Horse breeds

American Saddlebred

light breed, U.S, elegant, bred for show rings, very alert, carry head high, small elegant head set on long muscular neck, chestnut and bay colors, 15 to 16 hands, gaited

American Saddlebred

Arabian

light breed, oldest purebred, exceptional beauty, compact and muscular body, legs slender but strong, stamina, intelligence, ability to survive on sparse diet, gay-spirited; may bred have Arabian blood, mostly solid color, silky mane and tail, small chiseled features with dished face face, long arched neck, big eyes, small ears point inward, short bodied, run with high tail set 14-15 hands, great ability to carry weight, uses:show, endurance, trail riding, racing

arabian

lipizzaner

light breed, docility, intelligence, compact, athletic, strong back, quarters, short, strong legs,15-15.2 hands, predominant color is grey (some bays, brown occur), foals born black and take up to 10 years to become gray, mature slowly, dressage, driving, riding, docile and ideal for crossing with other more highly strung breeds

lipizzaner

morgan

light breed, named after 2nd owner, 14.1-15.2 hands, good conformation, strong, attractive head set, thick mane and tail, most commonly shown under saddle and in harness, exceptionally active, versatile horse with boundless stamina and kind nature, bay, brown, chestnut, black colors, never much white, uses: endurance, dressage buggy

Morgan

Quarter Horse

light breed, North America most popular, all-purpose horse but excelled when raced over short distance, QH developed toward cutting cattle (bc TB), attractive, agile, tough, intelligent, fast compact, powerful hind quarters, thick mane and tail,14.3-16 hands, sorrel or any solid color, uses: pleasure, racing, tailing, cow-ponies, cutting, reining, barrels, rodeos

Quarter Horse

American Standardbred

light breed, TB, hackney, Arab and morganatic bloodlines, one of the world’s finest harness race horses- pacers or trotters, courageous, tough, plain headed, powerful hindquarters, action free and straight, 15 and 16 hands, most are bay color, uses: trotters, pacers, not good pleasure horses, amish buggy

American Standardbred

Thoroughbred

light breed, fine head set on elegant neck, deep girth, powerful quarters and strong legs with plenty of bone, fastest horse in the world, 15.2-17.2 hands (ave 16.1), chestnut, bay or brown colors, need good care, high spirited, uses: racing, dressage, polo, hunters, jumpers, steeple chase

Thoroughbred

Appaloosa

light breed, skin of nose, lips, and genitals is mottled and there is white sclera around eyes, feet are often vertically striped, mane and tail are sparse, 14-16 hands, compact horse with powerful hindquarters, very agile, exceptionally tractable disposition, possesses both speed and stamina, uses: general, pleasure, circus, racing jumping

appaloosa leopard- dark spots on white background

appaloosa snowflake- light spots on dark background

appaloosa blanket- spots on the quarters and loins only

appaloosa marble

appaloosa frost

Paint/ pinto

light breed, color breed since color patterns tend to carry over if crossed with other breeds, thus all sizes and color patterns, all purpose saddle horse, 14-15.2 hands

paint horse- tobiano

dominant gene, white coat with dark patches, white usually starts on back and goes down body.color crosses in between withers and tail

paint horse- overo

recessive gene, dark coat with white patches, white starts on belly and extends up; from withers to tail, white will rarely cross

Tennessee walking horse

light breed, flat foot walk, running walk, and rocking chair canter, their feet may overreach each other by up to 18 inches, high tail carriage, good tempered, good conformation with extremely strong shoulders and limbs 15 to 16 hands, usually black in color (bay or chestnut) gaited

Tennessee walking horse

belgian

draft horse/cold bloods, color is sorrel to chestnut with creamy white mane and tail, legs lighter, quiet, docile, very muscular, very popular, not as fancy as leg action, number one draft breed, 16 to 17 hands

belgian

Clydesdale

draft horse, bay or brown color (occasional grey or black) with extensive white on head and all 4 legs above knees and hocks, much feathering on legs, less massive wise, known for its spirited action, and good temperament, extreme flexion of knees and hocks, number 3 draft horse

clydesdale

English shire

draft horse, black color predominant, some bay, brown, and grey, one of the largest horses in the world 17-18 hands, immensely strong, big barreled (girth 6-8 feet) horse with long feathery legs; fine head compared to overall size, small amount of white is common on head and legs, slight roman common nose, capable of moving 5x its weight, gentle and good worker, popular show horse

English shire

percheron

draft horse, more highly strung horse, needing more careful handling, well portioned, grey or black, stands 15.2-17 hands, beauty and grace, fine head for horse, combines stamina and endurance, similar but lighter than Belgians, less feathery, number 2 draft horse.

percheron

American Shetland Pony

pony, 11.2 hands, Shetland pony crossed with hackney pony to produce slightly larger pony, most commonly black, but any color, abundant supply of mane and tail, popular as children’s pony

American Shetland Pony

Fjord Pony

Przewalski’s Horse

wild horse, last remaining wild species of horse, smaller, more robust build, upright mane and low-set tail, dorsal stripes, buckskin coloring

Przewalski’s Horse

Haflinger Pony

hardy mountain breed, placid temperament, sure-footed (beginning riders) rarely exceeds 14.2 hands, always chestnut color, flaxen mane and tail

Haflinger Pony

Pony of the Americas (POA)

cross of shetland stallion and appaloosa mare, children’s pony, must be 11.2-13 hands to be a POA, any of 6 appaloosa colors, willing, active, versatile, easy, head small and large eyes, and small ears, jumping classes, trail rides, and racing

Pony of the Americas (POA

Miniature Horse

actually a miniature horse, cross of small TB with small shetland and therefore inbreeding, miniature gene is dominant, kept as pets, show animals

Miniature Horse

Donkey

Mule

mare x donkey (jack)

Mule

Hinney

Jenny x stallion

Hinney

gaits

trotter- move with diagonal gait (left front move with right back and vice versa) hard to train. pacer- sides move together (left front and back together right front and back together)

warmbloods- European sport horses

Hanoverian, Oldenburg, trakehner, gelderlander

how to measure horses? what does 1 hand equal in inches?

with hands, one hand = 4 inches

what are gaited breeds?

horse breeds that have selective breeding for natural gaited tendencies; ex American saddlebred and Tennessee walking horse

lethal white syndrome or overo lethal white

not curable but can be prevented through genetic testing and responsible breeding. occurs when two horses with gene mate and have offspring (overo x overo)

coronet

heel

half pastern

pastern

sock/ankle

half stocking

stocking

high stocking

star

snip

star and stripe

blaze

what categories of breeds are there?

light breed, draft horses(cold blood), European sport horse (warm blood), ponies (under 14.2 hands; 14 hands and 2 inches), miniature horses, donkey/mules/hinneys

what does the order Perissodactyla include

equidae (horses, zebras, asses), taparidae (tapirs), rhinocerotidae (rhinoceroses)

taxonomy of horse

order- perissodactyl, family- equidae, genus- equus, species- caballus

what are the two vestigial evolutionary structures?

ergot, chestnuts

how are the vestigial evolutionary structures visible today with cats or dogs?

ergot- metacarpal pad on dogs and cats, chestnut- carpal pad on dogs and cats

difference between feral and wild

feral has domesticated ancestors, wild doesn’t. they are truly wild.

feral example

American mustang

wild example

Przewalski’s horse

sorrel, chestnut

red coat

black coloring

Black mane, tail, coat, very dark all together. Maybe leg or face marking of white.

brown coloring

Dark brown, similar to black coloring. The line between black and brown coloring is faded

bay coloring

Brown coat color with a black mane, tail, and legs.

buckskin coloring

Similar to a bay with black mane, tail, and legs however their coat color is much lighter, like a tan color.

red roan

Have a red mane and tail and a roan pattern across their coat that is a mix of red and white.

blue roan

Roan coat pattern with white and a blue tint color, they also have a dark mane and tail, almost black.

bay roan

Black mane, tail, and legs with a roan pattern of white and black/dark brown.

palomino

Very light mane and tail, black skin, dark tan coat color

cremello/perlino

double diluted palominos, very pale coat coloring

red dun coloring

red coloring with dorsal stripe down back

dun

dorsal stripe down back

grullo

Sandy-gray coat color with dark legs, a dark nose, a dark mane and tail, and a dorsal stripe.

gray

black skin with white fur

White coloring

pink skin, white fur, rare

types of restraint

chemical and physical (typically go together)

type of restraint depends on…

temperament, age, procedure, experience and abilities

quick release knot

way to tie animal and can quickly be released if needed, can’t do too much with this

physical- lifting leg

good when trying to work on limbs, sometimes horse will repeatedly lift leg and make things hard. choose to lift the opposite or other limb to force them to stay on limb

shoulder twitch

physical, short term, takes attention off for a second. may help keep feet on ground, grab skin in front of shoulder (2 hands) and roll it and horse gets submissive

lip twitch

physical, not for every horse, some won’t tolerate, works by giving a distraction (pain) and endorphin release. put on upper lip and twist it and once secure give it to handler

types of lip twitch

rope and stick, self retaining “humane” small plastic (can slip off), rope twitch that attaches to halter

chain lead

can go over nose (increased pressure on nose), can go under jaw (to keep head up but doesn’t help much), can go under upper lip gum chain (most aggressive)

ear twist

grab ear and twist

hobbles- front limbs

keeps horse from moving away in fright, helps keep still

hobble

hobble for one leg