LIFETIME RESOLUTIONS - not just for New Years anymore

Originally posted in 1998.

Happy New Year!

The following are my LIFETIME RESOLUTIONS. It is sort of my personal "Reference Guide/Help File for Life."

I put these thoughts together around 1990 and the list has never been edited since. I re-read them every New Years...and sometimes more often when I remember them...and I wish I had remembered them a couple of weeks ago! LOL! I used to have them printed out and posted over my desks at home and at work, but I moved so many times that the only place I could remember where I put them was on my old website! Now they are here on my blog, and despite being nearly 20 years old, are still timeless.

The books referred to are Dan Millman: "Way of the Peaceful Warrior"; and Richard Bach: "Illusions", "Bridge Across Forever" & "One", among others.


LIFETIME RESOLUTIONS

Continually ask myself this question: "Am I doing at this moment what I most want to do? And if not, WHY NOT?!"

Continue the challenge of facing fear head-on.

Try everything at least once before deciding whether I like it or not. And sometimes even MORE than once if it is something I am embarrassed or frightened of.

Learn to recognize a potential problem before it hides in the subconscious.

Ask for and accept gracefully the criticisms of others. Take what fits and leave the rest behind.

Stay firm in my resolve to be ME at all times.

Don't walk in anyone else's shadow.

Never lie to the dog.

Stand up not only for MY rights, but for WHAT is right.

Let it flow and let it go.

If anyone should ask "why", simply answer "why not?"

Treasure each moment as though it were my last - for it just may be...

Remember that all are immortal and one with every living thing in the universe, death is merely a mortal illusion - a trick played on us by our primitive brains.

See myself in everyone and learn from the outcome of their choices.

I am as young as I want to be - age is only a measure of time that doesn't exist in any realm but my mind. Time itself is but a man-made illusion.

Stay self-reliant and self-sufficient..

Be aware of and beware of dependency...NO ONE is worth losing my soul over.

Read people's words...not their minds...ABSOLUTELY MOST POSITIVELY IMPORTANT!!

Never inflict on others the cruelties I have endured - always let people KNOW where they stand and never flirt or toy with them or tease them for sport.

Remember always that others have feelings, too, and they can be bruised just as easily and painfully as I was. NO ONE deserves that kind of pain - NO ONE!

Don't EVER give mixed signals! Total honesty at ALL times.

If communication ceases, don't cease to communicate.

Know that all my paths in life exist and that it is up to me to choose which one to follow each day.

Do not make choices by default, be an active participant in my own life.

Somehow learn to FOCUS!!

Return to school and finish that bachelor's degree - in SOMETHING, DAMN IT - FOCUS!!!!!

Remember that my intelligence does not require a piece of paper for it to exist naturally.

I don't need to prove anything to anyone...except to myself.

Stop envying traits in others - cultivate them in myself!

Remember that being alone is essential for growth both in myself and in those around me. Being alone together is the sincerest form of friendship.

Each "mistake" is simply an unexpected learning experience. Cherish the mistakes.

There are no "wrong" relationships. Each one is a learning experience to aid in finding the "right" one. (You have to kiss a lot of toads before you ever find the prince).

Make lemonade out of every lemon life hands me...and add a little sugar in the form of humor, too. :>

If I don't take emotional risks, how can I ever expect to succeed? You only fail by not trying in the first place.

Continue to see the humor and paradox in life - rejoice in the illusion of it all!

I choose my own emotions - there is no need for me to ever be angry or depressed because I can choose my own happiness.

Do not dwell on past events, they cannot be changed, only learned from.

Accept the things I cannot change (such as the behavior of another person); have courage to change the things I can (such as my attitude toward a given situation) and make sure I know the difference between the two!

Nothing can be changed until it is faced.

Be strong always...it CAN be done! Remember my Rainbow Warrior...

Do not forget that I am the sum of all the positive definitions and descriptions of my name. It fits me perfectly.

Do not have expectations, life doesn't follow any script.

Do not allow others to drag me down or stifle me - I am capable of making my own decisions.

Only -I- am the Captain of my fate and the Master of my soul.

Love myself FIRST...it is the greatest love of all.

Remember that no one is ever too fat to be loved...

Embarrassment is non-existent if you truly don't care what others think.

Build self-defense skills so that weight loss can happen.

Just enough is always just right.

Remember always that THINGS TAKE TIME...

Know I am beautiful on the inside...where it counts!

The inner person is ALWAYS more important than the exterior that they present.

Do not allow a skin deep barrier to block the vision to one's soul.

Never forget the inner flame that is the Rainbow Warrior. It is my core of strength and dignity and burns eternal.

Re-read Bach and Millman at LEAST once a year...preferably more often...and definitely as needed.

Know that I am not given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. I may have to work at it however.

Remember the blue feather in the agate slice...and how it got there. ;>

Whether I think I can or I think I can't - I'm right...and I -know- I CAN!

Play only games where everyone wins. Never trample another for ANY reason...

Acceptance and forgiveness - Accept others for their differences, forgive them their shortcomings. We are all perfect in our own ways.

Never take any of my friends for granted, they are the most special people in the world. Never let them forget it... :>

Share these life gifts with others - it is the only way to repay those who have shared them with me.

About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites.

The High-Stepping Hackney Group of Horse and Pony

Many people think of the Hackney Horse as the English carriage horse but these well bred equines also make very suitable riding horses and they are known for having excellent endurance and good tempers. They also have a distinctive high-stepping gait which makes them popular in the show ring, but it is true that most of the horses are trained for driving.

The Hackney Horse has its roots in the 1300's when a desire for a sturdy riding horse emerged in England in the 14th century and various horses with incredible stamina and smooth gaits started to be bred. But the modern Hackney Horse roots can be found in the 1700's in Norfolk, England, where the horses called Norfolk Trotters had been selectively bred for elegant style and speed. When people crossed the famous Norfolk Trotter mares with the grandsons of the foundation sires of the newly emerging Thoroughbred, the result was the Hackney Horse, which blended desirable traits from both breeds. The first Hackney is said to be The Shale's Horse who was foaled in 1760. During the next 50 years, the Hackney was developed as a special breed.

In the early 1880’s the name Hackney was chosen for the breed because it was non-geographical and was also the name of one of the carriages that it was often seen driving. The British Hackney Horse Society (BHHS) was formed in 1883 to provide a registry and to formalize the breeding of the horse.

The first Hackney Pony was imported to America in 1878 and in 1891 the American Hackney Horse Society (AHHS) was founded and affiliated with the English Hackney Society (CEHS) and maintains the registry of the Hackney Horse and Hackney Pony. From 1890 until the Depression, wealthy Americans and Canadians imported boatloads of horses and ponies of the most noted strains to be used as fancy carriage horses. When trotting races began to lose their popularity in the second half of the 19th century, the breed was gradually transformed into the show horse that we see today.

Up to that point, there were 2 types of Hackney Horse - the heavier coach type and the light horse similar to today’s horse. Along with the Hackney Horse, there are four types of Hackney ponies. The Hackney Pony is smaller with distinct pony traits and evolved in the span of a few years in the 1870’s in England. It was developed by Christopher Wilson who crossed Hackney Horses with Fell Ponies and Welsh Ponies, which are extremely hardy British ponies well known for their sassy attitude and surefootedness. The pony has all the speed, action and courage of the horse but is a true pony with pony character. Hackney ponies have a reputation for being tenacious yet every bit as strong as their horse relatives. The differences are in their sizes, show ring performance and the appearance of their mane and tail. The pony was actively imported by United States as the horse was.

The Hackney Pony is also known as the Cob Tail and is a dynamic high-stepper that stands 14.2 hands and under. These ponies are shown with a shortened tail and with a braided mane. They are hitched to a four-wheel vehicle called a viceroy and are shown in pairs.
The Hackney Harness Pony is also called the Long Tail and this dynamic high-stepper stands 12.2 hands and under. It is shown with a long mane and an undocked tail. They are hitched to a four-wheel vehicle called a viceroy and are also shown in pairs.

The Hackney Roadster Pony, or Road Pony, is popular and speedy and measures below 13 hands. It has 3 separate trotting speeds: jog, road gait and at speed. It is shown hitched to a two-wheeled road bike with the drivers wear racing silks. They are also shown under saddle by Junior Exhibitors wearing racing silks. In a new division, the Road Pony is raced hitched to a miniature doctor's buggy.

The Hackney Pleasure Pony is the newest variety and stands 14.2 hands or under. These may be shown either as Long Tail or Cob Tail but with unbraided manes and tails and hitched to an appropriate pleasure vehicle. They can be shown only by Amateurs or Junior Exhibitors in any of the following gaits: pleasure trot, road trot, and flat walk. They must be able to stand quietly in the line-up and back up when asked. It is well mannered, quiet, and a pleasure to drive.

In contrast, the Hackney Horse must stand over 14.2 hands to approximately 16.2 hands and is shown in a variety of ways, such as the many different driving and carriage events, as singles, pairs, tandems, four in hand, and obstacle with some also being shown under saddle as dressage, eventing and trail riding. Some people also rely on the Hackney's sound feet and intelligence to help them through challenging courses of competitive jumping.

The Hackney has a small, refined head like its Thoroughbred ancestors, along with a muscular, compact body and long neck. There should be a general impression of alertness. The Hackney can have either a long or a docked tail that is carried high. They have a bright spirit, and gentleness, along with intelligence and responsiveness when well trained.

Both the Hackney Horse and the Hackney Pony, have a good reputation for soundness. In order to be accepted into the Hackney studbook, the modern Hackney must be black, brown, bay or chestnut with some small white markings permitted.

But the most identifiable trait of a Hackney Horse is their incredibly flexible knees that give these horses a high stepping, showy gait, especially in the trot. This action of Hackney is the hallmark of the breed and often amazes the first time Hackney viewer. According to the AHHS, the gait is described thusly: "Shoulder action is fluid and free with a very high, ground covering knee action. Action of the hind legs is similar but to a lesser degree. The hocks should be brought under the body and raised high. All joints should exhibit extreme flexion. The action must be straight and true. The whole effect must be arresting and startling, showing extreme brilliance."


About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.

Miniature Horses: The Tiny Horse That Is Hugely Popular

No bigger than a large dog, the American Miniature Horse is less then 34" tall at the withers and weighs between 150 to 250 pounds. This tiny equine is popular in many countries and is known by several names such as the American Miniature Horse, Miniature Toy Horse, Miniature Pony, Falabella or Falabella Miniature Horse, Guide Horse, Minis and Dwarf Horse. They have been bred for centuries by selectively breeding horses and ponies of diminutive size. In prehistoric times, tiny horses were likely the products of having to survive harsh climates with limited food. Today, genetics has made it possible to breed specifically for size.

In 1879, the Falabella family of Argentina bred small horses found on the Pampas south of Buenos Aires, where these undersized horses have since been known as Falabellas. But long before that, many breeders in different countries were trying to create miniaturized horses.

As early as the 1600s, they were being bred as pampered pets for European kings and queens. Later they were used in the coal mines in the English Midlands, northern Europe. The first mention of a small horse being imported into the United States was in 1888. Some of these mine horses were brought in from Holland, West Germany, Belgium, and England in the 19th century and used in some Appalachian coal mines as recently as 1950 since the tunnels were small and full-sized horses were just too big to fit.

Small horses, European minis, ponies, and Falabella miniatures, all went into the breeding of the American Miniature Horse to produce a well-proportioned animal. However, depending on parentage, they may have characteristics of Shetland Ponies, Arabians, Hackney Ponies, Thoroughbreds, and others. This has resulted in a wide range of body types and every color and pattern in the equine palette. In fact, any color or marking pattern with any eye color is equally acceptable.

But over the past 100 years there has been disagreement regarding the origins of the genetic characteristics of Miniature Horses. Some tiny breeds, such as the Falabella horses of Argentina, were developed in a totally separate environment from the tiny European horses of the eighteenth century, and independent breeding programs have been established on every continent on the globe.

Some have noticed that miniature horse dwarfism and congenital defects are more prevalent in the USA than in foreign countries. American breeders claim that because the horses were bred exclusively for size, dwarfism traits have became commonplace in them, while overseas breeders have noted that the rate of dwarfism is less in those countries that have rejected the breeding of tiny horses or ponies with undesirable dwarf characteristics, or achondroplasia, as it is called in humans.

A dwarf is different from a miniature. Its teeth often don't match up properly; the head is too big for its neck; and it may have a pot belly. A horse with some dwarf traits may be perfectly healthy and be a good pet, but others have problems with bones and teeth that make life painful for them. Dwarfs cannot be registered as miniature horses, but as breeding improves, fewer dwarfs are born.

However, it is very clear that dwarf genes have deliberately been introduced into American Miniature horses and some "famous" miniature stud horses has obvious equine dwarfism characteristics. Bond Tiny Tim (19” tall, AMHA Registration number R 00015P) was said to have many dwarfism-related issues, yet he was bred extensively, passing-on potentially crippling genetic mutations to thousands of his descendents throughout the USA, therefore the Dwarf gene is floating around in many bloodlines today, and it is difficult to locate as the gene has not been identified.

Founded in 1978, in Arlington, Texas, the American Miniature Horse Association (AMHA) has registered nearly 160,000 horses and has more than 12,000 members in 37 countries and provinces. The AMHA's goal is to promote a standard of excellence and purity in the Miniature and to that end; they closed the stud book on December 31, 1987, so that only horses with AMHA-registered parents can be registered. Additionally, a foal is eligible to be temporarily registered as soon as it is born and if it is no taller than 34 inches when it reaches the age of 5 years, it can be permanently registered as a Miniature Horse. To ensure the accuracy of pedigrees, all foals born after December 31, 1995 must be blood-typed and/or DNA-tested before any of their offspring can be registered.

Practically anything you can do with a regular size horse can be done with a Miniature, except for riding. Minis should not be ridden by anyone over 60 pounds. They can be shown in classes at halter, in-hand hunter/jumper, obstacle courses, showmanship, single pleasure driving, country pleasure driving, roadster, multi-hitch driving, fine viceroy, liberty, costume conformation, and games. Outside the show world, many owners drive their Minis hitched to carts, wagons, or sleighs singly or in teams. A trained Miniature driving horse can pull two adults for ten miles with no difficulty. Children 3 to 4 years old and up routinely drive at home, in parades and in shows. People even let them come into the house to watch TV with them.

Miniature Horses are very good for visiting shut-ins; senior citizens in retirement homes that have pet visitation hours; and many have been trained as guide animals to assist the blind or the hearing impaired. They are also good for people with health problems or physical disabilities that can make it impossible to handle or ride a full-sized horse, but they can learn to drive a cart and enjoy their horses.

The natural gaits of the Miniature Horse are the walk, trot, canter, and gallop, but other gaits are easily taught, especially when the horses are used for driving carts. For example, the Collected Trot is rhythmic and the horse should look like it could keep this gait up all day; and The Working Trot is brisk and snappy without excessive speed. This gait should be animated and showy with a long stride that makes the horse appear to float off the ground when all 4 feet actually are off the ground.

A Miniature Horse enjoys human company and does not fear strangers, in fact, they are quite eager to please their handlers possibly because they get handled so much. A newborn weighs about 20 pounds and is between 16 and 21 inches tall, and it is easy to pick one up and carry it around. It is hard to resist hugging a fluffy foal as if it were a teddy bear. A small child may be intimidated by a normal sized horse, but that same child will be eager to hug a Miniature foal.

There seems to be a discrepancy in the Miniature's disposition. Breeders may say they are gentle and affectionate so that they can make more sales, but many owners complain they have been bitten by aggressive Minis. Without knowing the circumstances of these complaints, the horse may have been abused by the previous owner; or. it may be simply a case of not being gelded or spayed.

All stallions of all breeds can be aggressive, but gelding is a simple, inexpensive operation that can resolve territorial aggression and a hormone driven lack of manners. Even when no stallion is near, a mare's estrus (heat) cycles can cause unpredictable behavior - the equine equivalent of PMS. Spaying can resolve this also.

Horses do not possess complex reasoning skills, but Miniature Horses are quite intelligent and excel at tasks that require long-term memory skills. It has been shown that the more a horse learns, the greater their capacity for future learning, and with proper training, a horse can be taught to do almost anything, such as sit, lie down, pull up a blanket, turn out the light and go to sleep, or even catch a Frisbee.

The Guide Horse Foundation trains Minatures as Guide Horses for the Blind and part of the basic training includes learning 23 voice commands. Additionally they can be reliably housebroken and trained to paw at the door or make nickering noises. The American’s with Disabilities Act guarantees the right of any service animal to use public transportation, so it should be not unusual to see a Guide Horse on an airplane, riding in a taxi, or on an escalator.

Miniature Horses thrive in pastures, and one acre can support as many as three Miniature Horses, but hey are prone to overeat. Ideally they should not share their pasture with the larger breeds since one kick or bite could significantly injure the Mini.

Since owning a Miniature Horse can cost 1/10th that of maintaining a large horse and they can become as much a part of the family as a dog or a cat, they have become extremely popular as companion animals that live 20 to 30 years.


About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.

The World Famous Performing White Stallions - The Lipizzan

The Lipizzan, or Lipizzaner, is a unique breed of horse which has been selectively bred since the 16th Century. As a ceremonial horse, the breed has nobility, brilliance, balanced agility, and style. With the Lipizzan, interest in the art of classical riding was revived during the Renaissance. In 1970, producer Gary Lashinsky created the "World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions" arena attraction that over twenty-three million people have enjoyed throughout the world. The Walt Disney movie "The Miracle of the White Stallions" created an even greater world-wide interest in the extremely rare Lipizzan breed.

The Lipizzan traces its history back to the early 1560's when the finest Arab and Berber blood was introduced into the local athletic Spanish Andalusians that were created during the Moorish occupation of Spain in the 7th Century. King Maximillian II brought these Spanish horses to his native Austria around 1562 and founded the court stud at Kladrub. His brother, the Archduke Charles, established a similar stud farm in 1580 in the town of Lipizzaner, Slovenia, and from the Lipizza stud farm came the breed's name of Lipizzan. Both of these studs flourished, but in slightly different directions. The Kladrub stud was known for heavy carriage horses, and the Lipizza stud was known for riding horses and light carriage horses although breeding stock was exchanged between the studs. The Kladrub and Lipizza stock were bred to the native Karst horses with successive generations crossed with the old Neapolitan breed. During the 1700's, horses of Spanish and Italian origin included sires from Denmark, Spain and Holstein, but were of pure Spanish descent. To strengthen the original Spanish-Arab strain, several of these stallions were purchased during the 18th and 19th centuries for use at Lipizza and Kladrub but only six were accepted as the foundation lines of the Lipizzan known today. Maestoso and Favory, two of the foundation sires of today's Lipizzan were produced at the Kladrub stud.

In addition to the 6 ancestral stallion lines, there are 18 mare family lines. By tradition, every stallion has a double name, with the first being the lineage name of his sire and the second name being that of his dam. However, there does not appear to be a provision that could prevent multiple stallions from the same parents from having the same name. As for mares, names should be complementary to the traditional Lipizzan line names and must also end in the letter “a”.

An integral part of Lipizzan history is the Spanish Riding School of Vienna that was founded in 1572 and which the Hapsburg monarchy rebuilt in 1735 in the Imperial Palace in Vienna under the auspice of Charles VI. For over 430 years, the school's purpose has been to perpetuate the art of classical horsemanship and to the breed and train the Lipizzan horses. Only the best are kept to continue the line and so promising stallions are sent to the Spanish Riding School to begin training at the age of four where they go through six years of rigorous dressage school. These Lipizzaner stallions then perform their art for the rest of their lives on tours throughout the world to benefit the work of the Spanish Riding School. The Lipizzan horses can perform through their 20's and some have been known to perform up to age 30.

At first, the Lipizzan horses were bred for the Hapsburg royalty, which controlled the horses and their training until World War I. But after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the Austrian branch of the Hapsburgs dissolved, and then the Lipizzan breed almost died out during World War II.

Traditionally, the Lipizzan horses from the Spanish Riding School had been relocated around Austria to avoid war and during World War II, the horses were moved by the German High Command several times. Unfortunately, the horses were frequently stabled in areas where desperate refugees considered the horses as a potential food source. The director of the Spanish Riding School was determined to save the breed and with the assistance of General Patton of the United States Army, 250 Lipizzan horses survived the war to serve as a founding stock so that the breed could be preserved.
The first Lipizzan horses in the United States were given to Opera singer Countess Maria Jeritza by the Austrian government and imported in 1937. Eight years later, in 1945, the U.S. Army Remount Service imported 9 Lipizzans (3 stallions and 6 mares, 1 in foal). But it was not until the late 1950's that Lipizzan horses were imported from Austria to the U.S. in any great numbers. Between 1958 and 1973, two breeders imported 4 Lipizzan stallions and 21 mares (6 in foal) and other importations have been taking place during the last 35 years to add to the American Lipizzan gene pool.
The breed is still extremely rare; only about 3,000 Lipizzan horses exist worldwide and most of them are in Europe with the majority in Austria that are bred at stud farms around Austria. Extreme care is being taken by those involved in breeding Lipizzan horses to insure that the purity of the breed is preserved. If it had not been for General Patton, the Lipizzans might not be in existence at all today.

In 1992, the Lipizzan Association of America joined the Lipizzan Society of North America to form the Lipizzan Association of North America (LANA). LANA is the American representative to the Lipizzan International Federation (LIF) and is committed to perpetuating and preserving the Lipizzan breed in the United States. LANA follows the LIF criteria that defines a purebred Lipizzan, which is a horse that can trace back, without interruption, to the recognized lines and families of the official European stud farms and their approved breeding stock. DNA technology is used to identify equine parentage and provide information for future genetic traits and disease diagnosis and no horse will be registered unless the DNA results are filed with LANA. LANA has also formed a separate division for registering Lipizzan Partbreds where the Lipizzan portion of the pedigree must trace, without interruption, to the recognized male lines and female families of official European stud farms and their approved breeding stock. Partbred horses or foals do not have to be DNA’d but the purebred Lipizzan parent must have its DNA on record.

The Lipizzan is a small horse that stands between 14.3 and 15.3 hands. The influence of the Arabian is seen in the usually straight or slightly convex head, the small alert ears and the large, appealing eyes. The neck is short, crested and powerful, the back is broad and the overall picture is of strength with well-rounded quarters, heavy shoulders and short, strong legs with brilliant action. The mane and tail are thick and long and the tail is carried high.
Gray dominates the Lipizzan breed today because white horses were preferred by the royal Habsburg family. Grays are born dark, black-brown, brown or mouse-gray and then the coat gradually lightens until the white coat they are noted for appears between the ages of 6 and 10 years old. But as late as 200 years ago, many other colors existed; black, chestnut, dun, and even piebald and skewbald. These non-white Lipizzans are a rarity today and only in rare cases will the horse stay the same dark color it was born.

But even with their small size, the breed tends to present a very powerful image with compact, rectangular and highly muscular bodies that are ideal for performing haute ecole dressage and the physically demanding "Airs Above the Ground" such as the levade and the capriole. These maneuvers have now preserved as an equestrian art dating back over 400 years. The art of dressage is combined with the close order military drills of the ancient warriors and these spectacular leaps and maneuvers were once used by riders in saddle to protect and defend themselves on the battlefield and can be quite intimidating even from a small horse. The Lipizzan has an aptitude for dressage which is rather uncanny and is an unusually talented equestrian athlete. A Lipizzan is distinctive for being extraordinarily gentle, willing, and talented and intelligent.

Few people who watch the Lipizzan show realize how difficult it is to work with stallions side by side or that are very few breeds of horses in the world that are capable of performing in this way. It is their amazing disposition that allows it, however, the riders must be on their guard at all times because, after all, they are still stallions and potentially volatile.


About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.

The American Quarter Horse: Faster Than a Speeding Thoroughbred

The Quarter Horse is known as the All-American horse and as the world’s most versatile horse. Not only is it the most popular breed in the United States, but it is possibly the oldest horse breed in the US. Named for its amazing speed during a short one quarter mile sprint, the fastest galloping speed by any horse has been achieved by the American Quarter Horse which has been clocked at speeds near 55 mph (88 km/h) in a quarter mile or less. Their immensely powerful hindquarters can propel the horse into a gallop almost from a standing start, and Quarter Horse racing is becoming more popular. The average Quarter Horse usually lives 20 years, but 35 years is not uncommon when properly cared for.

It has been called by many names over the years: American Quarter Horse, Foundation Quarter, Standard Quarter, Racing Quarter, Running Quarter, Quarter Miler, Short Horse and the cowboy's Cutting Horse.

While the breed originated in the United States and is now distributed worldwide, its ancestry dates back to the Arabian, Barb and Turk horses that were imported to America by early Spanish explorers, conquistadors and traders. These were combined into the Chickaswas breed by Native Americans to form one side of the bloodline, with English horses and Thoroughbreds on the other. Morgan and Standardbred horses have also been used in the breed’s development. But it is difficult to give the exact origins because the blending of bloodlines to produce a short-distance horse started in colonial regions prior to the Revolutionary War. The true beginnings are believed to have been in the Carolinas and Virginia but the principle development was in the southwestern part of the United States, in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, eastern Colorado, and Kansas when in the early 1600s, settlers began importing English horses and breeding them to the native Spanish-based Chickaswas stock to create a tough all-purpose horse.

Of course, naming horses after people was common practice back then and when the horses were sold their names were often changed. This led to confusion when attempting to verify pedigrees. Nowadays a horse’s name must be acceptable to the American Quarter Horse Association and must not exceed 20 characters. Quarter Horse names may be reused only if certain criteria are met as per AQHA rules.

And no particular attention was made to keep them as a distinct breed, either.  Fast horses were raced in any suitable open space with many races being run as “match races” after a private wager between owners or riders. Any of these fast horses that also made good cow horses were crossed to existing mares.  Many of these mares had Spanish, Arabian, Morgan, or Standardbred backgrounds. 

In 1889, Traveler, a horse of unknown pedigree, was shipped to Texas in a carload of horses but it is believed that he originated in Kentucky.  Traveler was apparently not considered valuable and at least once changed hands in a craps game.  He and his descendants were mated to some excellent mares, and many Quarter Horses today can trace back to him along the paternal side.

Currently there are two basic varieties of the breed. The Foundation Quarter, Standard Quarter or old-fashioned “Bulldog” type is the smallest, shortest, stockiest, most muscular variety, yet extremely agile and sure-footed. Used for ranch work, trail and pleasure riding, they average 14 to15 hands and weigh 900 to 1,100 lbs. The Racing Quarter, Running Quarter is taller, leaner and looks more like a well-muscled Thoroughbred due to the added Thoroughbred genes. These average between 15 to 16 hands, weigh 1,000 to 1,250 pounds and tend to be in solid colors with limited white markings.

American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), the largest equine breed registry in the world, and founded in 1940, has registered more than 5 million American Quarter Horses with the current population estimated at 3.2 million animals.

The breed is usually recognized by a short muzzle, broad forehead with a straight profile and large jaws. It has small fox-like ears and large, wide-set eyes. The neck has a slight crest. Their backs are short with good withers and a sloping croup.  The barrel is deep with well-sprung ribs and the hooves are well-rounded, with deep open heels. The following 13 colors are accepted by the AQHA: brown, chestnut, gray, dun, red dun, bay, buckskin, black, grullo, red roan, blue roan, and palomino, with sorrel being the most common and limited white markings.

The walk, trot, canter, and gallop are the Quarter Horse’s natural gaits. Some individuals have long, leggy movements with a lot of knee action, while others take shorter steps.

As for disposition and personality, this horse is the most willing, laid-back, quiet and even-tempered of all the breeds, and has a gentle nature. They are quick and agile, level-headed and sensible, sure-footed and steady with good stamina. Their unflappable nature has made them suitable for mounted police units in cities. Intelligence, reliability, adaptability and willingness to please their owners make the Quarter Horse very easy to train in all ways. The breed seems to have an innate “cow sense” and can anticipate the moves made by cattle which makes them indispensable for herding and cutting.

There is one downside to the breed however, a genetic oddity known as Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis (HYPP). This is listed as a genetic defect in AQHA's rules, along with Parrot Mouth and Cryptorchidism. HYPP is inherited as a dominant trait and is characterized by intermittent episodes of uncontrolled muscle tremors (shaking, trembling or twitching) or profound muscle weakness, and in severe cases, may lead to collapse and/or death. To date, HYPP has been traced only to descendants of a horse named IMPRESSIVE, #0767246.

They are indeed an all-purpose horse with uses ranging from racing, herding, and rodeo, to show jumping, dressage, carriage and pleasure riding.


About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.

You Have a What? The Horse with the Permanent Wave - The American Bashkir Curly Horse

The American Bashkir Curly Horse is a hardy breed with a wide variety of curly coat types that range from a crushed velvet effect to a perfect Marcel wave; or from extremely tight ringlets to long spiral curls; or to no apparent curl at all. The latter coat type is called a Smooth-Coated Curly and may or may not produce Curly horses themselves. The breed's name was inspired from a photo of a curly coated Bashkir horse from Russia that was printed in the 1938 March issue of the Nature magazine entitled "The Evolution of the Horses".

In this unique breed, there are dominant and recessive curly genes and either of these makes it possible to get curly-coated foals to show up in normally straight-coated breeds - from pony to draft horse. Oddly, the curly coated foals, whether from the dominant or the recessive version of gene, all seem to carry most of the same basic traits and many of these traits do not fit the norm for other breeds. Some Missouri Foxtrotters carry a dominant Curly gene through the lineage of *Curly Jim and the breed also carries the recessive curly gene. Percherons also carry the recessive gene. The American Bashkir Curly transmits this curly characteristic to its offspring about fifty percent of the time even when mated to horses without the curly coat. A horse that is homozygous for the dominant version of the curly gene does not appear to have any undesirable effects.

But where these genes originated is a mystery. What is known is that curly horses have been depicted in art and statuary in early China as far back as 161 AD and there has been evidence of their presence in South America and Europe. The earliest recorded Curly Horses in North America were with Native Americans during the Winter Count of 1801-1802.  The Sioux had stolen some Curly horses from the Crow which placed these tribes at the Standing Rock Cheyenne River Reservation at the mouth of the Grand River. A significant location of Curly Horses today has been traced to Indian Reservations in the Dakotas and many Curlies have been acquired from the wild American Mustang herds. They have been domesticated, bred and raised by ranchers throughout the U.S. and Canada.

One theory for how curly horses ended up roaming with the mustangs is that Russian Bashkir Curly horses came with Russian colonists during the 1700’s, but research that included consultations with Russian scientists, the Moscow Zoo and the Soviet Union's Ministry of Agriculture has determined that there were no curly haired horses from the Bashkir region and no proof of the gene originating in Russian Bashkir horses. Another theory is that ancestors of the Curly Horse crossed the land bridge during the last Ice Age, but there is no fossil evidence to support that until reintroduction of horses to this hemisphere by the Spanish. Yet another theory is that the gene came from the Lokai horses of the Tajikistan region of Russia which sometimes display the curly coat, but there was no mention of importation of horses in ships' logs when the Russian settlers arrived in North America. Several other theories have failed to be proven or simply remain untested.

Blood typing on 200 Curly horses in the Serology Lab at University of California-Davis could not confirm the Bashkir Curly as a genetically distinct breed. Instead, the typing showed that many breeds have been used, particularly Quarter Horses and Morgan Horses. The rare and unusual variants that did emerge from the testing are found only in those breeds that are based on feral herds with no single common blood marker being found.

Fortunately, more is known about the modern American Bashkir Curly Horse which dates back to 1898, when Peter Damele and his father were out riding in the remote Peter Hanson Mountains in the high country of Central Nevada near Austin.  Peter remembered seeing 3 horses with tight curly ringlets over their entire bodies and it intrigued them both. From that day forward, there were always curly-coated horses on the Damele range and many of the Bashkir Curly Horses in the U.S. can be traced back to that Damele herd.

The American Bashkir Curly Registry (ABCR) was established in 1971 when the founders discovered that many of them, through ignorance, were being slaughtered. In January 2000, the registry was closed and only the offspring of two ABC registered Curly Horses can be registered. Currently there are less than 4,000 registered Curly Horses living in the world. When the ABCR founders began the process of establishing breeding traits for the association by asking U.S. owners to list the characteristics unique to the Bashkir Curly, several interesting features of the breed emerged when the data was compiled.

American Bashkir Curly Horses stand 13.3 hands to 16 hands, but average 15 hands and their average weight is 800 to 1200 pounds. Due to the many breeds involved in outcrossing, the breed comes in all colors including Appaloosa and Pinto and has many different physical conformations. It is expected that this cross-breed influence will continue for the next 5 to 10 generations of Curly-­to-Curly breeding until a uniform type is finally established.  However, these offspring will all be registered as long as they meet ABCR criteria.

Many Curlies with white legs have black hooves that are unusually tough and hard and almost perfectly round in shape and many Curlies are not shod. They also have stout roundbone cannons; straight legs that also move straight and flat knees. They have a noticeably short back of five lumbar vertebrae and a round rump without a crease or dimple. They seem to have an exceptionally high concentration of red blood cells.

The foals are born with thick, crinkly coats, curls inside their ears and long up-curled eyelashes. They are born with an unusually affectionate disposition and insist on being friendly. They delight in human companionship and love to be talked to. When excited or at play, the foals trot with their tails absolutely straight in the air.

The American Bashkir Curly coat is considered hypo-allergenic to people who are allergic to horses, but the reason why is still under study. It may be because the Curly Horse's hair is different or that the proteins in their skin are different. It has been proven that flat hair is curly, yet the Bashkir Curly's hairs are round. They are also barbed or feathered underneath a microscope and can be spun and woven into yarn. The hair is more closely related to mohair, than to horsehair.

One especially odd feature of the breed is the fact that they can completely shed out the mane and tail hair each summer, along with their body coat and their summer coat is wavy or fairly straight on their bodies, with the distinctive and more pronounced curly winter coat returning in late fall. They have a double mane which splits down the middle leaving curly ringlets hanging on both sides of the neck. Oddly, the ears do not totally shed out in the summer.

Many traits have been found that links them to primitive horses, such as some have no ergots and others have small soft chestnuts. They have wide-set eyes that have a slant that is characteristic of the Oriental breeds and that gives them a wider range of peripheral vision. These eyes also give them a sleepy expression that is deceiving since they are very alert.

American Bashkir Curly Horses do not run away when frightened, but are naturally curious and prefer to face the unknown. If they sense danger, they prefer to kick rather than run and will not tolerate abuse. They also tend to freeze when in a tight spot, so they seldom get themselves hurt, even if caught in a barbed wire fence.

The American Bashkir Curly Horse is a no-nonsense versatile breed that has an uncanny ability to do everything asked of it. It is usually highly intelligent, learns quickly and has a remarkable memory for both good and bad experiences. The breed is actively used in most equine disciplines from western riding and rodeo, to jumping, dressage and driving, and they are wonderful with children due to their gentle nature.


About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.

The Icelandic - Is it a Pony or is it a Horse?

Known by many names such as Islenzki Hesturinn, Icelandic Toelter Horse, Iceland Tölter, and its own country's name, Islandpferde, the Icelandic Horse has lived in Iceland since the Nordic pioneers arrived in 865 A.D. and it has been purebred since the 10th century. Since the horse is sacred in Norse mythology, this horse is the only breed in Iceland because of an ancient Viking law disallowing any other horses into the country, and that law is still upheld today. Once an Icelandic Horse has been taken out of Iceland it can never return. Additionally, only unused horse equipment may be brought into the country. This is to prevent an outbreak of equine disease which could decimate the population on the tiny island. Diseases are almost unknown among Icelandic horses that may not be able to fend off something new. But it is this isolation which has led to the breed's purity. Outside Iceland, the genetic purity of the horses is carefully maintained through national registries in each country to track the breed according to strict regulations of the Icelandic government.

Comparisons between the Icelandic horse at the time of the settlement of Iceland, and the ancient Norwegian and German horses show them to have similar bone structures, and it is possible that there was a separate species of horse, Equus scandianavicus, found in those areas. These Scandinavian horses were later crossed with other European breeds, but not in Iceland, and so the breed remained pure on the island. During the time that the Vikings took the horses to Iceland, the easy gaits were common throughout horse breeds in Europe, but the Icelandic Horse genotype is very different from other European horse populations, so theories of them having Shetland blood, Highland or Eriskay blood are not likely to be true.

The Icelandic is classified as a horse, not as a pony. This is because it is the only equine in Iceland and there is not a word for "pony" in the language, therefore it's called a horse. But of the 27 characteristics that apply to all pony breeds, all of them apply to Icelandic Horses. So, if someone calls it an Icelandic Pony, they are biologically correct.

In the early 1900's the Icelandic horse was used extensively for transportation and as a work horse to clear fields and herd livestock. The first breed societies for the Icelandic Horse were formed in 1904 with the first registry being formed in 1923. Then in the early 20th century, automobiles came to Iceland and because the horses were considered obsolete, much of the breed was slaughtered en masse until the 1940's and 1950's. Fortunately, rescue organizations worked to protect the Icelandic breed and exported many horses to new homes outside of the country while establishing legal protections for the equines within Iceland. Forty years ago, there were no Icelandic Horses in continental Europe, but now there are 100,000. Only about 3,000 are in the United States but it is a growing breed with more being imported all the time. Around 80,000 Icelandic horses remain in Iceland.

The Icelandic Horse has been rediscovered in its native country and is recognized as a unique family and sport horse in modern Iceland where they are now highly prized and used for recreational riding much more than for fieldwork. Despite its small size, averaging 12.2 to 14.2 hands tall, this Viking Horse is tough enough to carry a 300-pound man and can bear 1.6 times its own weight. The Icelandic Horse can be used in various activities from riding, jumping, dressage and driving. Traditional Icelandic tack (which resembles English tack) is recommended since this style fits the breed physically and allows the horse to move correctly although they are able to perform well under other types of equipment.

Although breeding for show and riding is the main objective, breeding for meat production is also occurring. Horse meat was once a very valuable product, but due to increased competition and decreased popularity much of the meat is now exported to Japan.

Icelandic Horses love to swim and this is a prime example of its gentleness and strength. It is a nice break on a hot summer day and the horse will gently carry its passenger as it swims swiftly and easily through the water with its powerful legs, through a calm lake, a river, or even an ocean. In winter, Icelandic Horses are shod with studs on their shoes. In areas where it is cold enough to ride a horse across frozen lakes, the Icelandic is able to perform all five gaits on sheer ice.

Ponying is the practice of riding one horse while leading others to exercise them or to allow the rider to switch horses when the ridden horse gets tired. The rider is usually in the center with horses being led on either side. Most breeds demand personal space and won't cooperate well with this closeness, but Icelandic horses naturally bond and travel in communities so they allow this joyful exercise.

Because Iceland has no predators, but instead has quicksand, rock slides, volcanoes, etc, the ability to assess a situation intelligently rather than run away from it appears to have been central to the horse's survival. Since they have no fear of living things, they seek strong attachments to people and are quite nurturing and affectionate.

Icelandics cannot be ridden until age 5; stop growing at age 7, and perform best when in their twenties. Broodmares often produce foals well into their late 20's. Even though they mature later, they live longer than most breeds, with 35-40 years being common. The oldest living horse, Thulla, was an Icelandic who died at age 57 when she stopped eating after her elderly owner passed away. This dramatically attests to the phenomenal bonding capabilities of the Icelandic Horse.

Some of the desirable conformation points of an Icelandic horse are a long neck and a full, thick mane, forelock and tail. Their manes and tails are so full and the hair is so coarse that it rarely tangles. The Icelandic coat is sleek in the summer and fuzzy like a teddy bear in the winter, but the abundant flowing mane and tail are kept year round. Over 42 different color patterns and combinations, including white and pinto are acceptable for the Icelandic horse, with only the Appaloosa markings missing from the mix.

Icelandic horses are five-gaited and their greatest asset is the extra surefootedness added by the horse’s ability to move its feet in any order which allows them to maneuver safely through all kinds of terrain. In addition to the Walk, Trot and Canter, the Icelandic horse has two unique gaits and is one of the few horses known to be ridden and driven in all five basic gaits. The Tölt, or single-foot, is an amazingly smooth gait where all four feet move in the same independent pattern as in the walk but with higher action and more speed; like an accelerated high stepping running walk that is smooth and flowing that some equestrians compare to racking. Tölting is often performed carrying full beer mugs without spilling a drop and is a trademark of the breed.

The Flying Pace, known variously as Skeith, skeio or skold, is a lateral gait where the front and hind legs on the same side move forward and back at the same time with such speed that there is a brief period in which all four feet are off the ground as if flying. The Icelandic Horse is the only breed that performs this gait. Like the pace of the American Standardbred, the Icelandic has been clocked at 35 miles per hour, but unlike the Standardbred, the Icelandic's gait is comfortable to sit, therefore Icelandic Horses are raced at Flying Pace under saddle, not pulling a sulky. Not every Icelandic Horse displays this gait, because it requires careful development in the horse and must not be rushed before the muscles necessary for this powerful gait are fully developed. Training by any artificial methods is strictly forbidden.

All breed standards, registrations and competition activities are strictly regulated by the Föderation Europäischer Islandpferde Freunde (FEIF or International Federation of Friends of the Icelandic Horse) that was formed in 1969 to regulate the uniformity of the Icelandic breed world-wide. Currently there are 18 member countries in the FEIF. The United States Icelandic Horse Congress (USIHC) maintains the Registry of purebred Icelandic Horses in the U.S. in accordance with FEIF rules. Other Icelandic Horse organizations within a country are allowed, but only as social or promotional entities.


About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.

The Antediluvian Andalusian - An Ancient And Aspiring Horse

The Andalusian horse is one of the oldest pure horse breeds in the world. It has been highly regarded since the Middle Ages and reigned for several centuries as the embodiment of perfection, but Spanish horses have always been esteemed for their quality and appearance since Roman times.

The Andalusian has officially been known as the Purebred Spanish Horse, and has been represented by Iberian Saddle Horse, Iberian War Horse, Jennet, Ginete, Lusitano, Alter Real, Carthusian, Spanish Horse, Portuguese, Peninsular, Castilian, Extremeno, Villanos, Zapata, and Zamaranos. It is also known as the Lusitano Horse, which is the modern breed of Andalusian in Portugal. And since black is a rare color in the Andalusian breed, there is also a black Spanish Andalusian or Pura Raza Espanola (PRE) horse of Spain.

The Andalusian Horse originated in the province of Andalusia on the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain, where 2500 year old cave paintings portray the breed. Its ancestors are the Iberian horses of Spain and Portugal, which in turn were influenced by Celtic, Carthaginian, Germanic, and Roman horses; and the Barb horse which was brought to Spain by the invading Moors in the Seventh Century. These oriental horses were crossed with quality native Spanish stock, and the result was the Andalusian.

The Andalusian has been a major part of the development of many other horse breeds, including being the foundation breed for the Lipizzaner horses used in Vienna's Spanish Riding School in the 1500's. The breed has also been part of the development of the Irish Connemara, most German warmblood breeds, the Cleveland Bay of England, and the Peruvian Paso of the new world. The Azteca is an Andalusian/Quarter Horse cross while the Iberian Warmblood is an Andalusian/Thoroughbred cross. The Spanish Norman is an Andalusian/Percheron cross and the Hispano Arab is an Andalusian/Arab cross.

The Andalusian is mentioned in various historical texts dating as far back as Homer's Iliad, written in 1100 BC. Xenophon, a Greek cavalry officer who lived in or near 450 BC, also praised the "gifted Iberian horses" for their role in the Spartan's defeat of Athens. In the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), the Romans were defeated by the Iberian cavalry, and more than 1,200 years later William the Conqueror rode an Iberian horse into the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Spanish explorer, Hernando Cortes, brought Andalusians to America for his conquests.

As the middle ages progressed, heavier breeds of horses that were capable of carrying fully armored knights began to gain favor over the Adalusian as war mounts. When firearms were invented, a more agile horse became desirable, and the Andalusion was again back in favor. This new type of warfare ushered in a new era for the breed, when it became known as the "royal horse of Europe." During this period, Andalusian horses were present at nearly every European court as the favored mount for the nobles and played an integral role in the new riding academies that were forming throughout Europe, where the art of dressage. The Andalusian is still used in bull fighting in Southern Spain.

Andalusian horses owe a great deal to the Carthusian Monks who bred them, beginning in the late Middle Ages. In the late 1400's, studs and bloodlines were founded at monasteries in Terez, Seville, and Cazallo. The monks were excellent breeders and trainers, and kept their horses pure. However, that purity was threatened in the 1800's when Napoleon invaded Spain and his army stole many horses. This caused the Andalusian breed to decline in numbers and it came close to extinction. Fortunately, one herd of Andalusians was hidden and was used to renew the breed. In 1832, an epidemic devastated Spain's horse population and only a small herd of Andalusians at the Monastery of Cartuja survived. In order to re-establish their breeding programs, exportation of an Andalusian became illegal without Royal consent and the penalty for exporting this treasured horse was death. No Andalusians were exported until 1962.

However, now the Andalusian's numbers are growing around the world. In 2005 there were approximately 400 Andalusians registered in Canada. In the United States, it is still a unique breed, but the population has risen to around 5400 horses. The total number of Andalusian (Lusitano) horses registered with IALHA in 2008 is approximately. 11,000.
In physical appearance, the Andalusian is a compact horse with a distinguished appearance and excellent proportions which balance well with their graceful, yet substantial bodies. The Andalusian has a natural balance, collection, impulsion, and agility. They are between 15.1 to 16.1 hands high with the average being 15.2 hands.

The Andalusian is known for its abundantly thick mane that flows from a long, elegant, well-arched but substantial neck, with stallions having more of a crest than mares. The classic profile is a long head with broad forehead, small ears, large eyes, and a flat or slightly convex nose. The shoulders are well-sloped and the withers are well defined. The massive chest and powerful hindquarters are lean and the long, thick, flowing tail should be low set. The breed has strong, medium legs with very energetic high knee action and short striding.

Approximately 80% of the Andalusians are Gray, (Torca, Ruca), 15% Bay (Castana, Castanha), and 5% black. The following colors are also acceptable but rarely seen: Black Bay, Brown, Chestnut, Buckskin, Dun, Palomino, Cremello (Isabella), Perlino, Roan. Other colors are rare or believed to be non-existent in the purebred Andalusian but may be accepted with proper documentation including parentage verification and photos. All dark spots within white markings or on pink skin must be recorded on the registration application for and the color of all hooves must be noted especially if they are striped.

Andalusian Horses possess a proud but docile, calm temperament. The breed is renowned for its ability to learn quickly and easily when treated with respect. They are sensitive, intelligent, and particularly responsive and cooperative with a very willing nature.

The International Andalusian & Lusitano Horse Association is the association that maintains a registry for Purebred Andalusians and Half-Andalusians and is also the official representative of the Lusitano Horse (the modern breed of Andalusian in Portugal) in the USA and Canada.

As for genetic anomalies, veterinarians do not yet know if Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis (DSLD) has its roots in genetics, overuse of affected limbs, hormone fluctuations (previously-sound broodmares may develop symptoms of DSLD around foaling time), or if it is some combination of these factors. Although the condition is probably best known in gaited breeds (American Saddlebreds, Peruvian Pasos, Peruvian crosses, Standardbreds, and National Show Horses), it has also been diagnosed in Arabians, Thoroughbreds, and Andalusians.

But all that aside, this versatile breed can be found competing in dressage, driving, jumping, cutting and cattle work. It is ridden under both English and Western saddle. Their stunning presence and charisma makes them an asset to any show ring, exhibition or parade. With its love of people, the Andalusian is an ideal family horse.


About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.

The Fjnomenal Fjord Horses of Norway

What has stripes on its legs and an upright mane like a zebra? The answer is the Norwegian Fjord Horse, (pronounced "fee-yord" but compressed to a quickly spoken "fyord"), a short but very strong breed of horse from the mountainous regions of western Norway that is also known as "Vestlandshesten" (the horse of the western country). It is one of the world's oldest and purest domesticated equines with a long recorded history of no crossbreeding with other horses.

It is believed that the ancestors of the Fjord horse migrated into Norway from central Europe over 4000 years ago. It bears a striking resemblance to the horses painted on cave walls 30,000 years ago. Archeological excavations at Viking burial sites indicate that herds of wild Fjord horses existed in Norway after the last ice age. It also appears that they were domesticated over 3000 years ago, and that they were selectively bred for at least 2,000 years. The Norwegian Fjord horses were an important part of Viking society, and may have been part of the founding stock for breeds like the Icelandic horse, as well as native Celtic ponies in Britain, or vice versa.

Fjord Horses of today retain many of the color characteristics and primitive markings of the Przewalski or Mongolian Wild Horse, from which many believe they are descended, but the Fjord is rather like the European wild horse, the Tarpan, which is now extinct in its natural state. The Fjord Horse could not have descended from the Przewalski Horse since the Przewalski has 66 chromosomes, and the Fjord and Tarpan have 64.

Every Fjord Horse exhibits the "wild" dun color of the ancestral horse as well as primitive markings which include zebra stripes on the legs and light feathering on the hocks along with dark or striped hooves. A distinct dark dorsal stripe runs from the forelock down the neck and back and into the tail. The ears have dark edges and transverse stripes may also be seen over the withers. Norwegian Fjord Horses maintain the hardiness and vigor of their wild ancestors with efficiency of feed conversion, maintaining excellent body condition on good pasture alone as well as on sparse grazing.

Today, it is one of the national symbols of Norway and the tourist industry uses the Fjord horse as a representative of Norwegian culture. Fjord horses carry tourists back and forth to the breathtaking waterfalls and glaciers of Norway's scenic countryside, and are part of any tourist package in Norway that includes horses. The Fjord horse appears on the civic crests for many regions of Norway and was also represented at the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer as a cultural ambassador--along with two other native Norwegian breeds, the Døle horse and the Northlands horse--drawing carriages that transported competitors and celebrities to the different activities.

All breeding in Norway is controlled by a Norwegian government agency, Norges Fjordhestlag and Norsk Hestesenter (NHS or Norwegian Horse Centre) Exportation of Fjord horses is carefully controlled to ensure that only champion stock leaves the country. The Fjords now have registries in Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden. Approximately twenty-two Fjords have been imported to the United States, most of them in the middle 1950's. Since 1981, the Fjord breed has been tracked in the U.S. by the Norwegian Fjord Horse Registry (NFHR) and in Canada by the Canadian Fjord Horse Association (CFHA).

Fjords generally range in size from 13.1 to 14.2 hands and weigh between 900 and 1,200 pounds. Technically, the Norwegian Fjord horse should be classified as a pony, but they are always referred to as horses in Norway and so the trend has continued world-wide. The extraordinary power for their small size enables Fjords to be used for all types of riding, driving and draft work.

The gaits of the Norwegian Fjord horse should be energetic, with good balance and cadence with sufficient elasticity to perform an effortless walk, trot and canter. The trot is energetic, but excessive action is not considered typical for the breed.

The extremely gentle disposition of the Fjord Horse, their cool temperament, curious, active character, loyalty and overall versatility, both under saddle and in harness, make them the ideal family horse. When properly trained, they will do any task.

One of the most unique characteristics of the Norwegian Fjord Horse is the naturally growing upright mane. A dark, usually black, dorsal stripe runs through the center or core of the mane, while the outer fringe hair is cream or white. The forelock on mature horses covers from one half to two thirds of the head. This two-toned mane is a unique characteristic rarely seen on other horses with dun coloring. The mane kept trimmed between 4 to 6 inches in a characteristic crescent shape to emphasize the curve of the neck, and to ensure that it will always stand erect even when wet. The lighter outer hair is then trimmed slightly shorter than the dark inner dorsal hair to display the dramatic dark stripe down the center, which runs all the way down the spine and into the core of the tail.

Horizontal zebra stripes may occur on the legs and are most noticeable and numerous on the forelegs. They are the same color as the midtstol, but are of a paler shade and tend to be more visible during the summer. They may be indistinct or missing from pale horses. They may also be missing in grå horses, whose legs may be of the same color as the body, or darker up to the knees and hocks. Foals are born without zebra-stripes, but after the baby coat is shed out, that is when the stripes will appear, if they are going to appear at all.

Sometimes there are small brown spots on the body, for example on the thigh or cheek. Occasionally there may also be dark zebra-like stripes across and at right angles to the withers.

White markings are not common in Norwegian Fjord horses and aside from a small white star on the forehead, they are considered undesirable. IN fact, at the 1982 meeting of Norges Fjordhestlag it was decided that stallions and colts with other white markings can’t be licensed.

At the end of 1800's the Norwegian Fjord Horse nearly died out, though the reason is unknown. Today’s horses all descend from a single surviving stallion, Njal 166, who was born 1891. In genetic terms he is known as a founding stallion. His genes have influenced the development of the entire breed as we know it today and are in all living Norwegian Fjord Horses.
Because so few individuals survived whatever calamity befell the breed, the genetic diversity of the breed was severely reduced, and some alleles were lost altogether, possibly including the AA and At alleles of the agouti locus. The breed went through what is called a genetic bottleneck, when the wild-type allele at the dun locus seems to have been lost, so that now all Norwegian Fjord Horses are dun. In this breed the dun allele therefore is the only allele at the locus and is said to be fixed (i.e. its frequency is 100%).

Color variations between the 5 duns are subtle and hard to distinguish unless horses of different shades are standing side by side. The color terms are non-standard compared to English terminology, the difference being based in part on the Norwegian terms, which were set in 1922 and their English translations which were made official in 1980. In the Norwegian (Norsk) language, the darker stripe of hair in the middle of the mane is called the "midtstol", while the darker hair in the middle of the tail is the "halefjær".

Brunblakk is the most common color. In 2005, 90% of all registered Norwegian Fjord Horses were brunblakk. Rødblakk is the equivalent of red dun. It can be difficult to tell the difference between a brown and a red dun. Rødblakk foals may be born with white hooves that darken over time. Although grå means gray in Norwegian, grå dun horses are actually black dun horses, or occasionally smoky black dun (i.e. black with both cream and dun dilution). Grå is not the conventional gray that causes graying over time, but they range from pale silver gray to dark slate gray. Ulsblakk is the equivalent of buckskin dun. Originally ulsblakk was the most common color of registered Fjord horses and was also called borket, but its popularity waned due to the production of kvit foals when ulsblakk horses were bred together. Gulblakk is the equivalent of palomino dun and the rarest colors of all. Kvit is the equivalent of cremello or perlino dun. It is a rare color due to intentional selection against it, and they glass (blue or wall) eyes. The color could be produced by crossing gulblakk with either ulsblakk or gulblakk; or by crossing two ulsblakk horses together.

In spite of the small gene pool, the only genetic fault reported in the Fjord horse was a condition that was observed in the 1980's known as hereditary lethal arthrogryposis (muscle contracture). It was observed in female foals that were all sired by a stallion named Bingo. This stallion was quite normal in appearance but the defective foals were born with contracted legs, extra limbs and jaw defects including cleft palate and parrot mouth. It has not been a problem in recent years.


About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.

A Splash of White Gives This Paint Horse a Dash of Flash

The American Paint Horse has often been erroneous referred to as the Pinto, but in fact, the two words have different meanings. The Pinto Horse Association (PHA) is a color registry, and Pintos can be any breed, but Paints are American Paint Horse Association (APHA)-registered horses that can prove parentage from one of three approved registries: American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), the Thoroughbred Jockey Club (JC), or the APHA, as well as meet a minimum color requirement. While a painted horse could be double-registered if it met the breed standards specified by each registry, the registries are independent. However, the Paint is a recognized breed only in North America. In other parts of the world, it is only considered a color or a type of horse. There are still some judges in the show ring that are prejudiced against colored horses, especially in the English disciplines, but this opinion is declining slowly.

The origins of the colors in the Paint Horse in North America can be traced back to the two-toned horses introduced by the Spanish explorers, descendants of horses from North Africa and Asia Minor, Inevitably, some of these colorful creatures escaped to create the wild herds of horses that roamed the Great Plains, from which the American Quarter Horse is also derived. When the American Quarter Horse Association first started in 1940, colored horses, or those with excessive amounts of white were not allowed to be registered, but these painted foals were usually born to all-Quarter Horse parents that had almost no white at all.  They became known by the AQHA as "crop-outs" and were sold without papers.  Soon, so many colored horses had been born that their owners decided to start up their own American Paint Horse Association to have someplace to keep track of all the well-bred crop-outs.  Up until recently, all crop-outs from the Quarter Horse breed were sent to the APHA, but the rules have now been changed to allow all crop-outs with Quarter Horse parents to be registered with the AQHA, no matter how much white they have. Since 1962, the APHA has grown from a registry of 3,800 horses to more than a quarter of a million horses worldwide today and is now the second largest equine registry in the United States based on the number of foals registered annually.

The term "Paint" lumps together different types of spotting, and at least four major spotting patterns are included within the Paint breed: tobiano, overo (frame overo), or tovero, sabino (calico overo) and splashed white. Each pattern can occur separately, or they can occur in all the different possible combinations. The basic coat color can be white, black bay, brown chestnut sorrel red roan, blue roan, bay roan palomino cremello, perlino dun, grullo, buckskin, or gray, but superimposed over these colors are the following spotting patterns.

The "tobiano" pattern has head markings that may be completely solid, or have a blaze, stripe, star or snip of white. Generally, all four legs are white below the hocks and knees. The spots tend to be regular and distinctly oval or round and extend down the front of the neck and chest, looking somewhat like a shield. Usually a tobiano will have the dark color on one or both flanks and the tail is often two colors.

The "overo" pattern has bold white head markings such as a bald face. Generally, one or all four legs will be dark. The body may also be either predominantly dark or white, but the white will not cross the horse's back between the withers and the tail is usually one color. They Overos generally have irregular, scattered markings. The tail is usually one color. Frequently overos have one or two blue eyes, or a partial blue eye.

The "sabino" pattern, within the overo category, is sometimes called "calico overo". This pattern consists of white on the legs and head, and it usually creeps up on the body in the form of belly spots. Sabino is usually flecked and roaned although some are very crisply spotted. Sometimes sabino horses have blue eyes.

The "splashed white" pattern is much rarer than the other three. Horses with this pattern have white legs and stomachs, as well as a large amount of white on the head. The edges of the white are quite crisp. Many splashed white horses have blue eyes.

However, not all Paint coat patterns fit neatly into these categories, so the APHA expanded its classifications to include the tovero pattern to describe horses that have characteristics of both the tobiano and overo patterns. Additionally, some breedings will not produce these patterns, but instead the foal will be a solid color. These Paint-Bred (formerly referred to as Breeding Stock) horses are still of the Paint breed, they just lack the flashy color.

The American Paint is usually recognized the same way as the Quarter Horse -- by a short muzzle, broad forehead with a straight profile and large jaws. It has small fox-like ears and large, wide-set eyes. The neck has a slight crest. Their backs are short with good withers and a sloping croup.  The barrel is deep with well-sprung ribs and the hooves are well-rounded, with deep open heels. The walk, trot, canter, and gallop are the American Paint Horse’s natural gaits.

As for disposition and personality, like the Quarter Horse it comes from, this horse is the most willing, laid-back, quiet and even-tempered of all the breeds, and has a gentle nature. They are quick and agile, level-headed and sensible, sure-footed and steady with good stamina. Intelligence, reliability, adaptability and willingness to please their owners makes the American Paint Horse very easy to train in all ways. The breed seems to have an innate “cow sense” and can anticipate the moves made by cattle which makes them indispensable for herding and cutting.

The American Paint breed suffers from a genetic oddity known as "Lethal White" in which a pure white foal of overo breeding may seem normal at birth, but usually begins showing signs of colic within 12 hours because of a non-functioning colon. Because the syndrome is always fatal, lethal white foals are often euthanized. Overo is believed to be a dominant gene with lethal effects in the homozygous state. Since there has been no successful homozygous overo stallion yet to date, whatever causes homozygosity in overos may be linked to lethal white syndrome. More research is being done in this area and genetic testing is available since 25 percent of foals from two overo parents could be lethal whites.

Additionally, since Paints have Quarter Horse pedigrees, another genetic oddity known as Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis (HYPP) may turn up, along with Parrot Mouth and Cryptorchid conditions. HYPP is inherited as a dominant trait and is characterized by intermittent episodes of uncontrolled muscle tremors (shaking, trembling or twitching) or profound muscle weakness, and in severe cases, may lead to collapse and/or death. To date, HYPP has been traced only to descendants of a horse named IMPRESSIVE, #0767246 who may be in some Paint pedigrees.

And with such a close tie-in to the Quarter Horse breed, the American Paint Horse is also a very versatile equine with uses ranging from racing, herding, and rodeo, to show jumping, dressage, carriage and pleasure riding.


About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.

The Appaloosa's Heritage Is As Colorful and Unique As Its Coat

The name "Appaloosa" came from the settlers in the Pacific Northwest Palouse region in the 1700’s. They began calling the spotted horses "palouse horses", possibly after the Palouse River, which ran through the heart of Nez Perce country, or possibly after the Palus Indian tribe which was also in the area. The name was then shorted and slurred to "appalousey" and gradually the "Appaloosa" name evolved. Breeders and owners have further shortened the name to "Appy".

While there is evidence of leopard-spotted horses dating back to cave paintings from the Upper Paleolithic era around 18,000 BC at Lascaux and Peche-Merle, France, as well as other art from ancient Persia, ancient Greece, China and 16th century France and other areas of Europe, it is the Nez Perce people of the Pacific Northwest that are considered to have developed the American version of the Appaloosa breed.

But is not very clear how these spotted horses arrived in North America, although it is suspected that Spanish explorers brought them in among their other horses in the early 1500s. Cortez is said to have brought at least one horse with a snowflake pattern to Mexico, and other spotted horses have been mentioned by Spanish writers in 1604.

The spotted horses appear to have reached the Pacific Northwest by 1700. The Nez Perce tribes who lived in eastern Washington and Oregon and Idaho acquired the horses from the Shoshone tribes around 1730. They developed strict breeding selection practices and were one of the few tribes to participate in gelding inferior colts. They also actively traded away poorer stock to remove unsuitable animals from the gene pool. The Nez Perce became well known as horse breeders by the early 19th century.

The Nez Perce lost most of their horses after the Nez Perce War of 1877 and never regained their position as breeders of the Appaloosa. The breed started to die out for several decades, but a small handful of dedicated breeders kept the Appaloosa alive for several decades until the Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC) was founded in 1938 in Moro, Oregon. It was moved in1947 to Moscow, Idaho and in 1975, the Appaloosa was named the official state horse of Idaho with a custom license plate featuring the breed being issued. Idaho is the first state to offer a state horse license plate. By 1978, the ApHC was the third largest horse registry in the United States. Today the Appaloosa is one of the most popular breeds in the United States and as of 2007, more than 670,000 Appaloosas have been registered in the United States and 40 foreign countries by the ApHC.

Because several different equine breeds influenced the Appaloosa, there are several body styles. An Appaloosa may resemble a shorter, more compact Arabian or a longer, leaner Thoroughbred, or anything in between, but the minimum adult height requirement is 14 hands, with an average height of 15.1 hands.

Although Appaloosas are most commonly recognized by their plethora of leopard-spotted coat pattern combinations, they also have other distinctive characteristics such as mottled skin; white sclera around the eyes; and striped hooves in the absence of white leg markings. Therefore, most of the literature about them is related to their coloring.

The ApHC recognizes the following base colors: bay, black, dun, Bay roan, blue roan, Red roan, palomino, Cremello, Perlino and Grulla. Each should also display one of the Appaloosa patterns on top of the base color. Also, an Appy can have brown, blue or hazel eyes or even two different colored eyes on the same horse.
There are seven common terms used to describe the coat patterns but they are quite variable and there are many horses that may not fit into specific categories easily.

Blanket - a solid white area normally over the hip area.

Leopard- white or dark spots over all or a portion of the body.

Blanket with Leopard Spots - a white blanket with dark spots in it.

Roan - a mixture of light and dark hairs. If no blanket or spots, the horse will also need mottled skin and one other characteristic to qualify for registration.

Roan Blanket - roan pattern over a portion of the body with a blanket normally occurring over the hip area.

Roan Blanket With Spots - a roan blanket which has white and/or dark spots within the roan area.

Solid - a base color but no contrasting Appaloosa coat pattern. This horse will need mottled skin and one other characteristic to qualify for registration

Most Appaloosa foals are born with lighter colored coats than they will have when they get older, with the exception of gray horses, which are born dark and become lighter with age. Black horses look mousy gray when they are born.

Mottled or parti-colored skin is unique to the Appaloosa horse and therefore it is a basic decisive indicator of an Appaloosa.
The color pattern of the Appaloosa fascinates those who study equine coat color genetics such as those in the Horse Genome Project or the Appaloosa Project, because both the coat pattern and several other physical characteristics appear to be linked to the "Lp" or "leopard" gene or gene complex, but the precise inheritance mechanism is not yet fully understood. Not every horse with the Lp gene exhibits hair coat spotting and there is currently no DNA test for the gene.

Appaloosas sometimes show up with sabino or American Paint type markings but extensive research on the interactions of Appaloosa and American Paint genes and how they affect each other has found that the genes that create these different patterns can all exist in the same horse. However, because the overo pattern may obscure Appaloosa patterns, Paint breeding is discouraged by the ApHC, which will deny registration for excessive white markings.

Appaloosas have a high risk of developing spontaneous Equine Recurrent Uveitis (ERU) or "moon blindness", which can lead to blindness if not treated. As many as 25% of all Appaloosas may develop ERU, which is the highest rate of any horse breed. The University of Minnesota is currently conducting research to determine if there is a genetic factor involved and a potential gene region that may be linked to the condition may have been identified.

There is another downside to the breed since many Appaloosa are crop-outs from the Quarter Horse, and that is Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis (HYPP). This is listed as a genetic defect, along with Parrot Mouth and Cryptorchid conditions. HYPP is inherited as a dominant trait and is characterized by intermittent episodes of uncontrolled muscle tremors (shaking, trembling or twitching) or profound muscle weakness, and in severe cases, may lead to collapse and/or death. To date, HYPP has been traced only to descendants of a horse named IMPRESSIVE, #0767246. Acetazolamide ("Acet") is used for treating horses with the disease and prevents them from having seizures.

The Appaloosa horse is extremely versatile, and they have set records in speed on race racks, due to their Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred genes, and have earned high honors in dressage, games, roping, endurance, jumping and reining. They make wonderful family horses due to their gentle dispositions and their eagerness to please their owners. And they are intelligent and have trustworthy temperaments.



About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.

Striking the Superb Figure of the Morgan Horse

Justin Morgan was a teacher, composer, businessman, and horseman who acquired a small, rough-coated bay colt of relatively unknown lineage who was born in 1789. He named him Figure and he was a rather unremarkable horse that nobody wanted because he was too small, yet he became the foundation of an entire breed of horses recognized for quality and dependability.

The ancestry of this colt named Figure who founded the Morgan breed is unknown, but is thought to be of Dutch, Thoroughbred, or Arabian breeding. History's best guess is that his sire was True Briton, who was respected for his excellence and who sired quality horses. His unnamed dam was described as being of the "Wild-air breed” with her sire being a son of Church's Wildair by Wildair (Delancey's) out of a mare named Wildair.

There is quite an in-depth history and many stories about this particular little horse, including a Disney movie in 1972 called "Justin Morgan Had a Horse" that was based on a book of the same name. Figure's ability to out walk, out trot, outrun, and out pull other horses was legendary. For example, it is said that he pulled a log that no draft horse could budge, and that he outran the most winning racehorse central Vermont had ever known. From these anecdotes came the Morgan Horse owners' claim that "this horse can do anything", and apparently the breed does. Whatever equine discipline you can think of, the Morgan Horse will be found to be a part of it and likely excelling in it. Even when harness racing was popular in the 1800's, the world's fastest trotting stallion was Ethan Allen 50, Justin Morgan's great-grandson.

After Justin Morgan's death, Figure was passed on to new owners and in the tradition of the times, he became known by his former owner's name, Justin Morgan. He spent his life working on farms, hauling freight, and as a parade mount at militia trainings. Over a period of 30 years, the little horse remained sound in limb, stamina and sight, throughout a lifetime of two ordinary horses. He also had showy, ground-covering gaits with speed to spare at any one of them and was an extremely gentle horse around children.

Justin Morgan's most valuable asset was the prepotency of his genes. No matter what type of mare he was bred to, draft or light racing horse, his offspring inherited his image, his abilities and his distinguishing characteristics. And not only his offspring inherited the traits, but the prepotency also went through several generations. Today, every registered Morgan Horse traces back to Justin Morgan through his most famous sons Woodbury, Bulrush, and Sherman. Sadly, the little Justin Morgan died in 1821 from an untreated kick received from another horse, so his true longevity was never realized.

Morgan Horses were used as cavalry mounts and artillery horses. They were sensible under fire; could march tirelessly all day; could maintain their condition on unpredictable rations; and were loyal to their riders. The only survivor in the Battle of Little Big Horn was Keogh's Morgan-bred horse, Comanche. The First Vermont Cavalry was mounted entirely on Morgan Horses but of their more than 1200 horses, only 200 survived the war and in 1894, the first volume of the American Morgan Horse Register was published by Colonel Joseph Battell.

The American Morgan Horse Farm was established in Weybridge, Vermont in 1907, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the breeding and preservation of the Morgan horse. But it was not until 1909 that the Morgan Horse Club (MHC) was formed at the Vermont State Fair. In 1921, the MHC presented the Justin Morgan statue to the U.S. Morgan Horse Farm on the 100th anniversary of the death of Justin Morgan, and it is still exhibited there today.

The Morgan Horse ranges from 14.1 to 15.2 hands high with some individuals that are taller or shorter. They come in wide variety of colors, from bay, brown and black to silver dapple, roan, palomino, buckskin, dun, grulla, cremello, perlino, smoky cream, gray, flaxen, sabino, splashed white, and others.

The head is expressive with a broad forehead, large prominent eyes and a straight or slightly dished short face. The ears are short and shapely, set rather wide apart and carried alertly with mares having slightly longer ears. The throatlatch is deeper than other breeds. The neck is slightly arched with the top line of the neck being considerably longer than the bottom line and the stallion has more of a crest. The body of the Morgan Horse is compact with a short back and high-set tail that is carried gracefully and straight. The feet are in proportion to the size of the horse.

The Morgan Horse is distinctive for its stamina and vigor, personality and eagerness and strong natural way of moving. The Morgan walk is rapid, flat-footed, and has a four-beat elastic cadence with the accent on flexion in the pastern while the trot of the Morgan is a two-beat, diagonal gait that is animated, elastic, square and collected with the rear action in balance with the front action. The overall impression is a unique combination of draft-like substance, Arabian-like heads with a Saddlebred-like elegance.

The Morgan Horse is considered to be the oldest of all American breeds and was strong enough to contribute greatly to almost every other American light horse breed while retaining its own identity across two centuries. The American Saddlebred, the Quarter Horse, the English Hackney, the American Standardbred, and the Tennessee Walking Horse, among others, all owe much to the Morgan Horses in their own ancestry.


About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.

The Buckskin Horse is Not Just A Color

Although not a specific breed, the Buckskin is a common color found in many breeds of horses. In the simplest sense, a Buckskin horse should be the color of tanned deer hide with black points. Somewhat like the Siamese cat or the Himalayan rabbit pattern, but on a horse. In the more complex description, Buckskins are horses with a base coat color of either bay or brown that varies in shade from pale cream to a deep rich golden color, with dark legs, dark manes and dark tails that are either black or very dark brown. The coat may change shades with the seasons.

However, contrary to common beliefs, the Buckskin or Dun horses are not mere "colors" in the world of horses. Buckskins, along with Grulla and Duns, are noted for many qualities that are not characteristic of other types of horses. The color seems to be an indication of some superior genetic qualities that they possess. They have more stamina, more strength, more determination, harder feet, surer footing, better boning, and are generally hardier than other colored horses within the same breed. Buckskins were highly regarded by the cowboys of the early west and were used for pack, harness, and saddle and given a choice a cowboy would almost always choose the Buckskin or Dun horse.

The Buckskin horse traces its lineage through a direct line of Dun- or Buckskin-colored ancestors, which go as far back as the available recorded history. The Buckskin is thought to have originated from the now nearly extinct Spanish Sorraia of the Iberian Peninsula. There are also many indications that an ancient breed known as the Norwegian Dun or Norwegian Fjord from Scandinavia may also have obtained the Dun coloring from these same horses of Spain. Since the blood of both the Sorraia and the Norwegian Dun have filtered into nearly every breed found in the world today, Buckskin, Dun or Grulla may be found in nearly every breed that allows all colors of equines in their registries.

Discussion of the Buckskin however cannot be complete without a brief discussion of the genetics involved, although to anyone but a breeder who would like to either produce Buckskins or avoid them; it may be a bit confusing.

Those who studied genetics used to believe that the Dun horse was the result of a dilution gene, and that breeding Duns to Buckskins often resulted in the birth of an albino foal. However, this has been proven to be in error. It is the agouti locus that affects the shade of the Buckskin horses. Different alleles of the agouti locus seem to be responsible for the different shades of yellow through cream, as well as affecting the distribution of the dark pigment on the legs, mane and tail.

Smokey black horses are sometimes called black buckskins or, if in the UK, dilute blacks. These are black horses with a cream gene that may be very difficult to identify because they may look bay, brown, liver chestnut or even faded black. The CCr allele is a semi-dominant and dilutes red pigment to yellow when in the heterozygous form but it has only a very subtle effect on black pigment. The wild-type C+ allele is recessive since it needs to be homozygous for there to be no dilution of the base color at all. Buckskin and Dun genetics are thoroughly discussed on the Coat Color Genetics web site of the University of California - Davis Genetics Laboratory, as well as other horse coat color genetics sites.

The American Buckskin Registry (ABR) keeps track of these lovely colored horses. It was founded in the United States in 1962 and opened its registry not only to the Buckskin, but also to Grulla and Dun colored horses. It also includes the Red Dun with varying body shades of red, and the Mouse Dun or Coyote Dun, a slate color resembling a salt-and-pepper coloration.

Unlike some color breeds, the ABR will not enter any horse into its registry that shows signs of below-average conformation for its breed, regardless of the desired coloring. The mature horse is to stand at least 14 hands in order to be registered with the ABR.Ponies and horses showing a predominance of draft horse blood are not eligible.


About Crystal Eikanger

Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.