Weird Facts
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The Fjord Horse is another breed that is thought to be one of the oldest as well as the purest breeds in existence; one reason is because they bare a striking resemblance to horses that are painted on cave walls from over 30,000 years ago during the ice age. They were believed to have first been domesticated around 2000 B.C., and digs at Viking burial sites show that the Fjord has been selectively bred for more than 2,000 years. With the burial of many of these horses with Vikings, it shows they were a favored war mount. The origin of this horse is unclear; it is believed that they are related to the primitive horses of Asia, the Przewalski. They are one of very few horses that still retain their primitive character and color. [...]
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The Florida Cracker Horse, like many other breeds, is a horse breed with Spanish descendents that were first brought to the Americas in the 1500s. It was in 1521 that a Spaniard by the name of Ponce de Leon brought horses and other forms of livestock to what is now Florida. The continuation of this trend over the next century is a big part of how the breed started. They share a distinction with the Spanish Barb horses and the Spanish Mustang. The Florida Cracker Horse is the result of years of trading with Cuba, so Spanish genetics were constantly being introduced into the Florida population. The Cracker Horse became an important part of the cattle industry that developed in Florida over 500 years ago.The Cracker actually got their name because the cowboys were often called "crackers" because of the sound their whips would make in the air. The Florida Cracker Horse went by a variation of different names, such as the Chickasaw Pony, Seminole Pony, March Tackie, Prairie Pony, Florida Horse, Florida Cow Pony, Grass gut, as well as many others known locally. [...]
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The Friesian Horse is an old breed of horse that, like many breeds, seems to trace its origins back to the Middle Ages. The exact area of origin is Friesland, which lies in the Northern part of the Netherlands. The horse itself descends from the Equus Robustus. Such bloodlines as the Arabian and the Andalusian horses of Spain have been introduced into the Friesian Horse, particularly in the 16th and 17th centuries, as well as earlier as it are believed by some. The introduction of the Andalusian horse gave the Friesian such qualities as the high knee action, a smaller head, and craning neck. Many horses were being crossbred with the English Thoroughbred, the Friesian is an exception; it was kept pure and away from the influence of the Thoroughbred. [...]
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The Gypsy Vanner horse as you might be able to tell from the name was developed by the Gypsy culture; they envisioned this horse over a half a century ago. The Gypsies are well known for their love of horses, so they developed a horse that was incredibly strong as well as beautiful. This horse is known for its great docile temperament; it is actually believed to be the best-behaved and most gentle horse in the world. The Gypsy people have a rule about their horse's temperament, as it is often around children. They cannot show any hostile behavior or they will be banned immediately. The ideal Gypsy horse is strong, docile, intelligent, athletic, colorful, and has the best endurance. [...]
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The Hackney breed is both horse and pony; they are both bred specifically for their rather notable performance in the harness. This horse was developed in Great Britain during the early 18th century through the son of an Arabian horse named "Flying Childerns", foaled in 1715 and a Thoroughbred named "Blaze", foaled in 1733. The Thoroughbred blood was late crossed with Norfolk Trotters of eastern Anglia and Yorkshire through a Trotting Horse sire named "Jary's Bellfounder". From this came the light horse of much style and spirit, which became a popular carriage horse by English Sportsmen and Aristocrats.By the 1800s, the Hackney Horse was being imported to the United States; this was done to produce a pony of a particular type by crossing the Hackney with other ponies of good conformation; today 95% of registered Hackney breeds in the United States are registered as ponies. The Hackney Horse was imported to the United States at large numbers for over seventy five years, and then it was in 1872 that the Hackney Pony began to be imported heavily. The Thoroughbred was a major player in the development of the Hackney Horse and Pony. "Shales", the son of "Flying Childerns", was another foundation horse in the development of the Hackney breed. [...]
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The Haflinger Horse gets its name from the Tyrolean village of Hafling. The stallion that is considered the foundation, 249 Folie, was the offspring of the half-Arab stallion 133 El' Bedavi XXII which was crossbred with a native Tyrolean mare. All of today's Haflinger horses trace their ancestry to Folie using a system of seven different stallion lines; S, B, M, N, S, ST, and W. As the popularity of the Haflinger Horse has grown over the years, its exportation to other countries has too, particularly to Great Britain. It is considered the perfect mount to a rider who doesn't have much experience. [...]
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This breed originated in northern Germany in the state of Lower Saxony, which was the former kingdom of Hanover. The region had a highly flourishing horse-breeding program for over four hundred years. The state stud was established in 1735 and then later in 1888 the Hanoverian studbook was opened. This is yet another one of the many horses that required refinements. Thus, Thoroughbred blood was introduced to the domesticated mares, creating a breed with characteristics that made them ideal for farming and as a cavalry horse, as so many horses had been used throughout history. It was over three hundred years ago, that it served as a carriage and cavalry horse in Hanover. It was the goal since the end of the Second World War to produce a horse that had great performance skills. [...]
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The Highland Pony is a native British pony and is the largest pony of the nine British native breeds. Its pedigree dates clear back to the 1800s. The breed was once a workhorse of the Scottish mainland and islands, but today they are used for trekking and general pleasure riding. The Highland Pony is one of two native breeds of the Scottish mainland and islands, and because of this it has adapted to the many different environmental changes. The Highland Pony is one of the oldest breed of ponies in Britain, they were once known as the mountain or moorland ponies; this includes breeds from Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales. [...]
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The Holsteiner Horse, like many other breeds of horse and pony, gained its name from the country of its origins. This one is no different and it was named after its home of Schleswig-Holstein in West Germany. That area is one of the most successful horse breeding areas in all of Germany. They evolved from a native North German stock and at the time were in high demand by the military and royalty all throughout Europe. At the same time, demand for a lighter horse was also growing, so they were infused with Yorkshire Coach Horses. Then later the introduction of Thoroughbred and other hot blooded horses were introduced to the Holsteiner after the end of the Second World War to begin shaping it for future years. [...]
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The Hungarian Warmblood, or the Hungarian Sport Horse as it is also referred, was developed in the Mezohegyes State Stud in Hungary. This breed of horse was developed through the selective breeding of other native horses of Hungary. It was bred with other native Hungary horses such as Nonius, Kisber Felver, Gidran, and Furioso-North Star. These horses were also used to further the improvements of other breeds such as Holsteiner, Hanoverian, and the Dutch Warmblood. It was through these efforts that a warmblood sport horse was established. Today, it is a horse of competition, particularly in such events as show jumping, dressage, cross country, and combined driving. [...]
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The Icelandic horse can be traced clear back to the 9th century when Vikings brought this breed with them as well as a mixture of others to Iceland. The isolation of their native land left the Icelandic horse fairly undisturbed and unchanged for the nearly 1,000 years after they first came to Iceland, while other herds though were crossbreeding elsewhere. People believe that the Iceland horse is closely related to the English Exmoor Pony.This horse played quite the part in Norse mythological stories that were told in heathen times. The stories that they were involved in depicted them as the pets of Norse Gods as well the pets of the Norse Gods' enemies, the Giants. There was even a mythical Icelandic horse that was famous, an eight-legged pacer named Sleipnir. The impact the horses made in the mythological stories still shows today as many riding clubs are named after famous mythological horses and even herds of them bear the same type of names. [...]
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The Irish Draft actually originated from the Irish Hobby. It was a small horse that bared many similarities of the primitive horses Garrano and Sorraia, which were from Northern Spain and Portugal. War horses that were brought to Ireland during the Anglo-Norman invasion and they were bred with the local stock, and then later Iberian blood was added because horses that were shipwrecked found their way to Ashore near Cork and southwestern Ireland.Today the Irish Draft Horse is actually the national breed horse of Ireland and they are primarily bred for farm work; the breed has become very popular for its successful breeding with Thoroughbreds and warm bloods to produce the well-known Irish Sport Horse. It is also called the Irish Draught Horse; they earned their sport reputation for excelling at the highest levels of competition and show jumping. Beyond the show ring, they were used for pulling plows and carts, riding, and hunting horses; during the great European wars, they were also used as army artillery horses. [...]
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The Karabair Horse is the oldest domesticated horse in Central Asia; it has become well adapted and trained to be under the use of a saddle and in a harness. It was first developed in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.They are well known for their speed and the breed holds many records. In a long distance race of 14km, it scored a time of 22 min and 36 sec. In a race of 75km it scored a time of 3 hr and 32 min, and the records go from there.The Karabair Breed consists of three intra-breed types, starting with basic, heavy, and then saddle; it also has eight sire lines and five mare families. The three different types all resemble each other in size but the first type is mostly used for light drafts, riding, packing, and is a little bit heavier; the second is lighter and is more commonly used for your everyday riding; the third has over time become more useful when it comes to draft work. It is a little difficult to tell the difference between the three in appearance, but the heavier one has died out over time and the other two types have more or less become one. [...]
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Though the spotted coat pattern like seen in these horses can be found painted on cave walls dating back thousands of years, the Knabstrup as a breed has only existed for a short while; it is the result of characteristic from a single mare. The mare, "Flaebenhoppen" was bought from a butcher who purchased the horse from a Spanish Army officer and then went on to produce a line of horses that became widely popular for use in the circus. Since this horse's coat pattern is something that breeders and people in general find fascinating, over the years the horse has been bred primarily for its spotted coat pattern. However, over time, this practice has lessened the purity of the breed. [...]
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The Latvian horse wasn't actually recognized as an official breed until 1952, but it is believed to have descended from ancient roots. It is believed that it shares a relation with the Dole Gudbrandsdal, which is a breed that originated from North Sweden and shares a common origins to other European heavy draft horses that date back to the prehistoric Forest Horse of Northern Europe. This breed had a number of other breeds introduced into its bloodline, some such examples are German riding horse, Thoroughbred, and Arabian. It had other breeds that were the most influential though; they were the Oldenburg, Hanoverian, and Holstein. It was during the earlier part of the 20th century, before the breed was official, that 65 Oldenburg stallions and 42 Oldenburg mares were imported from the Netherlands, which ended up being the base for the development of the breed. [...]
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