Equine Alphabet Soup
An A to Z record of horse breeds from the April 1963 concern of Western Horseman.
What number of breeds of horses and ponies are you able to title? You probably have common curiosity in horses you’ll be able to title the Quarter Horse, Arabian, Thoroughbred, Appaloosa, Palomino, Standardbred, American Saddle Horse, Tennessee Walker, and Morgan, and you may most likely title a number of ponies, corresponding to Shetland, Welsh, Icelandic, and Pony of the Americas. Are you having a tough time considering up any extra?
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | Okay | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Akhal-Teke
Are you certain you haven’t heard of the Akhal-Teke? It is likely one of the most historical and some of the lovely breeds in existence. The breed is exclusive in that since time immemorial it has been tethered and hand ate up Lucerne and barley. They’re specialised saddle horses bred to exist below circumstances of nice warmth and privation.
Their conformation could be very elegant with lovely Persian head, a noble expressive eye, lengthy effective neck, and the most effective ft and legs. Probably the most desired colour is a pale honey-gold with black factors. Must you wish to see one, get out the globe and discover Turkmen, U.S.S.R., and take a look at to determine methods to get there.
Albino
The Albino you may have seen in circuses. He’s believed to be of Arabian-Morgan inventory. The Anglo-Norman you might not have seen. He was dropped at England by William the Conqueror and was a beautiful struggle horse. He has been carelessly crossed and has misplaced a lot of his effective traits.
Anglo-Arab
The Anglo-Arab consists of the 2 purest breeds, the Arabian and the Thoroughbred, and possesses no alien blood. It has been a really profitable breed in competitors with most different breeds of sunshine horses. Due to the added stamina and intelligence derived by the Arabian, the Anglo-Arab has proved to be a very good hunter and really lovely hack, having all the mandatory gaiety and airiness of motion and nice refinement. It is a superb dressage horse. The true Anglo-Arab is described as being a mixture of the Thoroughbred and the Arabian with out displaying to a marked diploma the excellent traits of both. It must be the Thoroughbred at its greatest with extra of the basic Arabian head, the good tail carriage, and the added intelligence which is anticipated of and located nearly invariably within the Arabian.
B
How in regards to the Ardennes, which kinds 60% of the horse populations of Sweden, and the Ass, the Australian or Waler, the Austrian, which regularly exhibits Appaloosa sort markings, the Balearic, the Barb, and the Basuto from Africa of nice endurance and some of the fearless and surefooted ponies on this planet. We’re not half by the B’s. Now come the Batak or Deli, the Bederbeck and the Beetewk, and even the Boulonnais and the Breton and the Burmese or Shan.
C – F
The Cleveland Bay and the Blydesdale, the Cob and the Connemara you most likely know however how in regards to the Criollo, Dales, Danish, Dartmoor, the Don, a Russian Steppe horse descended from the Arabian and regarded upon because the saddlehorse of perfection, Dutch Draft, the Exmoor, the Fell, the Fjord, and the Friesian? Did you suppose the latter was a cow? The Friesian is totally indigenous to the Netherlands. It’s a very bushy horse with a mane typically reaching to the bottom.
G & H
Are you prepared for the G’s and H’s? There’s the Gelderland, Gidran and his shut relative, the Nonius, that are Hungarian breeds, the Gronengen and the Gudbrandsdal, the Hack, the Hackney Horse derived from the Darley Areabian, the Hackney Pony, the Hafflinger, the Hanoveraner, Highlands, Holstein, and the Hungarian Shagya.
I & J
Russia has the Iomud, Italy the Italian or Neopolitans. Within the Caucasus we discover the Kabarda damaged down into two sub-breeds, Karabair and Lokai, the results of crossing native Mongol inventory with sires of Persian and Arab blood. These are exceptionally agile and sure-footed animals. They are going to ford harmful rivers and cross precipitous ranges with nice braveness and sagacity. Of their habitat, Uzbekistan, the nationwide recreation is named “goat snatching” by which on mounted man carries a goat whereas others attempt to take it from him at a full gallop. Some enjoyable!
Okay
One other horse of the Causcasus is the Karabakh, predominately Arabian in conformation. The golden colour of the opposite Russian breed, the Akhal-Teke, along with admirable conformation makes the Karabakh breed on of essentially the most lovely on this planet.
Kathiawari
Going from the elegant to the ridiculous now we have within the Himalayas the Kathiawari and the Marwari. These are two sorts of the identical breed and could also be described as “wretched little creatures, skinny, weedy, very slender, his entrance legs popping out of the identical maintain, so to talk”. This breed is an ideal instance of poor or no breeding administration. They have been as soon as a really sturdy, elegant breed. It’s most likely {that a} Kathiawari was a teammate of Rudyard Kipling’s Maltese Cat, as they have been usually very effective polo mounts.
Klepper and Knapstrup
Did you ever hear of the Klepper of the Baltic space or the Knabstrup of Denmark? This latter is of nice curiosity to Appaloosa fanciers. The breed is an previous Danish one, solely confined to noticed horses, and the peculiar type of the spots are categorized by the British Noticed Horse Society as leopard, snowflake, and blanket. Throughout the Napoleonic Wars, Spanish troops have been stationed in Denmark and a Spanish officer left behind his noticed mare. She grew to become a “supply boy” for a butcher however she had each velocity and endurance. Destined to develop into the muse mare of a brand new breed when the proprietor of an property referred to as Knabstrup purchased from the butcher this chestnut mare with blanket markings with a white mane and tail. Her title was Flaeibehoppen — a horrible handicap one would suppose. She was mated with a Fredericksburg stallion of palomino colour and their colt, Flaebenhingstewn, grew to become the muse stallion of the breed. He has related colour — the lighter shades of the unique mare — although he had a peculiar metallic look and was described as having greater than 20 colours. The Knabstrup is a extremely popular breed in Denmark as we speak.
Konick
Poland has its Konick, which is a normal title for a number of native breeds of small horses. College students of genetics will discover this breed fascinating. In 1936, makes an attempt have been made by Professor Vetulani of Pznan College to breed the “forest horse” again to its authentic wild state. The good forest of Bialoweiza was made right into a Nationwide Park and among the many animals introduced again there have been a stallion and a mare each of which has the exceptional property, possessed by sure different animals such because the hare and the grouse, of turning white in winter, a attribute uncommon within the horse. Each winter they modified their mouse-gray summer time coats with the black dorsal stripes into white coats, solely the face, fetlocks, mane, and tail retaining the traditional darkish colour. This mare and stallion handed this odd attribute on to a few of their progeny however not all. The breed passes alongside its nice longevity. It’s fairly widespread in Poland to see 25-year-old ponies nonetheless laborious at work.
L
Now you might suppose the Limousin is a Rolls Royce however you’d be improper, for whereas the latter is pure English, the Limousin is simply half-English and horse at that. He’s French and his companion horse in Normandy is the Charolais which can upset you considerably when you that the Charolais was strictly bovine. Each of those breeds have the English Thoroughbred as their basis sire and re extremely prized as hunters.
Lipizzaner
You all know of the Lipizzaner, after all, and that it takes its title from Lipizza in Austria and has been round since 1564. The Lipizzan is derived from a cross between the Kladruber of Bohemia and a small Italian horse admixed with Arabian blood. These are the animals which have been used within the well-known Spanish Using Faculty at Vienna. It could shake you to study that the celebrated workout routines practiced there weren’t Spanish in any respect however have been originated by an English duke and a French using grasp.
M
Now come to the M, N, O, and P’s. If you happen to suppose polo is a recreation that Cecil Smith, Mike Phipps, Billy Linfoot, and Dr. Marvin Beeman thought as much as move the time of day, you might be shocked to study that the reigning king of Manipur within the seventh Century launched the sport of polo, performed on ponies bred in his state and referred to as Manipur ponies to this present day. Within the 18th Century they have been formidable struggle ponies and once more in 1945 carried the victorious 14th Military into Burma.
From Asia to Europe to call the German Mecklenburg, additionally a struggle horse, and again to Asia to take a look on the Mongolian Pony. That is an iron-hard little horse as a result of it needs to be. The nomad house owners of those ponies don’t waste any time or cash on feeding and the Mongolian ponies lot is a tough one.
Morgan
The Morgan, a pleasant acquainted title, sprang from one progenitor, a 14-hand bay stallion later named Justin Morgan. His ancestry was mainly Arabian, it’s thought.
Mustang
It’s time to say America’s Mustang. The derivation of the phrase is from the Spanish mestengo that means stranger, which in flip comes from the Spanish mesta, the title given to an affiliation of graziers, one among whose features was the appropriation of untamed cattle which had hooked up themselves to tame herds. They’re Spanish in origin have been introduced from Cuba by Cortez. Occasional throw-backs to their authentic distant Arabian ancestry have been recognized to look, changing into legendary figures for his or her excellent measurement, magnificence, and velocity.
N
Two extra ponies you might not have heard about are the New Forest of Britain and the Norwegian. A number of Norwegian Duns have been stabled on the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs. They’re a effective little coach horse.
O
The Oldenburg horse of Germany has the excellence of being a “heat blooded” horse with many traits of the “chilly bloods”, corresponding to flat hoofs, heave heads and neck, and flat ribs. It isn’t a hardytype and is missing in endurance.
Orlov
The Orlov is one other Russian horse, a trotter. The originator of this breed is extra fascinating than the breed itself. County Alexius Grigorievich Orlov (1737 – 1808) was involved together with his brother Gregory within the conspiracy of 1762 which led to the deposition and dying of Szar Peter and was mentioned to have been his precise assassin. He additionally commanded the Russian fleet which annihilated the Turks at Chesme in 1770. When he died, he left 30,000 serfs and an property price 5 million rubles — the equal as we speak most likely of fifteen gazotskies. After these gory actions he turned to horse breeding and produced the Orlov by crossing the next blood: English Thoroughbred, Arabian, Dutch, Danish, and Mecklenburg. He began with an Arabian stallion and ultimately the Orlov breed advanced. Earlier than the Revolution there have been about 3000 stud farms in Russia dedicated to breeding Orlov trotters. An excellent Orlov could be very good-looking with a small head, very Arabian in look, broad chest, longish again, nicely rounded quarters, and robust muscular legs. He goes as much as 17-hands in top.
P
If you named the palomino at first, it isn’t strictly a breed you talked about however a colour. You may not know that the origin of their engaging coloring goes again to distant ages, having been talked about within the Homeric occasions. It seems to be of Spanish origin from Saracen and Moorish inventory and three is little question that the sort comprises Arab and Barb blood. Queen Isabella, the sponsor of Columbus, inspired their breeding. Columbus might have taken them to the West Indies however we all know that Cortez had them in Mexico in 1519. In Spain, these horses have been referred to as Ysabellas however it’s mentioned that they take their current title from Juan de Palomino to whom Cortez introduced one.
Percheron
We don’t see draft work horses a lot any extra in America however one of many extra in style breeds it the Percheron, originating in a district of France referred to as Perche and, whereas a splendid draft horse, is a far cry from the attractive Persian breed. It’s mentioned that the Persians was referred to as a breed lengthy centuries earlier than Christ. He’s considered the ancestor of the Arabian. He was a horse of nice magnificence, filled with high quality, excessive spirited, speedy, and brave.
The pinto just isn’t a breed within the strict sense of the phrase however is acknowledged as such in America as we speak. There are two distinct patterns. Have you learnt whether or not the paint subsequent door has overo markings or whether or not it’s a tobiano? It’s straightforward — nothing to it. Simply study the patterns.
Polish Arab
Volumes have been written in regards to the Polish Arab and extra will likely be written as a result of the ability of the Poles as horse breeders and horse lovers is known and they’re nonetheless laborious at work enhancing their already very good breeding inventory. A fantastic Polish writer wrote, “having prayed to God for assist, then a horse lover does his greatest in breeding his horses and trusts extra to his personal expertise than to books.” A lot for books on breeding! Their horses have all the time been in nice demand due to their excellence. The oldest Arabian stud in Poland originated in 1506. The efforts of the Poles to guard their nice stud horses from confiscation or annihilation within the final struggle is an interesting story.
Along with the Polish Arab, Poland has the Polish Half-bred, a breed which has English Thoroughbred, Arab, or Anglo-Arab blood on a minimum of one aspect of the pedigree. He was developed to reply the agricultural want for a powerful light-weight animal of fine blood and bone.
Poland additionally had the Polish Thoroughbred, that are horses of pure English Thoroughbred inventory bred and developed in Poland. These are primarily racing inventory.
Q
Quarter Horse
The Quarter Horse is so quite a few and in style that he’ll simply get the once-over-lightly right here however it’s fascinating to notice in passing that from a genealogical standpoint the Quarter Horse begins from an English Thoroughbred, Janus, a 14-2 stallion that was in style in Virginia and North Carolina between 1756 and 1780. Janus, earlier than being dropped at america, was a race horse in England and his distance was 4 miles, most likely testifying to his descent from his Arabian ancestors. Since all Thoroughbreds hint their ancestry to a few Arabian sires, the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, and the Byerley Turk, it’s apparent that some Quarter Horse house owners could also be shocked to study that their favourite mount was as soon as simply the gleam within the eye of a discover Arabian stallion (many occasions eliminated).
R
From the glossy racy Polish Thoroughbred we flip to the heave draft horse, the Rhenish from the Rhein Province in Germany. He isn’t fairly however he’s very helpful and a really “straightforward keeper”.
S
We’ve talked about the Orlov trotting horse however Russia has a number of different breeds. They’ve the heavy-draft horse, Beetewk, the Viatka pony, the Strelets, and amongst others the Russian Saddle Horse, the latter a cross between the Orlov trotter and Arabs and English Thoroughbreds. TheRussian Steppe horse is likely one of the hardest horses recognized. They’ve nice velocity and stamina and are nice weight carriers. Historical past information the exceptional achievement of a Cossack named D. Pieszkow, who lined 6000 miles in six months on a Steppe horse over what have to be referred to as a few of the world’s worst terrain.
The Scandinavian horses embody the Fjord horse, the Gudbrandsdal, and the native ponies. Within the Baltic States are the small Esthonian or Smudish horse, the Zemaitukas. These are all cold-bloods and allow us to move on earlier than I’ve to spell them once more, although extra of the Zemaitukas later.
If you happen to’ve ever puzzled what sort of a horse it took to bear up below all that weight of knights in armour, the Schleswig horse of Germany is your reply. Later it grew to become helpful as a heavy cart horse.
Shetland
Everybody is aware of the Shetland because the smallest of all breeds of ponies however not everybody is aware of that it’s exceptional for being the strongest member of the equine household in relation to its measurement. Its origin is unknown however information of its existence within the Shetland Isles mendacity to the north of Scotland date again many centuries.
The Shire of England was one other knight-in-armour carrying horse. He’s presently a helpful agricultural horse, huge in measurement and energy.
The Spanish Jennet is the results of crossing a local Spanish horse with Barbs or Arabs. It’s well-known for its magnificence, nice docility, and obedience. The Spanish Andalusian breed goes again to the Center Ages and carried Arabian and Barb blood.
On this day of jet journey, most likely many readers of this text could have been to Kashmir and Nepal and will likely be conversant in the lengthy strings of pack-ponies traversing the Himalyans. There are two attribute breeds, the Spiti and the Bhutia. These breeds are fascinating as a result of inbreeding is practiced to maintain down the scale, the breeding normally from guardian to progeny quite than from brother to sister.
The Standardbred is the official title of American trotting and pacing horses. His ancestry traces to the Darley Arabian.
We now have talked about a number of Russian breeds however now we come to essentially the most aristocratic of all of them, the Strelet and it’s, in fact, the Russian Arabian. This breed was constructed from native mares crossed with Anglo-Arab, Turkish, Persian, or pure Arab sires. It’s named for the stud which developed it. The breed will be described as a big Arabian with all the wonderful attributes of that breed and is unaffected despite being bred for higher measurement. It’s a supreme using horse and is tremendously in demand to be used as a Russian cavalry horse.
Suffolk
The Suffolk horse or the Suffolk Punch, as he’s typically recognized, has a really particular attribute. He’s all the time chestnut in colour. One other curious characteristic of the breed is that each specimen of the breed now in existence traces its descent in direct male line in an unbroken chain to a horse foaled in 1760.
Whereas we’re talking of draft horses, Sweden has two you might not have heard about — the North Swedish hrose and the Swedish Ardennes.
T
Tarbenian
Did you ever hear of a Tarbenian horse? His description sounds good. He’s a lightweight boned horse standing about 15-hands, of fine conformation, and having lovely motion. He’s darkish brown or chestnut. His qualities, endurance, velocity, nice braveness, unexacting meals necessities and really nice intelligence make him a wonderful horse for sporting functions. The place does he dwell? On the foot of the Pyrenees. His origin will be discovered within the Iberian horse which at first of the nineteenth Century was improved by Arabian stallions imported by Napoleon Bonaparte. Throughout Napoleon’s rule an ideal many glorious Arabian stallions cam to France.
Thoroughbreds
Thoroughbreds are subsequent in alphabetical order and have been talked about at first as a breed with which everyone seems to be acquainted. But I’m wondering how a lot you do know in regards to the Thoroughbred. He’s undoubtedly the most effective recognized of all British breeds. However do you know that the English Thoroughbred is of overseas blood? Woman Wentworth writes in Horses of Britain: “The English Thoroughbred, although overseas of blood, is named English due to the very long time it has been bred and developed in England, the Thoroughbred as a result of it originated from the Arabic Kehilan of which Thoroughbred is the literal translation and which is the generic time period for the Arabian breed, that means pure-bred all by.”
Thoroughbreds hint their ancestry to a few Arabian sires and their names are well-known — the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, and the Byerly Turk. It has been recommended that these well-known horses have been put to English mares however there will be no query that the muse mares have been japanese mares and little question Arabian. That is the opinion of R. S. Summerhays, English writer of many books on the horse. One-half of all Thoroughbred horses racing in America as we speak are descendants of the Darley Arabian.
Timor
Australia and New Zealand have a pony that implies the Appaloosa in sort— the Timor. It could be any colour however one which incessantly happens is a chocolate physique, cream spots, and cream mane and tail. They’re in style for inventory work as a result of they’ll carry heavy weights, are tireless and sure-footed.
Trakehnen or Trakehner
The Trakehnen or Trakehner takes its title from the stud in East Prussia the place the breed was based in 1732 by William I of Prussia, father of Frederick the Nice. The inspiration inventory was provided partly from Royal Studs and partly by importation of high-class Arabians from Poland. This breed has been fostered with attribute German thoroughness. On the Trakehnen Stud, the service interval begins on the finish of November and foals are left with their dams till 4 ½ months previous. As 3-year-olds they go to the coaching institution the place they continue to be for a yr. When 4 they’re admitted to vigorous trials which embody searching with packs of hounds and cross nation races, over fences, banks, and open ditches. One of the best are retained on the stud for breeding. The second greatest go to the State Stud and the third class bought to non-public breedrs. Those that didn’t move are castrated. The Trakehnen Stud was destroyed throughout World Warfare II however the breed is being preserved in what’s now Poland and in Germany the place it’s recognized by the title of East Prussian.
The Byerley Turk was talked about earlier as one of many three basis sires of the Thoroughbred. He was imported into England from Turkey in 1689 though sure authorities declare that he was not a Turk however an Arab. The previous Turkoman horse was equivalent with the Mongolian horse of Higher Asia. The most common indigenous horses in Turkey are the Kurdistan ponies. It’s the customized to cross the native mares with Arabian stallions to provide the Kurdistan.
U – V
Viatka
There appears to be just one horse whose title begins with the letter V ¬— the Viatka, thought to be a Russian breed. They’re descended from the Kleppers and are an exceptionally hardy breed. They develop an immensely heavy winter coat to guard them from the bitter chilly.
W – X
Wild Horse isn’t simply the title you’ve given to some unruly beast. Wild Horse is a definite breed ± it’s the one prehistoric artists drew footage of on the partitions of caves and the identical horse exists as we speak on the highlands of Central Asia. They’re a small, pony-like creature with a big heavy head, Roman nosed, and with a tufted tail. Naturalists usually agree that it’s a distinct species referred to as equus przevalskii. Lots of the norther European breeds hint their descent or have been influenced by the Wild Horse. There are a couple of of this species on view at a number of zoological gardens — principally in Nice Britain.
Y
Vogue influences horse breeding as proven by the event of the Yorkshire Coach horse. Elegant automobiles have been showing in trendy London in about 1790 and so they created an infinite demand for an even bigger, lighter, and extra flashy horse. Consequently, they crossed the Thoroughbred and the Cleveland Bay, infused Arab and Barb blood, and got here up with the sturdy handsome Yorkshire Coach. He’s quick dying out now as a result of who has a coach as of late apart from the Queen of England and the Broadmoor Resort?
Z
We end the alphabet with three Z’s — the Zebra, the Zeeland horse, and the Zemaitukas. The Zebra — a time period that means striped — is the cousin of the horse. It isn’t a breed of the horse household however the descriptive title given to the three distinct species of equus. The Zebra is a singularly uncooperative animal and we go away him to the zoo to deal with.
The Zeeland horse goes again to earliest occasions. He’s a product of the Netherlands and was remarked upon by the Romans in the course of the invasion of the Low Lands by Julius Caesar. The Emperor Napoleon used them throughout his marketing campaign in Russia and so they have been used extensively in World Warfare I. They’re nonetheless extremely popular as an agricultural horse.
The final “Z” is the Zemaitukas of Lithuania. They’re a really historical horse of two foremost ancestral strains. The Tartar pony of the Steppes and the Arabian. It is likely one of the hardest horses to be discovered because of the legislation of survival of the fittest. They have been referred to as a definite breed way back to the thirteenth Century; the horses getting used for cavalry mounts within the guerilla warfare that was so in style in that period. They have been famend for his or her endurance, nearly indestructible legs and ft, and their means to dwell, because the saying goes, on the scent of the grain bag.
We’ve now gone from A to Z. We started with an outstanding horse, the Akhal-Teke and ended with an outstanding horse, the Zemaitukas. We’ve glimpsed very good horses all over the alphabet and in that transient look we’ve had a startling conclusion emerge — that we had higher take a very good have a look at the Arabian horse. He has been the muse inventory or had contributed to the founding of a minimum of 50 breeds of horses. The Arabian appears to be the important ingredient of any recipe designed the enhance the “equine soup”.
This text was initially revealed within the April 1963 concern of Western Horseman.
