Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.
You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.
19:32 Sep 21, 2009
French to English translations [PRO] Livestock / Animal Husbandry / Equestrian
French term or phrase:D'espèce
For a stallion catalogue: 'Il a produit de magnifiques poneys harmonieux au modèle, profonds, d’un bon type de selle assez cheval, chics, dotés de très belles têtes et de beaucoup d’espèce, avec une bonne avant-main, un bon garrot, de longues épaules et de belles allures.'
I have always thought (perhaps mistakenly) of espèces in this context as being 'true to type', however when I look in the reference section of L'Eperon's 2009 Guide des Etalons they give the following explanation:
De l'espèce - cheval 'chic' ayant de la présence, de l'expression, des tissus.
Explanation: Larousse's Lexis gives "nature" as a synonyme of "espèce", so by a stretch of the imagination you might be able to translate it as a stallion with lots of fire or temperament. "True to type" would be "près du sang", I think, although in the case of Thoroughbreds it also means "hot blooded". Never heard of "espèce" used this way. HTH
Yes, if it's conformation rather than temperament, maybe they just mean "true to type". After more than 30 years in French-speaking horsey circles I've never heard anyone talk about horses in terms of "espèce," other than in zoology texts distinguishing different species. Definitely not "species" in English. Breed, conformation, blood lines, etc.
Thanks for these answers. All of the points raised above relate to the horse's conformation rather than his character (which is discussed in a later text). I think this is going more along the lines of a horse who is 'well put together'. I'm thinking more in terms of espèces meaning 'species'? http://www.wordreference.com/fren/espèce
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
10 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
temperament
Explanation: Larousse's Lexis gives "nature" as a synonyme of "espèce", so by a stretch of the imagination you might be able to translate it as a stallion with lots of fire or temperament. "True to type" would be "près du sang", I think, although in the case of Thoroughbreds it also means "hot blooded". Never heard of "espèce" used this way. HTH
Gabrielle Leyden Local time: 20:40 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 20
Grading comment
Many thanks - got my brain going in the right direction again
Notes to answerer
Asker: The sang usually relates to the amount of arab blood a horse has in its origins, hence horses with lots of 'sang' can be flighty and a bit of a handful, very energetic - if harnessed it can be a real plus. There is a lot of arab blood in the history of thoroughbreds, so in the case of a racehorse I'd be inclined to agree. However, the stallion in this text is a New Forest pony (sorry, I should have mentioned this before), a typically steady, reliable breed which I wouldn't describe as having lots of 'sang'. The author also uses sang later in the text when describing the pony's character.
Asker: Incidentally Gabrille, if someone can invent me an English equivalent of 'sang' (instead of 'blood', 'spirit', 'hot-blooded', 'flighty' etc), then I'll be eternally grateful throughout the rest of the catalogue! :)
Asker: I've just found another entry in l'Eperon guide relating to 'près du sang': 'cheval ayant de proches ascendants Pur-sang ou Anglo-arabes dans ses origines.' For 'avec du sang' they list 'cheval réactif, qui a des réflexes, de la reprise et le respect des obstacles.'
Explanation: The definition you found in L'Eperon's 2009 Guide des Etalons makes me think this use of "espèce" could be the equivalent of the charisma for human beings. However, I never saw this word used that way.
The translation workplace 
