Fun Trivia » Animals » Horses » Horse Breeds

The Hackney pony and horse are registered as separate breeds, the pony standing between 12 and 14 hands high (hh), and the horse from 14.2 to 16.2hh. Both have a distinctive high knee action in trot and a Hackney in full flow is a memorable sight. Surprisingly few have been registered with their breed societies in recent years but hopefully they will be with us for many years to come. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Norfolk Trotter, Andalusian, Lippizaner

According to the Friesian Horse Society, all purebred examples of the breed today can trace their ancestry back to a single stallion, Nemo 51. He was born in 1885, but the breed as a whole is much older. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Denmark, Germany, Italy

A prehistoric breed, the Camargue is technically a pony due to its size (about the size of a New Forest or Connemara Pony). It is still a crucial horse to the "cowboys" of the Camargue delta. In the age of Romans the horses were believed to be direct descendants of the goddess Venus, and their white coats to be from the seawater she was risen from.

The Ariegeois is also a French breed, but always has a black coat and is used mainly as a pack horse in mountainous regions. The skogsruss, or Gotland pony, is an ancient Swedish breed believed to be a direct descendant of the Tarpan. The Hucul is a Polish pony, mostly used for farm work. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Ariegeois, Skogsruss, Hucul

Marwaris come in all colours, including piebald and skewbald, and range from 14.2 to 16hands. Horses with curved ears have been seen in cave paintings since 2000 BC! Difficulty: Hard.

 

Lusitano, Quarter Horse, Kiso

The Welsh Mountain Pony is descended from Celtic horses. They are twelve hands high and every color but piebald (patches of white and black) and skewbald (patches of white on brown). The stud book classifies the Welsh ponies into four sections: the Welsh Mountain pony, the Welsh Merlin, the Welsh pony, and the Welsh Cob. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Karabakh, Arab, Lippizaner

The New Forest is in the county of Hampshire on the South Coast of England. The forest is a National Park and the area includes heathland, ancient woodland and sand dune areas. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Northern England, Wales, Scotland

Most people have heard of Friesian cattle, but not so many have heard of Friesian horses. They both come from 'Friesland' in the Netherlands. Friesian horses are mostly known for their black coat colouring, but are also distinguishable by their wavy manes and long feathers. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Friesianland, Felland, Finland

Archaeological excavations show that Norwegian fjord horses were first bred in Norway over 4000 years ago. Difficulty: Average.

 

France, Greenland, Canada

They come in a variety of sizes, ranging from 14-17 hands, and are of Spanish ancestry. They were almost wiped out by ranchers, and some federal agencies. The only reason this breed survived was because a small band was fenced in on the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. While the National Park Service still tried to wipe out this herd of horses, laws protecting wild and free-roaming horses and burros stopped the slaughter.

The Nokota is a highly athletic horse, good for jumping, endurance riding, and pleasure riding. They come primarily in blue roan (white and black hairs evenly mixed together) and gray. They can also be any other color. Difficulty: Hard.

The Balearic pony is usually bay or brown in colour. As it is so rare, not much is known about this breed. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Brumby, Barb, Bhutia

The Comtois is a light draft horse. It's one of the older breeds, thought to originate from horses brought into France by the Burgundians around the 4th century. In the 16th century, the Comtois was used to improve the horses of Burgundy, and was used as a cavalry and artillery horse.

The Comtois is a short draft horse, averaging around 14.3 hands. Its color is any variation of the chestnut, with a flaxen mane and tail. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Percheron, Selle Francais, Friesian

The Thoroughbred originated in 17th century England. The Thoroughbred is a product of English racing mares and Arabian stallions. Most people are familiar with the three founding stallions, the Godolphin Arabian, the Byerly Turk and the Darly Arabian. Difficulty: Hard.

 

United States of America, France, Arabia

Friesians are mostly black and are not allowed to be used for breeding if they have a marking bigger than a five cent piece. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Clydesdale, Draught horse, Palomino

The TWH is a gaited breed known for its "rocking chair" canter, which is a collected gallop. While doing the running walk, the TWH can quickly outdistance many other horses without spending much energy.

The TWH can come in many colors, both solid and paint. It can also range from 14.2 to 17 hands. Difficulty: Average.

 

Peruvian Paso, American Saddlebred, Morgan

This breed registry has been in existence since 1981, thanks to a group of Southern California ranchers. The cross itself has been crossed for years before this, due to its versatility as a pony. It's been known to hunt, to jump, and to do harness work (such as competitively pulling a carriage), English pleasure and endurance riding.

The Welara can come in any color but appaloosa. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Arash pony, Arab-Welsh pony, Welbian pony

The Cleveland Bay comes from North East England and was originally bred as a pack horse and known as the Chapman horse - a name derived from the packmen and pedlars (or chapmen) who used them. These Chapman horses were bred to Arabian Barbs to produce a more powerful horse, known as the Yorkshire coach horse. The breed today still has two types, with the Chapman being a finer and smaller animal. They are always bay in colour though.

The advent of the car and the tractor saw a decline in the numbers of the Cleveland Bay but they are making a come-back (though still on the Rare Breeds critical list) and are popular again as carriage horses. They are also being being bred with other types such as thoroughbreds to produce competition horses for pursuits such as dressage, show jumping and eventing.

For more information visit www.clevelandbay.com Difficulty: Hard.

 

Hackney, Shire, Clydesdale

The Spanish Riding School is considered to be the "Harvard" of the equestrian world. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Australia, Italy, Mexico

This pony breed is found on the islands of Assateague and Chincoteague. Shetland and Welsh pony blood has been introduced and has greatly improved this little-known breed. Today, they are mainly feral ponies. On a disposition scale of 1-4, 4 being calmest, this pony breed would rate about a two. They may play-up at times and are usually placid. Difficulty: Average.

 

Thoroughbred, Boulonnais, Chinese Guoxia

Today, these horses are normally used as riding horses.
Difficulty: Hard.

 

heavier, smarter, more skittish

The Clydesdale originated in Scotland. They were developed in Lanarkshire, which was known historically as Clydesdale, when imported Flemish stallions were mated in native mares to increase their size. Difficulty: Hard.

 

USA, Ireland, New Zealand

The RMH originated in Kentucky around the early 20th century. A man named Sam Tuttle, who was an avid horseman, owned a stallion which is now in the bloodlines of many RMH's today. The breed is named the "Rocky Mountain Horse" because the breed was created using a local mare and a stallion that originally came from the Rockies. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Florida, Michigan, Virginia

The Icelandic horse's name is true to its country of origin. Developed in 865 A.D., the Icelandic horse is around 12 to 14.2 hands high. Difficulty: Average.

 

Wales, England, Greenland

Although located in the Austrian-Hungarian empire when the horses resided there, after the dissolution of the empire in 1917 the town reverted to Italy, and the horses were divided between the Italian, Czechoslovakian, and Austrian governments. The town is in Slovenia, near the Italian border, and is known as Lipica in Slovenian or Lipizza in Italian. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Spain, Hungary, Portugal

The World's Championships have been held at the KY State Fair since 1917. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Missouri State Fair, The Olympics, American Royal

Many other groups were known to raise Arabians, but the Bedouin is the best known. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Dedanite, Lihyanite, Quraysh

The Australian stock horse is a strong, compact animal that can thrive on poor grazing, much like its feral Waler ancestry. Though being replaced by motor vehicles they are still used for rounding up ('mustering' if you're an Aussie) stock in mountainous terrain. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Brumby, Coffin Bay pony, Bernborough Horse

A group of females is called a harem. A stallion will not head the herd until he is about 6 years old. (Wild! America and National Geographic Explorer) Difficulty: Hard.

 

Pride, Herd of females, The girls club

The Cleveland Bay breed can trace its roots back to the 17th century when it was a general purpose ride and drive animal on many farms. It stands up to 16.2hh and is always bay in colour with only a small white star permissible. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Thoroughbred, Hanoverian, Quarterhorse

The Camargue is usually white and is one of the oldest horse breeds in the world. It can be found living wild in the swamps of southern France, and was traditionally ridden by the French version of cowboys, herding bulls for French bullfights. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Kiso, Sandan, Mecklenburger

Every Suffolk horse has ancestry to one stallion, the "Horse of Ufford", owned by Thomas Crisp. Crisp described his horse as being "chesnut", and that is why all Suffolk Punches, while being chestnut, are called "chesnut". Difficulty: Hard.

 

Shire, Jutland, Breton

The Nez Perce Indians lived near the Palouise river. The Indians named the horse breed A Paloulse and the name evolved into Appaloosa. When the Nez Perce indians were captured in 1877, the army confiscated the horses and bred them. Appaloosa is now one of six most popular horse breeds in North America. The Appaloosa breed of horse can come in six color patterns: leopard, frost, snowflake, marble, spotted blanket, and white blanket. The horses are fourteen to sixteen hands high and descendants of the Andalusian breed. Difficulty: Hard.

 

The name came from the owner's last name, The town where the horse was born, The horse loved apples

The Pony of America and Knabstrup are all Appaloosa colored with small spots all over or just on the rump. The Paint has bigger spots that are arranged in all different patterns. The Suffolk Punch isn't a colored horse and it wouldn't be the best choice as a show horse. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Paint, Pony of the Americas, Knabstrup

The American Curly Horse is known for its curly mane, tail and coat, and for curls inside its ears. It's also known for the smooth lateral gait (which is also called a shuffling gait.) Curlies, as they are called, range from 14.3-15.2 hands, and the color can range from solid colors, to spots, to paint and pinto colorings. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Spotted coat, Curly mane and tail (does not include coat), Curls inside of the ears

The Postier Breton are quite elegant and they have a little feathering on their lower legs. The Breton Draft horses are bigger than the Postier. As their name suggests, the Small Brenton Draft are a smaller version of the Brenton Draft. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Boulonnais, Bosnian, Burma

Sampson was renamed Mammoth when his adult size became apparent. His height is recorded as over seven feet (21.2 hands) and his weight was estimated at over 3,300 lbs. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Brabant, Clydesdale, Belgian

It's not known whether the Nez Perce developed the spotted breed, or if the Spanish Conquistadors or Russian traders brought the horse to America. What is known, though, is that the Nez Perce developed the breed to perfection. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Navajo, Ojibwa, Chippewa

Many desert tribes believed this horse was a gift from God. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Appaloosa, Akhal Teke, Hungarian

If you go to a Saddlebred show, you'll find the announcer calling for the specific gaits, called the rack, the foxtrot, the running walk and the slow pace. At the show I went to, when the announcer called for the rack, he called out "Ladies and gentlemen, time to go for the doctor!" The horses raced around the arena in the rack.

The American Saddlebred is also a known western horse, and several famous horses were saddlebreds. One famous Saddlebred was Robert E Lee's horse Traveller. Difficulty: Hard.

The National Show Horse, or NSH, is a cross between the American Saddlebred and the Arabian. The NSH is a gaited horse, and like the AS, can be either three or five gaited. The NSH can be any color but appaloosa.

In August 1989, the NSH had a registry of their own.

Difficulty: Hard.

 

American Arabian, Arabian Saddlebred, Anglo-Arab Saddlebred

The Exmoor pony is said to have first been described in the Domesday book. It is a very hardy, tough little pony (11.3 - 12.3 hh) and is said to be largely unchanged for the last 10,000 years because of their similarity to ponies seen in cave paintings. They are always bay, brown or dun and must have no white on them. The mealy muzzle is a greying, grizzled appearance around the mouth and nose and the toad eyes refers to a rather fleshy upper eyelid which is thought to help keep the rain out of their eyes during the wet moorland winters. They also have a weatherproof coat and a snow-chute on the top of the tail.

The true Exmoor declined seriously and is still endangered but it has increased in popularity as a riding and driving pony and is now making a come-back. For more information visit

www.exmoorponysociety.org.uk/home Difficulty: Hard.

 

Dartmoor, Shetland, Highland