Animals

The Arabian or Arab horse is a breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in the world.

It is one of the oldest horse breeds, with archaeological evidence of horses that resemble modern Arabians dating back 4,500 years. Throughout history, Arabian horses spread around the world by both war and trade, used to improve other breeds by adding speed, refinement, endurance, and strong bone. Today, Arabian bloodlines are found in almost every modern breed of riding horse.
The Arabian (or Arab) is a horse of exceptional beauty, elegance, grace, intelligence, balance, agility, speed and stamina. This magnificient horse breed has been the inspiration for legends, artists, fantasies and little girls everywhere.
Many historians have been associated with the beauitful Arabian horse including Alexander the Great.

The Arabian is a versatile breed. Arabians dominate the discipline of endurance riding, and compete today in many other fields of equestrian activity. They are one of the top ten most popular horse breeds in the world. Arabian horses are now found worldwide, including the United States and Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, continental Europe, South America (especially Brazil), and its land of origin, the Middle East.

Arabians are hot-blooded horses and some people think they are hard to deal with. Despite some common beliefs, Arabs can develop a deep bond with their owners and seem to put heart into pleasing them as long as they are fairly treated and understood. Don’t forget that for many years these horses depended on their owners for survival and have been domesticated longer than any other breed. With proper training Arabians can be very effectionate and become great horses.

The wonderful Appaloosa horse was the result of selective breeding by the Nez Perce Indians of Idaho, Northeast Oregon, and Southeast Washington. They based the breed on Spanish stock. The word “Appaloosa” came from the Palouse River, which runs through the area. These spotted horses were mentioned in Lewis and Clark’s journal from their 1806 expedition.

The breed almost died out after the U.S. calvary slaughtered the Indian’s horses after chasing the tribe into the Bear Paw mountains of Montana. In 1938, a group of concerned horse people in Moscow, Idaho began a registry, the Appaloosa Horse Club, to save the breed. It now has the third largest registry in the world.

Probably the Appaloosa’s most distinguishing feature is its spotted coat, which can be found in various patterns. The more common patterns are a dark body color with light spots (snowflake), and a white body with dark spots (leopard).

Appaloosa horses are known for four identifiable characteristics: coat pattern, mottled skin, white sclera and striped hooves. With coat patterns, countless numbers of color and pattern combinations exist. Base coat colors include bay, brown, black, buckskin, grulla, dun, palomino, cremello/perlino, chestnut, bay roan, blue roan and red roan. Appaloosa coat patterns include leopard, snowflake, blanket, marbleized and frost. Appaloosas range from 14.2 to 16 hands high.

Appaloosas are known for their quiet temperament. They are versatile, able jumpers, and do well in Western events and three day eventing. They make good trail and long distance riders.

A pony is a small type of horse that stands less than 14.2 hands high. This doesn’t mean that a midget horse is automatically a pony. Ponies are members of distinctive breeds, and you get a pony by breeding two ponies.

There are numerous breeds from all around the world. In the show ring, ponies are divided into three height classes: up to 12.2 hands high, up to 13.2 hands high, and up to 14.2 hands.

The Shetland Pony
This is the one that most people seem to think of when they here the word pony. These are really short ponies, usually about 11 hands tall – great for small children. They come in many colors.

Welsh Pony
There are actually 4 kinds of welsh ponies, the Welsh Mountain Pony, the Welsh Pony, the Welsh Pony of Cob Type, and the Welsh Cob. These are listed from the shortest to the tallest.

Pony of the Americas
These originated by crossing the Appaloosa and the Shetland pony, and usually have Appaloosa markings. These are good ponies for kids. They are commonly referred to as a POA.

Connemara Pony
This is a refined looking-pony, one of the taller ones and so is suitable for many adults. The Connemara makes an excellent jumping pony.

Chincoteague Pony
The Chincoteague is a feral pony living on two islands off the Virginia coast. First discovered there in the late 1700′s, the herds are managed by the Chincoteague fire department, who rounds them up the ones on Assateague Island on the fourth of July, and swims them across the little stretch of ocean to Chincoteague Island for auction.
This is a rather stubborn pony, but they are broken for riding. They come in all colors, with pinto being the most common.

Other Ponies
American Walking Pony
Australian Pony
Dales Pony
Dartmoor Pony
Dulmen
Exmoor Pony
Falabella
Fell Pony
Gotland
Highland
Icelandic Horse
Merens
New Forest Pony
Norwegian Fjord
Prezlwalski’s Horse
Rocky Mountain Pony
Tarpan