At the exit of La Tour d'Auvergne, in the direction of Besse, 400 m. around the Ste-Elisabeth waterfall, we discover this other waterfall in the middle of the meadows where La Burande spreads out.
According to oral tradition, it was following an accident that this name was given to this waterfall on the Burande.
When did it occur? Mystery ! One fair day in the town, a horse dealer had come from Besse to buy animals. Our merchant did very good business that day. In addition to his own horse, he entrusted the innkeeper with five vigorous beasts bought on the fairground. As the evening fell, gray and gloomy, laden with a thick fog, the man tied the horses he had bought to the halter of his mount, he got into the saddle and plunged into an inky night. The sound of the rumbling waters of the waterfall would guide him, he believed. But he missed the ford, pushed his horse, quickly submerged and dragged by a furious current; with him, the other unfortunate animals who had not been able to break their halters.
And also the man, of course… Swimming was useless. The rushing waters dragged master and horses, which crashed on the rocks of the waterfall before being carried further downstream. The following August, when the waters of the river were at their lowest, a little herdsman who was fishing trout by hand under the big stones suddenly gave the alert. Terrified, he had just seen a human body trapped under branches, near the shore. The farmer from La Chauderie discovered here and there the bodies of the six horses.
Thus we learned of the sad end of the horse-dealer and his animals. The fatal ford passed a few meters above the waterfall. So he was given the name of Gour des Chevaux (gour = abyss) and it stuck with him.
Documentary source: Millefouilles.
The river crosses a large rock and forms two basins describing a large capital S.
Two other waterfalls are also visible at The Tower of Auvergne : The Saint Elisabeth waterfall and the waterfall of the stone bridge.
Access to the Gour des Cheval waterfall
Take the RD 203 at the exit of La Tour d'Auvergne towards Besse, take the path on the left after the La Chauderie campsite.
