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Everything about Horse Breed totally explained

This page is a list of horse and pony breeds, and also includes terms used to describe types of horses that are not breeds but are commonly mistaken for breeds. A breed is defined generally as a viable true-breeding population, and its members are called "purebreds." In most cases, bloodlines are recorded with a breed registry. However, in horses, the concept is somewhat flexible, as open stud books are created for fairly new types of horses that are not yet fully true-breeding. There are also a number of "color breed", sport horse, and gaited horse registries for horses with various phenotypes or other traits, which admit any animal fitting a given set of physical characteristics, even if there's minimal or no evidence of the trait being a true-breeding characteristic.
   For additional information, see horse breeding and the individual articles listed below. Additional articles on different breeds may be listed under and .

Horse breeds

Horses are members of equus caballus that generally mature to be 14.2 hands or taller, but many breed registries do accept animals under this height and classify them as "horses," as horse characteristics include factors other than height. For the purposes of this page, if a breed registry or stud book classifies the breed as a horse, it's listed here as a horse, even if some representatives are pony-sized or have some pony characteristics.

Pony breeds

Ponies are usually classified as animals that mature at less than 14.2 hands. However, some pony breeds may occasionally have individuals who mature over 14.2 but retain all other breed characteristics. There are also some breeds that now frequently mature over 14.2 hands due to modern nutrition and management, yet retain the historic classification "pony." For the purposes of this list, if a breed registry classifies the breed as a "pony," it's listed here as such, even if some individuals have horse characteristics.
   (Please note: Because of this designation by the preference of a given breed registry, most miniature horse breeds are listed as "horses," not ponies)
  • American Shetland, see Shetland pony
  • American Walking Pony
  • Anadolu pony also called Anadolu Ati
  • Ariegeois pony also called Merens Pony or Ariègeois
  • Assateague Pony, see Chincoteague Pony
  • Asturian pony, see Asturcon in horse section
  • Australian Pony
  • Australian Riding Pony
  • Bali Pony
  • Bardigiano Pony
  • Bashkir Pony
  • Basque Pony
  • Basuto pony, also spelled Basotho pony
  • Batak Pony
  • Bhutia Pony, also spelled Bhotia Pony
  • Boer Pony
  • Bosnian Pony
  • British Riding Pony, see Riding Pony in "types of horses" section
  • Burmese Pony
  • Carpathian Pony, see Hucul Pony
  • Caspian pony
  • Chincoteague Pony
  • Chinese Guoxia
  • Connemara pony
  • Czechoslovakian Small Riding Pony
  • Dales Pony
  • Deli pony
  • Dartmoor pony
  • Deutsches Reitpony see German Riding Pony
  • Dulmen pony
  • Eriskay pony
  • Exmoor pony
  • Falabella, see Falabella (horse) in horse section
  • Faroe pony
  • Fell Pony
  • Flores pony
  • French Saddle Pony
  • Galician Pony
  • Garrano
  • Gayoe
  • German Riding Pony, also called Deutsche Reitpony or Weser-Ems Pony
  • Gotland Pony
  • Guizhou pony
  • Gǔo-xìa pony, see Chinese Guoxia
  • Hackney pony
  • Highland Pony
  • Hokkaido Pony
  • Hucul Pony
  • Hunter Pony, see "types of horses" section
  • Icelandic pony, see Icelandic horse in horse section
  • Indian Country Bred
  • Java Pony
  • Kazakh Pony
  • Kerry bog pony
  • Landais Pony
  • Lijiang pony
  • Lundy Pony
  • Manipuri Pony
  • Merens Pony, see Ariegeois pony
  • Miniature horse, see horse section
  • Misaki
  • Miyako Pony
  • Narym Pony
  • New Forest Pony
  • Newfoundland pony
  • Noma pony
  • Nooitgedacht pony
  • Northlands Pony
  • Ob pony also called Priob pony
  • Peneia Pony
  • Petiso Argentino
  • Pindos Pony
  • Poney Mousseye
  • Pony of the Americas
  • Pottok
  • Riding Pony, see "types of horses" section
  • Sable Island Pony
  • Sandalwood Pony
  • Sardinian Pony
  • Shetland pony
  • Skogsruss, see Gotland Pony
  • Skyros Pony
  • Spiti Pony
  • Sumba and Sumbawa Pony
  • Tibetan Pony
  • Timor Pony
  • Virginia highlander, see horse section
  • Vyatka (horse)
  • Welara
  • Welsh pony
  • Welsh mountain pony (Section A), see Welsh pony
  • Welsh pony (Section B), see Welsh pony
  • Welsh pony of cob type (Section C), see Welsh pony
  • Yakut Pony
  • Yonaguni, see horse section
  • Zaniskari pony
  • Žemaitukas, also known as Zemaituka, Zhumd, Zhemaichu, or Zhmudka

    Color "breeds"

    There are some registries that accept horses (and sometimes ponies and mules) of almost any breed or type for registration. Color is either the only criterion for registration or the primary criterion. These are called "color breeds," because unlike "true" horse breeds, there are few other physical requirements, nor is the stud book limited in any fashion. As a general rule, the color also doesn't always breed on (in some cases due to genetic impossibility), and offspring without the stated color are usually not eligible for recording with the color breed registry. The best-known color breed registries are for the following colors:
  • Buckskin (horse)
  • Palomino
  • Pinto horse
  • White (horse)s are registered in the United States with the American creme and white horse registry, which was once called an "Albino" registry until it was understood that true albino doesn't exist in horses. (see White (horse) for details) There are breeds that have color that usually breeds "true" as well as distinctive physical characteristics and a limited stud book. These horses are true breeds that have a preferred color, not color breeds, and include the Friesian horse, the Cleveland Bay, the Appaloosa, and the American Paint Horse.

    Types of horses

    A "type" of horse isn't a breed but is simply a term used to describe a group of breeds that are similar in appearance (phenotype) or use. A type usually has no breed registry, and often encompasses several breeds. Horses of a given type may be registered as one of several different recognized breeds, or a term may include horses that are of no particular pedigree but meet a certain standard of appearance or use.

    Modern types

  • AQPS ("Autre Que Pur-Sang"), French designation for riding horses "other than Thoroughbred," usually referring to the Anglo-Arabian, Selle Francais and other Thoroughbred crosses.
  • Baroque horse, includes heavily muscled, powerful, yet agile Classical dressage breeds such as the Lipizzaner, Friesian, Andalusian, and Lusitano.
  • Cob (horse)
  • Canadian Cutting Horse
  • Colonial Spanish Horse, the original Jennet-type horse brought to North America, now with a number of modern descendants with various breed names.
  • Draft horse or Draught horse
  • Feral horse, a horse living in the wild, but descended from once-domesticated ancestors. Most "wild" horses today are actually feral. The only true wild (never domesticated) horse in the world today is the Przewalski's horse.
  • Gaited horse, term used to describe any of a number of breeds with an intermediate speed four-beat ambling gait, including the Tennessee Walker, Paso Fino, and many others.
  • German Warmblood or ZfDP, collective term for any of the various warmblood horses of Germany, of which some may be registered with the nation-wide German Horse Breeding Society (ZfDP).
  • Grade horse, a term used to describe a horse of unknown or mixed breed parentage.
  • Hack, a basic riding horse, particularly in the UK, also includes Show hack horses used in competition.
  • Heavy warmblood, heavy carriage and riding horses, predecessors to the modern warmbloods, several old-style breeds still in existence today.
  • Hunter, a type of jumping horse, either a show hunter or a field hunter
  • Hunter pony, a show hunter or show jumping animal under 14.2 hands, may be actually of a horse or pony breed, height determines category of competition.
  • Iberian horse, encompassing horse and pony breeds developed in the Iberian peninsula, including the Andalusian, Alter Real, Lusitano and others.
  • Iranian horse, a subgroup of horse breeds believed to have developed from ancestral Persian stock
  • Mountain and moorland or "M&M" is a general term which covers several breeds of horse native to the British Isles.
  • Riding Pony, a term used in the United Kingdom to describe certain types of show ponies.
  • Sport horse or Sporthorse, includes any breeds suitable for use in assorted international competitive disciplines governed by the FEI.
  • Stock horse, heavily-muscled riding horses of several different breeds, suitable for working cattle. Not to be confused with the breed Australian Stock Horse
  • Warmblood, a group of Sport horse breeds developed for modern Dressage and other Olympic disciplines, including the Dutch Warmblood, Hanoverian (horse), Swedish Warmblood, Westphalian (horse), etc.
  • Windsor Grey, the gray carriage horses of British Royalty.

    Archaic types

    Prior to approximately the 13th century, few pedigrees were written down, and horses were classified by physical type or use. Thus, many terms for Horses in the Middle Ages didn't describe breeds as we know them today, but rather described appearance or purpose. These terms included:
  • Charger, see Courser (horse)
  • Courser (horse)
  • Destrier or "Great Horse"
  • Hobby, see Irish Hobby
  • Jennet, sometimes called Spanish Jennet
  • Palfrey
  • Rouncey

    Extinct species and breeds

    These horses and ponies either were a recognized, distinct breed of horse that no longer exists as such, or are a species of equus caballus that has become extinct at some point since domestication of the horse. This section doesn't include any species within evolution of the horse prior to modern equus caballus.

    The "Four Foundations" wild prototypes

    These are the original wild prototypes from which domesticated breeds are believed to have developed.
  • "Warmblood subspecies" or Forest Horse, also called Diluvial horse (Equus ferus silvaticus)
  • "Oriental" subspecies, (Equus agilis)
  • "Draft" subspecies
  • Tarpan subspecies

    Extinct breeds

    These were human-developed breeds, now no longer in existence
  • Chapman horse
  • Ferghana horse
  • Galloway pony
  • Karacabey (horse)
  • Irish Hobby
  • Jennet, or Spanish Jennet
  • Mazury (horse)
  • Narragansett Pacer
  • Neapolitan horse
  • Nisean horse
  • Norfolk Trotter, also called the Norfolk Roadster, Yorkshire Trotter or Yorkshire Roadster
  • Öland horse
  • Old English Black horse
  • Pozan
  • Tundra Horse
  • Turkoman Horse also known as Turkemene. The Akhal-Teke may be a direct descendant.
  • Yorkshire Coach HorseFurther Information

    Get more info on 'Horse Breed'.


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