Breed References

A black horse welcomes owners and lovers of the following breeds. Quarter Horse, Thoroughbred horse, Appalloosa horse ,saddlebred horse, Morgan horse, .Friesen horse, Renai horse, National show horse, Dutch Harness Horse, and all other equine breeds and we hope that these owners and enthusiasts of these equestrian breeds, will participate and make a black horse their home. If any people from these breeds wish to provide a link on this page just email us by clicking contact us below.

We have instituted a prize money pool program that is available to different breed organizations. If you are part of any particular breed and would like to learn more about this program have somebody from your breed organization contact us.

 

 

The Arabian Horse

 

Early history

According to the Bedouins, God created the Arabian horse from the South Wind, saying "I call you Horse; I make you Arabian and I give you the chestnut color of the ant; I have hung happiness from the forelock which hangs between your eyes; you shall be the Lord of the other animals. Men shall follow you wherever you go; you shall be as good for flight as for pursuit; riches shall be on your back and fortune shall come through your meditation".

The nomadic Bedouins are the first known to have tamed these fiery horses. The tribes were extremely protective of the purity of their stock, and many sheiks could recite the ancestry of their animals from memory. These forerunners of today's Arabian were bred for stamina and survival in the desert conditions, as well as the speed, courage, and loyalty needed for the constant battles between tribes. The Bedouins gained the reputation for breeding the finest horses, and many horses were traded. The Arabian horse was so prized that in battle, when horses were captured, the parties would come together and share the bloodlines of the horses taken.

The Continuing Influence

Around 630 AD, Islamic warriors began to fight their north and west. By 711, they had taken Spain. Most of their mounts were Turkish or Barb, but a few were Arabian. From the invader's horses developed the Andalusian (which were taken to the new world and helped develop many of the breeds in the Americas today). Meanwhile, European horses were infused with Arabian blood when the knights came down to Palestine for the Crusades and later returned home with the horses.

In the 15th century, firearms were developed. The slow-moving war horses of Europe were obsolete, and the faster Arabian horses were used to develop the quick, agile cavalry horses which would be on the European battlefields into the 20th century.

Arabians had also been brought to the Ottoman empire, where the studs used the horses for racing. They were then introduced into European racing. The Darley Arabian, one of three foundation stallions of the modern Thoroughbred breed was brought to England in 1703 (the other two being the Byerley Turk and the Godolphin).

The royalty of Europe took an interest in the Arabian, and established royal studs. One such stud, probably the most famous, was the Crabbet Stud in Crabbet Park, England. Wilfrid Scawen Blunt and his wife, Lady Anne Blunt, began importing the breed in 1878. For nearly a century, the family bred the Arabian and conserved the breed's purity, later exporting the horses for use as foundation stock in Poland, Russia, Australia, and North and South America. The stud was closed in 1971.

In 1893, the World Fair in Chicago exhibited 45 Arabians. The breed's interest in the United States grew, and the United States stud book was established in 1908, with a total of 71 animals. By 1994, the number had reached half a million. There are now more Arabians registered in North America than in the rest of the world put together.

In the 1980s, the Arabian's popularity soared. Many people inexperienced with horses were captivated by the beautiful breed. Celebreties bought the horses. Prices soared, especially in the United States, with some horses going for $150,000 to $1 million each. This created new breeders, and eventually to the overbreeding of the Arabian, especially the ultra-fine, fiery horses. To exaggerate type, inbreeding was common. When tax laws for horses were changed, the market collapsed, and the overload of horses were worth much less. However, many horses were bred for racing and endurance, which were growing in popularity, and allowed for an outlet for the overpopulation.

Today, there are many different types of Arabian. The Persian and Egyptian types are though to be the oldest of the types, and have the most refined conformation. Polish Arabians, produced from horses when the breed was introduced in 1570, are not as beautiful, but are generally very athletic. Hungary's strain, the Shagya Arabian, are generally larger and more substantial.

Whatever the type, the breed is currently being bred away from the ultra-fine, wide-eyed halter horses of the 1980s towards a quiter, more athletic horse. At breed shows, the Arabian constantly displays its versatility. They are also growing in demand for dressage, where their natural self-carriage and movement is attractive. However, they truly excell in endurance and long-distance riding, where the horse would complete up to 100 miles in a day. They hold the world records for the sport, and are not only usually the first to finish, but also win the "best conditioned" award as well.

Breed characteristics

The Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable breeds in the world. They have short, fine heads, with large eyes, small muzzles and their famous "dished" profile (the nose is concave). Arabians also tend to have very high tail carriage. They have large nostrils and strong lungs, which contributes to their powers of endurance, and have thin skin. They have an arched neck with a fine, clean throat, delicate and clean legs, and a fine, silky coat. The coat color of Arabians is diverse, with chestnut and grey as the dominant color, followed by bay and black. Black Arabians are rare, mainly because they were bred in the desert, where a black or dark coat would absorb heat and therefore be detrimental to the horse. However, many breeders are breeding specifically for black Arabians, so the color is not as uncommon as it used to be. Purebred Arabians rarely display sabino, pinto, color splashes which allow purebred Arabians to be double-registered with Pinto Breed organizations. Arabians do not express the dilute gene which produces palomino, cremello, and other dilute colors. Many half-Arabians are bred to produce pinto and dilute colors. The Arabian has a compact body with a short back, partly due to the 5 lumbar vertebrae instead of the normal horses' 6, and usually stands between 14.0 and 15.0 hands. Arabians are always referred to as horses, not ponies, whatever their height. The breed is also known for its intelligence, versatility, and very affectionate nature.

Coat Color Genetics: Positive Horse Identification; Bowling, Anne; http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/~lvmillon/coatcolor/coatstxt.html

The Arabian Today

Because of the genetic purity of the Arabian horse, it is often used as a refining influence on other breeds, and has played a significant part in the evolution of almost every recognized breed, including Percherons, Thoroughbreds, Haflingers, American Quarter Horses, and all of the warmblood breeds. The Arabian has influenced more breeds than any other horse.

The UC Davis Book of Horses, p. 20, compares Arabians with various other breeds and lists this breed's temperament as "highly strung." It lists the breed's categories as "speed, endurance, intelligence, courage, and gentleness." Over the course of the breed's history they have for centuries lived in close association with human families. They are emotionally very much attuned to both their herd members and their human families. For that reason they tend to be protective of humans and suitable as companions for children. At the same time, they were in the beginning joined symbiotically with humans in a hostile environment that occasionally included armed combat and other sudden dangers. They are therefore adept at making sudden course corrections at high speed, which can pose a challenge even to fairly accomplished riders. Their athleticism also makes them a very versatile breed, and they are capable of competing in many fields, including Dressage, English Pleasure, Western Pleasure, Cutting, Reining, Endurance riding, and many others. They dominate the endurance world because of their incredible stamina, which far exceeds that of many other breeds. There is also Arabian racing, which is separate from the more popular Thoroughbred racing.

The breed's sensitivity to the environment and general temperament can be seen in the two photographs illustrating this article. This mare has been attracted from a distance by a new noise at the edge of her pasture. She trots past an obstruction, gallops closer, and wheels when she gets close enough to take a closer look. Another horse might have reacted more sedately.

Despite their fame for versatility, Arabian are generally known for their lack of jumping ability, as the breed has the habit of jumping "flat" and with a "splinter belly". Therefore, their use in jumping sports like show jumping and eventing is generally not very common. However, a few Arabians make good jumpers, and many Arabian crosses, most notably the Anglo-Arabian, are excellent

 

Quarter Horse

Average Height:
14.3 - 16 hands

Colors:
Bay, black, brown, dun, chestnut, cremello, buckskin, palomino, grullo, sorrel, grey or roan.

Conformation:
The Quarter Horse is a stocky, broad chested breed with well-muscled hindquarters and a compact body. The head should be short and wide and the eyes wide-set. The cannons should be short and the hocks should be flat and low set.

Temperament:
Quarter horses are generally very sensible, intelligent mounts.

Members of this breed often excel in the following disciplines:

• Rodeo / Ranch
• Show / Pleasure
• Gymkhana

Breed History:
The Quarter Horse was once known primarily as a short-distance racehorse—hence the name "Quarter Horse," derived from the quarter mile races it was famous for.

But the Quarter Horse's origins go back to a time before racing was a popular pastime. It is a truly American breed that can trace its ancestry to the 17th and 18th Centuries, when English settlers crossed their own stock with the descendants of horses brought to the New World by Spanish Conquistadors. This new breed had something the settlers needed, the inate "cow sense" that would help them manage cattle on the open plains. Today, the Quarter Horse is known for that quality above all others.

Quarter Horses are popular in rodeo, gymkhana, and any other equine sport that requires a short burst of speed and the ability to turn sharply and quickly. Its good disposition and intelligence have also made it a popular family breed.

US Breed Association:
The American Quarter Horse Association
P.O. Box 200
Amarillo, TX   79168

 

Thoroughbred Horse

 

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed developed in 18th century England when English mares were bred with imported Arabian stallions to create a distance racer. As "thoroughbred" is an adjective that describes being fully-blooded descendants of a particular breed, some consider the proper name of this particular breed to be English Running Horse, as horses of different breeds can be said to be "thoroughbred" members of those breeds. It is more common, however, to use "thoroughbred" to designate horses registered by the Jockey Club of a given country, and "purebred" to refer to registered horses of any breed, as in "purebred" Morgan, "purebred" Arabian, and "purebred" Thoroughbred.

All modern thoroughbreds descend from three stallions imported to England from the Middle East in the late 17th and early 18th centuries: the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, also known as the Goldophin Barb, and the Byerly Turk, together with around 35 mares. (The first part of these stallions' names refers to the stallion's British owner, the second part is an indicator of the horse's origin.)

The first thoroughbred horse in the American Colonies was Bulle Rock, imported by Samuel Gist of Hanover County, Virginia, in 1730, to sire improved foals. Col. As a brood mare, Benjamin Tasker, Jr.'s "Selima," foaled at Earl Godolphin's stud April 30, 1745 and shipped to Maryland in 1750, dominated the 18th century bloodlines as her descendent, "Lexington," dominated the bloodlines of the 19th century. Though Maryland and Virginia were the centers of Colonial thoroughbred breeding, the term "thoroughbred" was first used in the United States in an advertisement in a Kentucky gazette to describe a New Jersey stallion called Pilgarlick.

In the United Kingdom, the registry for these horses is maintained by Weatherbys. A different organization (The Jockey Club) maintains the registry in the United States. There are official Jockey Club registries in many different countries. The first thoroughbred registry record, or "stud book," was the creation of a single man in England in the 18th century, and is believed to be the first invention of its kind.

Although the thoroughbred is primarily bred for racing, the breed is also used for show jumping and combined training due to its athleticism, and many retired race horses become fine family riding horses, endurance horses, dressage horses, and youth show horses. The larger horses are sought after for hunter/jumper and dressage competitions, whereas the smaller horses are in demand as polo ponies.

The typical thoroughbred stands 16 hands (64 inches/1.63 m) high, and is bay, brown, chestnut, black or gray/roan in color. The face and lower legs may be marked with white, but white will generally not appear on the body (although certain color genes, usually found in chestnuts, result in white hairs and white patches in the coat--the study of color genetics in horses is an in-depth one). A handful of non-albino Thoroughbreds have been born with white coats. For many years, The Jockey Club (USA) would not register a Thoroughbred as white; most such horses were registered as grays. However, The Jockey Club now recognizes white as a legitimate, though exceedingly rare, color.

The thoroughbred is bred primarily for racing under saddle at the gallop. There is variation in size and individual conformation (the structure and appearance of the horse), and buyers of potential race horses select them based on this conformation, their "page" (their pedigree and race record of individuals in that pedigree as printed in an auction catalog), and their overall health and soundness of wind and limb. Buyers of sprinters (horses who will race shorter distances--up to a mile) generally select a more muscular horse; those interested in training for the "classic" distances of over a mile generally select a rangier, longer legged horse. Some families of thoroughbreds are known primarily as sprinters or as distance runners, primarily as horses who prefer to race on dirt tracks, or primarily as horses who prefer turf tracks, such as those found in Europe. Buyers generally select for larger individuals (Man O' War, Secretariat, Dr. Fager, and Forego were famous, big horses), but a substantial number of famous race horses have been small (War Admiral, Round Table, Seabiscuit, Northern Dancer, and more recently, Dalakhani and Smarty Jones, were famous, smaller horses).

Many experts who purchase thoroughbreds attempt to assess a young horse's potential by observing its overall structural balance, the athleticism and willingness of its walk, the perceived intelligence of its outlook, and the correct conformation of its legs. Buyers of more expensive horses often hire veterinary experts to examine and report on the condition of the horse's breathing apparatus, soundness of bone structure, and size of heart.

Thoroughbreds born in the Northern Hemisphere all become technically a year older on January 1; those born in the Southern Hemisphere, on July 1. These artificial dates have been set to enable the standardization of races for horses in certain age groups.

Approximately 35,000 thoroughbred foals are registered each year in the U.S. The largest number of foals are born in Kentucky, Florida, and California. The thoroughbred industry is a huge agri-business. It supports tens of thousands of jobs in each of these states, from jockeys, trainers, starters, grooms, and kitchen employees at the race track, to farm employees assisting with the birth of foals, the grooming of yearlings, or the growing and preparation of feed, to veterinarians who understand and treat horses, to drivers of horse vans who transport horses across country, to employees of auction houses that specialize in the sale of horses, to employees of companies who develop products to improve the lives of horses and people who work with them. Wagering on races provides purses to the winners and taxes to the state. It is the State Horse of Maryland.

 

The American Saddlebred

 

Breed Description:
The Saddlebred is a five-gaited breed. Most Saddlebreds are born with the ability to learn the slow-gait (stepping pace) and the rack—a few can do these gaits naturally.

Average Height:
15 - 16 hands

Colors:
No color restrictions. Bay, chestnut, brown and black are the most common Saddlebred colors, with grey, roan, palomino and pinto colors seen occasionally.

Conformation:
Saddlebreds are well known for their long, arched necks. The head of the American Saddlebred should be refined with small ears, and the withers should be positioned above the hips.

Temperament:
Saddlebreds are extremely intelligent and very people-oriented.

Members of this breed often excel in the following disciplines:

• Show / Pleasure
• Driving
• Gaited Events

Breed History:
The American Saddlebred is descended from the Narragansett Pacer, a breed that is technically "extinct" in the United States. In the early 1700s, Narragansett mares were crossed with imported English Thoroughbreds, and their descendents were known simply as the "American Horse." Horses of this type had the size and refinement of the Thoroughbred, but retained the ability to learn the pacing gaits that were the forte of their Narragansett ancestors. American Horses were particularly popular as riding horses, since their smooth gaits made them much more comfortable over long distances.

The American Horse played an essential role in the American Revolution, and by the early 1800s these sturdy horses were prized for their endurance and style. They became particularly popular in Kentucky, which claimed the breed as its own. The addition of Morgan and Standardbred blood helped to further refine the breed, and by the Civil War the American Saddlebred was one of the most popular riding horses in America. General Robert E. Lee rode a racking Saddlebred (Traveller), and so did many other Civil War generals.

Today, the American Saddlebred enjoys popularity all over the world, in such diverse places as South Africa, Holland, Australia, and Japan.

US Breed Association:
The American Saddle Horse Association
Kentucky Horse Park4093 Iron Works Parkway
Lexington, KY   40511(859) 259-2742

 

National Show Horse

 

The National Show Horse, founded in the 1980s, is a cross between an American Saddlebred and an Arabian. Or a combination between an American Saddlebred, Arabian, and National Show Horse blood. Both mares and stallions must be registered with their appropriate registries. Arabian and Saddlebred stallions, however, must be nominated and approved by the NSHR board of directors. Although any combination of these three breeds may be used, there must be at least 25% Arabian blood in the horse to be registered, up to 99% Arabian blood.

The horses combine the beauty of the Arabian with the flashiness of the Saddlebred. The resulting horse has the high-set, upright, long and swan-like neck of the Saddlebred. The neck should not have a pronounced crest. The head is usually refined and small, with small ears and either or straight or concave profile. The horses are close-coupled with a level topline and have a very deep, laid back shoulder. The tail carriage is very high. The National Show Horse has short cannons in front, and long, sloping pasterns.

The breed is usually used for saddleseat riding. They are flashy park horses, with high-stepping action and a very elevated front end.It can also be used for jumping hunter. They are very friendly willing to work and very hyper. Can be any color