Horse Breeds 1
THE GYPSY VANNER HORSE
The Gypsy Vanner Horse is also known as the Irish Cob, the Tinker, the Colored Cob, the Gypsy Cob and the Gypsy Horse. The Breed Standards of the various societies do differ a little, but to prefer one name to the other, would on the whole be a matter of opinion.
The breed was used by the Travellers who needed strong, calm, good-natured and thrifty horses to pull their heavy caravans (Vardos), and was bred from Shires, Clydesdales, Dalesponies, Fellponies and Welsh Cobs. The Gypsy Vanner Horse has been known for more than three hundred years, but was not registered as a breed until 1996, where the Gypsy Vanner Horse Society was founded.
The Gypsy Vanner Horse is a very versatile breed and has become extremely popular all over the world in the last ten years. Besides being a driving horse, the Gypsy Vanner is an excellent show horse, but has also proved to be a good riding horse as well as a good companion.
The breed is strong, thrifty, docile and very charming with its abundance of mane, tail and feather and its beautiful colors. Most Gypsy Vanners are piebald or skewbald, but all colors are accepted. The Gypsy Vanner Horse Society Breed Standard has no height limits, but most Gypsy vanners are between 140cms and 160cms (13.6hh to 15.5hh)
Photo used with kind permission from Katja and Jorgen Bech.
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THE SHETLAND PONY
Photo used with kind permission from Janny Sorensen.
The Shetland Pony comes from the Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland; it is a very old breed whos strength is legendary. It is the smallest, hardiest and strongest of the pony breeds. The Shetland Pony is intelligent and good-natured, but is also known for having a mind and a will of its own. It is excellent for driving and showing, but will also make a good riding-pony and companion for the more experienced child.
All colors, except for spottet, are accepted and the height of a Shetland pony must not exceed 107cms (42 inches).
The Shetland Pony is respected by all who know horseflesh! (”Thelwell”)
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THE HIGHLAND PONY
The Highland Pony is a beautiful Scottish breed, used by the farmers for riding and driving, as well as pack- and workinghorse. The breed is well known for its hardiness and surefootedness, and is also known to be calm, good-natured and easy to handle.
Colors: most Highland Ponies are dun, mouse, yellow, grey or cream. Many have dorsal stripes and zebra marking on their legs. White markings (other than a small star) and broken colors are not allowed
Height: 132-148cms (13hh to 14.2hh)
Photo credit: Trailtrow Highland Pony Stud.
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WELSH
The Welsh Cobs and Ponies are extremely popular all over the world and are well known for their beauty, intelligence, liveliness, courage, endurance and versatility. The smallest, the Welsh Mountain Pony (sec. A), is often described as the most beautiful of the British pony breeds (by some as the miniature arab), and the largest, the Welsh Cob (sec. D), is considered the worlds best riding and driving horse.
All colors, except broken, are allowed and the studbook divides them into sections as follows:
Sec. A, the Welsh Mountain Pony, must not exceed 122cms (11.8hh)
Photocredit: J. E. Lamborg, “Gaershoj Stud”.
Sec. B is a larger version of sec. A, and measures between 120 and 137cms (11.6hh and 13.3hh)
Photocredit: “Bjerregaard Stud”
Sec. C, the Welsh Pony (Cob Type), measures in height the same as sec. B, but is, as the name suggests, a bit heavier.
Photocredit: Laila Larsen, “Aberlour Stud”.
Sec. D, the Welsh Cob, is a larger version of sec. C and should measure at least 137cms (13.3hh), but has no upper limit.
Photocredit: “Mailund Stud”.
The Welsh Stud Book also has a Sec. F, which is a register for horses and ponies with at least 12.5% Welsh blood.
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THE DALES PONY
These very hardy ponies are ideally 14.h.h. to 14.2.h.h. Colours are predominantly black, with some brown, bay grey and, rarely, roan. White markings are allowed as a star and/or a snip, and white to the hind fetlocks, and ponies displaying more white than this are down graded to Section B Dales Ponies are renowned for the quality of their hard, well-shaped feet and legs, which should display beautiful dense, flat bone. Their action is straight, high and true. They are good movers, really using their knees and hocks for powerful drive. They have tremendous stamina, an iron constitution, high courage and great intelligence, combined with a calm temperament. The head should be neat, showing no dish, and broad between the eyes. The muzzle is relatively small, no coarseness about the jaw and throat, and incurving pony ears. A long foretop, main and tail of straight, silky hair, and a muscular neck of ample length for a bold outlook should be set into well-laid, sloping shoulders. Withers not too fine. Stallions carry a well-arched crest. The body should be short-coupled, with strong loins and well-sprung ribs. Short, well- developed forearms are set into a broad chest. Quarters are lengthy and powerful, with very muscular second thighs above clean, broad, flat hocks, well let down. The cannons should display an average of 8” to 9” of flat, flinty bone with well-developed tendons. The pasterns should be of good length, with very flexible joints; the hooves large, round and open at the heels with well-developed frogs, and with ample straight, silky feather.
Source: The Dales Pony Society
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THE FELL PONY
As a hack and general riding pony, the Fell’s fast walk and easy paces make it a pleasant and comfortable ride, and its sure footedness ensures a safe passage over the roughest country. It is possible to ride a Fell pony through places where other lighter bred ponies would come to grief and Fells seem to have a sixth sense which alerts them to possible danger, they seem to know which is the soundest track through soft marshy ground or the safest descent of a rocky hillside.
| HEIGHT: | Not exceeding 14 hands (142.2 cms). |
| COLOUR & MARKINGS: |
Black, brown, bay and grey. Chesnuts, piebalds and skewbalds are debarred. A star and/or a little white on or below the hind fetlock is acceptable. An excess of white markings is discouraged, but such ponies are eligible for registration. |
Source: The Fell Pony Society
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THE CONNEMARA
Strong and sturdy with a short back and sloped, muscular croup. The hindquarters are powerful. The shoulder is sloped and long, so they have a good stride length, and the pony has short, strong cannons and hard feet. The Connemara has a fine head with small ears and usually a slightly dished profile set on a well-arched neck.
The Connemara stands between 12.2 and 14.2 hands high, although some can grow taller and are therefore horse-sized, although still technically ponies genetically. The breed comes in grey, bay, brown, black, dun, chestnut, and occasionally roan or silver dapple. Pinto is not accepted.
Due to the fact that the Connemara is hardy and is possessed with tremendous agility as well as jumping prowess, the Connemara has been identified as the world’s leading sports pony.
Source and photo: Wikipedia
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THE ENGLISH THOROUGHBRED
The Thoroughbred stands typically from as small as 15.2 to as large as 17.0 hands (64 inches/1.63 m) high and is usually bay, “brown” (dark bay), chestnut, black, or gray. Less common colors include roan and palomino. White is very rare, but is a recognized color separate from gray. The face and lower legs may be marked with white, but white will generally not appear on the body. Good quality Thoroughbreds have a well chiseled head on a long neck, high withers, a deep chest, a short back, good depth of hindquarters, a lean body, and long legs.
Thoroughbreds are often crossed with horses of other breeds to add speed and refinement. Thoroughbreds are classified among the “hot-blooded” breeds, animals bred for agility and speed, generally considered spirited and bold.
Source and photo: Wikipedia
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THE NEW FOREST PONY
The upper height limit is 148 cm. There is no lower limit but New Forest ponies are seldom under 12 hands (120 cm). They are normally shown in two height sections 138 cm and under (competition type A) and over 138 cm (competition height B).
The New Forest pony may be any colour except piebald, skewbald or blue-eyed cream. Palomino or very light chestnut and cream ponies with dark eyes are only acceptable as geldings and mares. Blue eyes are not permitted. White markings on the head and legs are permitted. However, white markings that occur behind the head and above a line parallel to the ground from the point of the hock in the hind leg and the top of the metacarpal bone or bend in the knee in the fore leg are not permitted.
New Forest ponies should be of riding type with substance. They should have sloping shoulders, strong quarters, plenty of bone, good depth of body, straight limbs and good hard round feet. The larger ponies, while narrow enough for small children are quite capable of carrying adults. The smaller ponies, though not up to so much weight, often show more show quality.
This should be free, active and straight, but not exaggerated. New forest ponies make excellent ponies for gymkhanas and mounted games because of their free, swift moving bodies and speed. They also make good little showjumpers.
Source and photo: Wikipedia
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THE SHIRE HORSE
The Shire horse is a draught horse, with powerful and muscular build, a dense rounded body, a broad back, strong loins, powerful hind-quarters, and long legs with dense bones. The breed standard is set by the Shire Horse Society in the United Kingdom, and the American Shire Horse Association in the United States.Shire horses can be black, bay (sometimes called “brown”), or gray. In the United Kingdom the Shire must not be roan or chestnut. In the United States, roaning is considered “undesirable” but chestnut (also known as “Sorrel”) is permitted, though considered rare. The legs should have white stockings or socks (except on gray horses). The hair down the back of the legs is called the “feather”, while the hair over the foot is known as the “spats”.
Shire horses average around 17.2 hands (178cms) tall at maturity (measured at the withers, with the breed standard being at least 17 hands, although a shire horse was recorded reaching over 21.2 hands (220cm).The girth of a shire horse varies from 6 feet (183cms) to 8 feet (244 cms).Shire stallions weigh, on average, between 18 cwt (900kg) to 22 cwt (1100kg).
The head should be long and lean, with a Roman nose, and widely spaced eyes. The breed standard specifies that the eyes should be docile in expression, and they are generally brown.
The neck should be long and lean, with an arch. This leads to a short, muscular back, with no pronounced dipping or roaching.
Source and photo: Wikipedia
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THE CLYDESDALE
The Clydesdale is a breed of draft horse derived from the very hard-working farm horses of Clydesdale, Scotland, and named for that region. Thought to be over 300 years old, the breed was extensively used for pulling heavy loads in rural, industrial and urban settings, their common use extending into the 1960s when they were a still a familiar sight pulling the carts of milk and vegetable vendors.They have been exported in the Commonwealth and United States where they are famous for their use as the mascot of various beer brands, including company Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser brand, Carlton & United Beverages and several others.At one time there were at least 140,000 Clydesdales known in Scotland; by 1949 just 80 animals were licensed in England and by 1975 the Rare Breed Survival Trust had listed the breed as “vulnerable”. Clydesdales have since seen resurgence in popularity and population, resulting in the breed’s status being reclassified favorably as “at risk” with an estimated global population of just 5,000 individuals. Clydesdales are now most numerous in the United States where recently over 600 foals are reportedly born each year.Today, the Clydesdale’s most significant presence is in exhibition and parade.
Sourse and photo: Wikipedia
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THE AMERICAN SADDLEBRED
The American Saddlebred Horse carries himself with an attitude that eludes description - some call it class, presence, quality, style or charm. This superior air distinguishes his every movement.
The ideal American Saddlebred is well-proportioned and presents a beautiful overall picture. The animal should be in good flesh, with good muscle tone and a smooth, glossy coat. Masculinity in stallions and femininity in mares are important. The average height is 15 to 16 hands and the average weight is 1,000 to 1,200 pounds. All colors are acceptable; the most prominent are chestnut, bay, brown and black, with some grey, roan, palomino and pinto.
(Source: American Saddlebred.com)
Photo credit: Hoffmann Stables
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THE TENNESSEE WALKER
The Tennessee Walking Horse has a reputation for having a very good disposition. It is a calm and easygoing breed, typically easy to train. While the horses are famous for flashy movement, they are quite hardy, popular for trail and pleasure riding as well as show.Although many Tennessee Walkers, as they are commonly known, are black, other colors and patterns such as roan, chestnut or sorrel, bay, champagne and pinto are common. Recently, the breed registry began to recognize the sabino pattern, and it must be noted that many horses registered in the past as roans were, in some cases, sabinos. Walkers are generally 15 to 17 hands tall, but can range from 13.2hh to 18hh. Weight is generally between 900 and 1200 pounds. In conformation, the Walker is a tall horse with a long neck and sloping shoulder. The head is traditionally large but refined in bone, with small well-placed ears. The horse has a fairly short back, short strong coupling, and an elongated stride. In the show arena, Walking horses are known for their gliding running walk and are usually shown with long manes and tails.
Source: Wikipedia
Photo credit: Walknexpress
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PAINT
The American Paint Horse is a breed of horse that combines both the conformational characteristics of a western stock horse with a pinto spotting pattern of white and dark coat colors. Developed from a base of spotted horses with Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred bloodlines, the American Paint Horse is now one of the fastest-growing breeds in the United States.
Each Paint Horse has a particular combination of white and another color of the equine spectrum. Most common are horses with white spots combined with black, bay, dark bay (called brown by the APHA), and chestnut or sorrel. Less common are horses with spots that are palomino, buckskin, gray, cremello, perlino, various shades of roan, or various shades of dun, including grullo.
Spots can be any shape or size, except Appaloosa patterning, and located virtually anywhere on the Paint’s body. Although Paints come in a variety of colors with different markings, these are grouped into only four defined coat patterns: overo, tobiano and tovero and solid.
Breeding Stock Paints can sometimes showcase small color traits, particularly if they carry the Sabino gene. Such traits include blue eyes, pink skin on lips and nostrils, roan spots, and minimal roaning.
A Pinto differs from a Paint solely by breeding. A Pinto may be of any breed or combination of breeds, though some Pinto registries may have additional restrictions. (Some do not register draft horses or mules, for example.) For a horse to be registered as an American Paint Horse however, it must have registered American Quarter Horse, American Paint Horse, or Thoroughbred bloodlines. Therefore, all Paint horses (except for the small number of “solids” allowed into the Paint registry under special circumstances) could be registered as Pintos, but not all Pintos are qualified to register as Paints.
Source and photo: Wikipedia
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QUARTER HORSE
The American Quarter Horse is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name came from its ability to outdistance other breeds of horse in races of a quarter mile or less, where some individuals have been clocked at speeds up to 55 mph. The American Quarter Horse is the most popular breed in the United States today, and the American Quarter Horse Association is the largest breed registry in the world, with nearly 5 million American Quarter Horses registered worldwide.
The American Quarter Horse is well known both as a race horse and for its performance in rodeos, horse shows and as a working ranch horse. The compact body of the American Quarter Horse is well-suited to the intricate and speedy maneuvers required in reining, cutting, working cow horse, barrel racing, calf roping, and other western riding events, especially those involving live cattle. The American Quarter Horse is also shown in English disciplines, driving, and many other equestrian activities.
Source and Photo: Wikipedia
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THE MORGAN HORSE
The Morgan is one of the first horse breeds developed in the United States. Tracing back to the stallion Figure, later named Justin Morgan after his best-known owner, the breed excels in many disciplines, and is known for its versatility.
The Morgan is compact and refined in build, with strong limbs, an expressive face, large eyes, well-defined withers, laid back shoulders and a well arched neck. There is officially one Breed Standard for Morgan type regardless of the discipline or bloodline of the individual horse.
Registered Morgans come in a variety of colors although they are most commonly bay, black, and chestnut. Less common colors include gray, palomino, roan, cremello, perlino, dun, buckskin, and silver dapple. Also present are three of the pinto color patterns: sabino, frame overo, and splash overo. The tobiano pattern has not been noted in Morgans.
The breed standard ranges from 14.1-15.2 hands (1.45 to 1.57 meters) with some individuals over and under. Morgans under 14.2 are eligible for registration with the National Morgan Pony Registry and can be shown in open “Pony” competitions, even though they are technically horses, regardless of height, and are usually exhibited as such.
Source and photo: Wikipedia
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THE CREAM DRAFT HORSE
The American Cream Draft is a rare draft horse of consistently cream color and medium to heavy build, the only draft horse breed developed in the USA.
It is a unique draft breed because of its cream coloring, which is not seen in most other draft horse breeds. Due to its small number of registered animals, the breed has been listed at a “critical” status by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.
Genetic research, conducted by E. Gus Cothran of the University of Kentucky, has established that the American Cream Draft is not merely a color variant of the Belgian breed, but unique in type as well as color. The color is caused by a dominant gene known as the champagne gene, and it is neither a cremello nor a palomino.
The foundation dam of the American Cream Draft was a cream colored draft mare of unknown breeding, Old Granny, purchased in 1911 in Iowa. Many of her progeny carried her distinctive colouring and these foals drew much attention in the local farming community. One of her descendants, the stallion Silver Lace No. 9, foaled in 1931 from a Belgian mare, had the biggest early influence on the breed. In the mid-1930s, C.T. Rierson of Iowa purchased a number of creams with the intent of establishing a breed, and for the first time, detailed records were kept. The foundation stock was a mixture of cream-colored horses of unknown background, Belgians, Shires, and Percherons. He created the name “American Cream,” and in 1944 the American Cream Draft Horse Association was formed by Mr. Rierson and other interested horse breeders.
The middle of the twentieth century was not the best time to promote a new draft horse breed, as tractors were replacing draft horses for farm work. Thus, by the 1970s, the breed association was defunct and the American Cream was nearly extinct. In response to this danger, a new American Cream Draft Horse Association was formed by the few remaining breeders in 1982. About 300 horses are in existence, with a distribution across the USA
The American Cream Draft stands between 15 to 17 hands high and weighs up to one ton. Only the cream color is permitted in the breed. Other than the coloration, the American Cream physically resembles other medium-weight draft horses. The head is refined in shape and in proportion to the body, with a short-coupled body, sloping shoulder, and deep girth. Manes and tails are long and flowing. The eye-catching appearance and uniformity of the horses makes them crowd pleasers when they appear in parades and at shows. They usually appear in harness but can also be ridden. The temperament is very docile and willing. There is slight feathering around the fetlocks.
American Creams have a body color ranging from almost white to a dark cream, with a white mane and tail. Horses may have white face and leg markings. Due to the action of the champagne gene, most horses are born with brown hooves, pink skin, and blue eyes. The blue eyes eventually become hazel, amber or occasionally green at adulthood. Skin is preferably pink, but at present darker-skinned mares are permissible for breeding as long as they have the rest of the cream characteristics.
Horses mature late, at around five years of age. Mares mature at around 16 hands in height, and weigh around 1600 lbs. Mature height and weight of stallions is around 16.3 hands and 1800 lbs or more.
Source: WikipediA - Photo: HorseHome
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THE FRIESIAN HORSE
The Friesian (also Frisian) horse is a breed of horse from Friesland, a province of the Netherlands. Although the breed’s conformation resembles that of a light draft horse, Friesians are graceful and nimble for their size. During the Middle Ages, the ancestors of Friesian horses were in great demand as war horses throughout continental Europe. Through the Early Middle Ages and High Middle Ages, their size enabled them to carry a knight in armor. In the Late Middle Ages, heavier, draft type animals were needed. Though the breed nearly became extinct on more than one occasion, the modern day Friesian horse is growing in numbers and popularity, used both in harness and under saddle. Most recently, the breed is being introduced to the field of dressage.
The Friesian is most often recognized by its black coat color, though color alone is not their only distinguishing characteristic. Friesians also have a long, thick mane and tail, and “feathers”–long, silky hair on the lower legs, deliberately left untrimmed. The official breed rarely has white markings of any kind; most registries allow only a small star on the forehead for purebred registration. Though extremely rare, and not accepted for registration in most cases, Friesians are occasionally chestnut. The Friesian’s average height is about 15.3 hands (63 inches or 1.60 m), although it may vary from 14.2 to 17 hands (between 58 in./1.5 m and 68 in./1.7 m) tall at the withers, and mares or geldings must be at least 15.2 hands (1.57 m) tall to qualify for a special ’star-designation’ pedigree. The breed is known for a brisk, high-stepping trot. The Friesian is considered a willing, active, and energetic horse that is also gentle and docile. A Friesian tends to have great presence and to carry itself with elegance.
The breed has powerful overall conformation and good bone structure, with what is sometimes called a “Baroque” body type. Friesians have long, arched necks and well-chiseled, short-eared, “Spanish type” heads. Their sloping shoulders are quite powerful. They have compact, muscular bodies with strong sloping hindquarters and a low-set tail. Their limbs are comparatively short and strong. To be accepted as breeding stock in the FPS studbook, a stallion must pass a rigorous approval process.
Today, there are two distinct conformation types. The baroque type has the more robust build of the classical Friesian. The modern, sport horse type is finer-boned. Conformation type is judged less important than correct movement, and both types are common, though the Modern type is currently more popular in the show ring than is the Baroque Friesian.
Source and photo: Wikipedia
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DUTCH WARMBLOOD
The Dutch Warmblood or KWPN (Royal Warmblood Studbook of the Netherlands), is a breed of horse developed for sport horse competition that has gained wide recognition in the discipline of dressage. Developed through a breeding program that began in the 1960s, it is one of the most successful warmblood breeds developed in postwar Europe.
The Dutch Warmblood averages 16.2 hands but can reach up to 18 hands at the withers. Most are black, brown, bay, chestnut or gray, though tobiano and sabino pintos, rabicano and true roans do exist. An eager, reliable, and intelligent breed, these horses were bred to be dressage and show jumping horses, but do well in pleasure and almost any kind of riding. Dutch Warmbloods are known for their enormous scope for jumping. Many Dutch Warmbloods are seen at Class A hunter shows all across the United States. Many champion hunters in the United States are Dutch Warmbloods. Stallions have to pass rigorous tests to be bred. They are judged on temperament, athletic ability, aptitudes, and intelligence as well as conformation and movement.
The KWPN, the registry that administers the Dutch Warmblood, has a separate breeding direction for the Dutch Harness Horse.
Source and photo: Wikipedia