breeds were only partially used for pureblooded breeding; most of the stallions from the above-mentioned breeds were used for cross breeding with the domestic mares. In time, gradually came to existence individual cold-blooded breeds already in the formal Czar Russia, but mainly during the Soviet rule. From the imported breeds only one remained bred in the pure blooded form, the Percheron who was/is mainly bred in Voronezh, Rostov, Stavropol, Krasnodar and Uzbekistan.
The Russian bred Percheron exhibits medium size and dry constitution with sufficient massiveness. Yet he is very durable in the work output, easy adjustable to the local climate and working conditions, relatively undemanding/easy keeper especially when compared with the originally imported individuals. From all the other imports already came to existence other individual coldblooded breeds.