Equine Breeds

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Equine Breeds

• Equine Science Technology

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Equine Breeds

• Feral- a horse that was once domesticated and has
  become wild.
• A breed of horse may be defined as a group of
  horses having a common origin and possessing
  certain well-fixed distinctive, uniformly
  transmitted characteristics that are not common
  to other horses.

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Equine Breeds

• Draft horses are large and usually 14 to over 17
  hands in height and over 1,500 lb. in weight.
• They are sometimes referred to as cold-blood
  horses.
• The term refers to the quiet, calm temperament of
  these breeds.

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Equine Breeds

• Draft Horse Breeds
• Belgian
• The Belgian breed originated in Belgium.
• Directly descended from the Old Flemish ancestry.
• Bay, chestnut, and roan are the most common
  colors.
• The Belgian is noted for its draftiness, being
  the widest, deepest, most compact, most massive,
  and lowest set of any draft breed.

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Equine Breeds

• Clydesdale
• This Scotch breed of draft horse derives its name
  from the valley of the River Clyde, located in
  Scotland.
• Weight ranges from 1,600 to 2,400 lbs. and stands
  from 16 to 19 hands in height.
• The breed is known for a moderate amount of fine
  feather or long hair at the rear of the legs
  below the knees and hocks.

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Equine Breeds

• Clydesdale
• Bay and brown, with white markings are the most
  characteristic colors.

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Equine Breeds

• Percheron
• The Percheron originated in northwestern France,
  in the ancient district of La Perche.
• Most Percherons are black or gray, with an
  occasional bay or chestnut.
• Percheron is noted for its handsome clean-cut
  head, excellent temperament, and longevity.

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Equine Breeds

• Shire
• The Shire breed originated on the low, marshy
  lands of East central England.
• The great size and bulk of this breed are derived
  directly from the Great Horse of the Middle Ages.
• The Shire is taller than any other draft breed.
• Common colors are bay, brown, and black with
  white markings.

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Equine Breeds

• A light horse is usually 12 to 17 hands in height
  and weighs 900 to 1,400 lbs. They are usually
  used for riding, showing, and racing.
• A pony, on the other hand is smaller, usually
  less than 14.2 hands and weighing 500 to 900 lbs.

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Equine Breeds

• Pony Breeds
• Haflinger
• Shetland
• Welsh Pony
• Dales Pony
• Exmoor Pony

Exmoor Pony
Dales Pony
Haflinger
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Equine Breeds

• American Walking Pony
• Breed originated near Macon, Georgia from a
  foundation cross of Tennessee Walking Horse and
  Welsh Pony.
• Used for pleasure riding and as mounts for
  children and small adults.
• All colors accepted.

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Equine Breeds

• Shetland Pony
• Native to the Shetland Islands, which lie 100
  miles north of Scotland.
• One of the oldest breeds in existence
• All colors accepted.

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Equine Breeds

• Light Horse Breeds
• Akhal-Teke
• American Crème Horse
• American Curly
• American Mustang
• American Walking Pony
• American Warmblood

Akhal-Teke
American Mustang
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Equine Breeds

• Light Horse Breeds
• Appaloosa
• Arabian
• Buckskin
• Cleveland Bay
• Cracker Horse
• Dutch Warmblood

Arabian
Buckskin
Cleveland Bay
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Equine Breeds

• Light Horse Breeds
• Hackney
• Lipizzan
• Miniature Horse
• Missouri Fox Trotter
• Morab
• Morgan
• Norwegian Fjord

Lipizzan
Morgan
Norwegian Fjord
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Equine Breeds

• Light Horse Breeds
• Paint
• Palomino
• Paso Fino
• Pinto
• Pony of the Americas
• Quarter Horse
• Saddlebred

Paso Fino
Saddlebred
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Equine Breeds

• Light Horse Breeds
• Selle Francais
• Standardbred
• Dan Patch Story
• Tennessee Walking Horse
• Thoroughbred
• Trakehner

Selle Francais
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Equine Breeds

• The males of the ass family are called jacks, and
  the females jennets.
• Asses are also commonly known as donkeys, burros,
  or jackstock.
• Long-Eared Breeds
• Mammoth Ass
• Standard Donkey
• Miniature Donkey
• Mule

Miniature Donkey
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Equine Breeds

• Appaloosa
• Originated in the United States- in Oregon,
  Washington, and Idaho from animals that first
  came from Central Asia.
• Ancestors of the Appaloosa were introduced into
  Mexico by the early Spanish explorers.
• For many years Appaloosa horses were owned by the
  Nez Perce.

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Equine Breeds

• Appaloosa
• Appaloosas may be black, bay, brown, chestnut,
  white with dark spots over the loin and hips,
  white with dark spots over the entire body, or
  mottled dark and white, or with white spots over
  a dark body.
• The eye is encircled by a white sclera, and the
  hooves are stripped vertically black and white.

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Equine Breeds

• Arabian
• The foundation stock of the Arabian horse was
  obtained from either the Egyptians or the Libyan
  tribes of northern Africa.
• Oldest breed of horses, and the foundation head
  of all other light horse breeds.
• Develop in the desert country of Arabia.
• The Arabian breed is medium to small in size, has
  a beautiful head and great endurance.

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Equine Breeds

• Arabian
• Predominating colors are bay, gray, and chestnut,
  with an occasional white or black.

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Equine Breeds

• Morgan
• Known as the first family of American horses.
• The early development of the breed took place in
  the New England states.
• Standard colors are bay, brown, black, chestnut
  and white markings are not uncommon.
• The breed is noted for easy keeping qualities
  stamina, docility, beauty, courage, and
  longevity.
• Morgan blood was used in laying the foundation of
  many breeds.

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Equine Breeds

• Quarter Horse
• Quarter horses originated in the United States.
• The Quarter horse is an ideal stock horse.
• The most predominant colors of the breed are
  chestnut, sorrel, bay, and dun. Palominos,
  blacks, browns, and roans are not uncommon.

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Equine Breeds

• Quarter Horse
• Animals are disqualified for registration if they
  have paint, pinto, appaloosa, or albino coloring.

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Equine Breeds

• Thoroughbred
• The history of the thoroughbred had its beginning
  in the 17th century, though the original lineage
  of the breed is as old as civilization.
• All U.S. Thoroughbreds are registered in the
  Jockey Club, established in 1894. Membership in
  the club is by election.
• Thoroughbreds are bay, brown, chestnut, black, or
  less frequently gray.

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Equine Breeds

• Thoroughbred
• About one-third of the nations Thoroughbreds are
  bred in Kentucky.
• Racing and the unquestioned value of the
  Thoroughbred for crossbreeding purposes assure
  the breed a bright future.

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Equine Breeds

• Paint Horse
• The paint horse represents a combination of
  breeding, conformation and color.
• Paint horses originated in the United States.
• Paint horses are distinguished by two color
  patterns- they must either be overo or tobiano.
• Most tobianos have color on the head, chest and
  flanks and some in the tail. The legs are nearly
  always white.

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Equine Breeds

• Paint Horse
• The overo often has jagged or lacy-edged white
  markings, mostly on the midsection of the body
  and neck area.

Overo
Tobiano
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Equine Breeds

• Buckskin
• Buckskin horses originated in the United States
  largely from horses of Spanish extraction.
• Buckskin is a shade of yellow that may range from
  gold to nearly brown-dun, red dun, or grulla
  (mouse dun).
• The Buckskin is primarily a color breed with no
  particular type favored.

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Equine Breeds

• Palomino
• The word palomino implies a horse of a golden
  color, with white, silver, or ivory mane and
  tail.
• Originally, Palominos were not considered either
  a breed or a type but simply as a color.
• Palomino horses originated in the United States
  from animals of Spanish extraction.

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Equine Breeds

• Palomino
• Palominos are used as a stock, parade, pleasure,
  saddle, and fine harness horses.

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Equine Breeds

• Tennessee Walking Horse
• Early settlers from Virginia brought the sturdy
  original saddle stock to Tennessee.
• The breed represents an amalgamation of the
  Thoroughbred, Standardbred, Morgan, and American
  Saddlebred breeds.
• A great array of colors exists, including sorrel,
  chestnut, black, roan, white, bay, brown, gray,
  and golden.

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Equine Breeds

• Tennessee Walking Horse
• An ideal horse for the amateur or the person who
  rides infrequently.

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Equine Breeds

• Miniature Horse
• The miniature horse is a small model of a full
  sized horse it is not a dwarf.
• Miniatures horses were used in England and
  Northern Europe to pull ore carts in the coal
  mines as early as 1765.
• They were also bred as pets for some of the royal
  families of Europe.
• Miniature horses cannot exceed 34 in. in height
  at the withers.

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Equine Breeds

• Miniature Horse
• All colors are accepted.

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Equine Gaits

• A gait is a particular way of going, either
  natural or acquired which is characterized by a
  distinctive rhythmic movement of the feet and
  legs.
• Walk
• A natural slow, flat footed, four beat gait.
• It should be springy, regular, and true.

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Equine Gaits

• Trot
• A natural two-beat, diagonal gait in which the
  front foot and the opposite hind foot take off at
  the same split second and strike the ground
  simultaneously.
• There is a brief moment when all four feet are
  off the ground and the horse seemingly floats
  through the air.
• This gait varies considerably according to breed
  and training.

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Equine Gaits

• Canter (Lope)
• The canter is a slow, restrained, three-beat gait
  in which the two diagonal legs are paired,
  thereby producing a single beat that falls
  between the successive beats of the other
  unpaired legs.
• In the show-ring the lead should be toward the
  inside of the ring. Thus when traveling to the
  left, the front leg should lead (the horse is on
  the left lead).

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Equine Gaits

• Run (Gallop)
• The run or gallop is a fast, four beat gait in
  which the feet strike the ground separately-
  first one hind foot then the other hind foot
  then the front foot on the same side as the first
  hind foot then the other front foot, which
  decided the lead.
• In executing the gallop, the propulsion is
  chiefly in the hindquarters.

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Equine Gaits

• Pace
• The pace is a fast, lateral two-beat gait in
  which the front and hind feet on the same side
  start and stop simultaneously.
• The feet rise very little above the ground.
• The pace is faster than the trot but not so fast
  as the run or gallop.

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Equine Gaits

• Movement Defects
• The feet of an animal should move straight ahead
  and parallel to a centerline drawn in the
  direction of travel any deviations from this way
  of going constitute defects.
• Forging
• The striking of the forefoot by the toe of the
  hind foot.

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Equine Gaits

• Movement Defects
• Paddling
• Throwing the front feet outward as they are
  picked up.
• This condition is predisposed in horses with
  toe-narrow or pigeon-toed standing positions.

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Equine Gaits

• Pounding
• A condition in which there is a heavy contact
  with the ground in contrast to the desired light,
  springy movement.
• Defects in conformation that shift the horses
  center of gravity can lead to pounding.
• Rolling
• Excessive lateral shoulder motion, characteristic
  of horses with protruding shoulders.