General-Breeds

Color—The unmixed colors of a horse, from darkest to lightest, are: black, brown, bay, chestnut, dun and light gray (the usual manner of referring to a white horse). There are, of course, variations of these, such as a liver chestnut, golden chestnut, dark bay, etc.

A Piebald is a black and white horse—the white is patterned in big splotches on the black, or the reverse. Also known as Pinto and Paint.

A Skewbald is a bay, chestnut or brown and white patched horse-as distinguished from the Piebald which is black and white.

A Roan is a horse whose color is black, brown, bay or chestnut thickly interspersed with white. A black and white roan is usually referred to as a "blue" roan. A chestnut and white is a "strawberry" roan.

The term Sorrel is frequently used (but not considered correct in the best circles) to describe a light chestnut.

A Palomino is a horse whose hide is a golden color with a flaxen (white) mane and tail.

When the color of a horse is not immediately apparent, it is determined by the color of the hair on the muzzle and the flank.

Markings—Boldfaced refers to a horse with an all white face. A Blaze is a large white mark on a horse's face. A Race is a narrow stripe down the center of the face. A Star is a small white mark on the forehead. A Snip is a small white mark near the muzzle.
 
Hogged refers to the mane clipped close to the neck.

Docked refers to the tail—the "dock," not just the hair—cut very short.

Height—A horse's height is measured at the withers and is expressed in terms of hands and inches. A hand is four inches. Height, then, is expressed like this: 14.3 (14 hands, 3 inches), 15.2 (15 hands, 2 inches), 16.0 (16 hands).

The height of a pony is, by definition, 14.2 and under.

A small horse (e.g., polo mount) stands from 14.3 to 15.2—the average is probably 15.1.

A large riding horse (e.g., a hunter) stands generally from 16.0 to 17.0 hands—the average probably 16.2 or 16.3.

A heavy draft horse stands generally from 17 to 18 hands—some Belgians reach a height of 20 hands.

Weight—A horse's weight is expressed in pounds. In England, weight is frequently expressed as so many stone. A stone is 14 pounds.

A pony about 14 hands high would weigh from 500 to 1,000 pounds.

A polo mount would weigh about 900 to 1,100 pounds. The average is probably 1,000.

A hunter would weigh about 1,150 to 1,350 pounds. The average is probably 1,200.

A draft horse would weigh about 1,600 to 2,400 pounds. The average is probably 1,900.

AGE—A horse is mature at five years. An aged horse is one exceeding nine years of age.

The normal working life span of a horse is approximately 20 years. However, many horses live well beyond that age.

The greatest age attained by a horse, according to available records which are reasonably authentic, is 53. "Clover," owned by Reverend Doctor Uriah Myers of Catawissa, Pennsylvania, is known to have been that old—or, possibly, a year or two older—when he died in 1924. "Old Bill," who died at Washington, New Jersey in 1925, is reported, but less reliably, to have been 55 at that time. It is claimed that an

English draft horse, "Billy," had reached the great age of 63 when he died in 1822.

When a horse's age is a consideration, it is assumed to be a year older January 1 of each year. Thus a foal becomes a yearling on New Year's Day following the actual date of foaling. Thoroughbreds are usually foaled in the first four months of the year.

STABLE—A stable—not a barn—shelters horses.

FAMILY—A horse or stallion is a natural male horse.
A gelding is a castrated (altered) horse. Most horses in regular use for hunting, polo, general riding, etc., are geldings. Stallions are seen, in general, only at the race track and on breeding farms.

A mare is a female horse.

A foal is a newly born horse of either sex.

A colt is a young male horse.

A filly is a young female horse. At 4 years of age she is called a mare.

A mare carries her young eleven months.

Horses are foaled or dropped—not "born."

A foal's father is referred to as its sire—a foal's mother as its dam.

The average weight of a Thoroughbred foal—at foaling—is 120 pounds. They range from 90 to 140 pounds and, on occasion, even up to 160 pounds.

Foals are weaned from their dams at from four to six months.

A horse can get lonely. If you have only one horse (or pony), provide a companion—a dog, goat, cat, chicken. Best, you—through frequent visits, petting your horse, talking to him, giving him occasional tidbits of sugar, carrots, apples, etc., and watering, feeding and grooming him yourself—can contribute immeasurably to making him feel at home and happy. War Admiral's rabbit had to be taken from track to track. The horse sulked without his mascot.

ENDURANCE—A conditioned horse, under average favorable conditions of footing, country and weather, may be ridden about 45 miles in a day without exhaustion. This distance was actually averaged by the United States Cavalry over a three-week period foraging on the country. The Green Mountain (Vermont) Horse Association's annual contest requires riding 40 miles on each of two successive days. Greater distances, however, are not infrequent. In a Vermont endurance test, horses, largely of Morgan stock, were ridden an average of 60 miles a day for five days. On two occasions, at the U. S. Cavalry School, Fort Riley, Kansas, a squadron of Cavalry (approximately 300 horses) with full equipment and packs, was marched 100 miles in 24 hours (18 hours actual marching) and went on the next day for several miles without the loss of a horse.

In peacetime, a day's march for conditioned Cavalry mounts with full equipment was generally 35 miles. During a good day's hunting, one would usually cover from 20 to 40 miles.

A lightweight mount is supposed to carry up to 160 lbs., a middleweight up to 190 lbs., a heavyweight up to 230 lbs. Cavalry mounts must carry 250 lbs.

A good draft horse can pull one-half to three-quarters of his own weight: e.g., a 2,000 pound draft horse can pull 1,000 to 1,500 pounds, one-half to three-quarters of a ton.

A Shetland pony can pull one to one-half again its own weight: e.g., a 400 to 500 pound Shetland can pull 500 to 800 pounds. A CROSS-COUNTRY ENDURANCE RIDE-Some riding and trail associations conduct periodic endurance contests. Usually these are 100 miles to be negotiated in three days—40 miles the first day, 40 the second and 20 miles on the third day. A time limit—say 7 hours for the 40 mile phases—is established and the judging is influenced largely by the condition of the horses during and at the end of the ride. Riders cannot advance while dismounted (i.e., cannot lead their horses) and all rest periods and breaks are included in the time.

To negotiate 40 miles in 6 to 7 hours requires: 1) A planned time schedule of gaits and rests for the whole ride, and for each hour, and 2) Thorough conditioning of horse and rider—also in accordance with a plan. Included in these preparations is learning how long your horse will take to cover a mile at the walk, the trot and the canter—over a carefully measured course—on the level and over varied country, up and downhill. A good frame of reference is: walk one mile in 15 minutes; trot a mile in 7 minutes; canter a mile in 5 minutes. Most of the distance should be covered at a trot and a walk.

For relatively level country, the following is a plan for the 40 mile phase of a 100 mile ride. If the terrain does not permit strict adherence to the planned schedule, it is modified and adjusted so that the total minutes assigned to each gait are adhered to.

If, however, the course is over steep, mountainous country, a planned time schedule is not used; you must, of course, walk up and down the steep slopes and move along at a trot or canter on the comparatively level stretches to average out the time as best you and your horse can manage.

Forty Miles Cross-Country In One Day

1. Gaits, Time and Distance

Walk          4 mi. per hr.               1 mi. in 15 mins.  1/15 mi. in 1 min.
Trot            82 mi. per hr.             1 mi. in   7 mins.  7 mi. in 1 min.
Canter        12 mi. per hr.             1 mi. in   5 mins.  5 mi. in 1 min.

2. General Plan

Complete the 40-mile ride in 6 hours, 15 minutes, including rests and a lunch break. Proceed at an average of a little under 7 miles per hour—4 hours at 7 miles per hour, the first hour at 62 miles, the last at 5w. Rest 5 minutes at the end of the 2nd through 5th hours. After the 3rd hour—a rest of 15 minutes (with the 5 minute rest scheduled at the end of the 3rd hour, this provides a total "break" of 20 minutes). Start at 9:00 A.M.-Finish at 3:15 P.M.

3. Basic Schedule

                        Mins. For                     Mins. in Each Hour
Gait                  1 Mile           1st           2nd Through 5th           6th
Walk                15                 30           20                                35
Trot                  7                   27           30                                22
Canter              5                   3             5                                  3
Rest                                                     5
Total Time                             60           60 (240)                       60  =6 hrs.
Miles Covered                       62              7(28)                         5w = 404

4. Detailed Schedules for Each Hour

First Hour         Second Through Fifth Hours     Sixth Hour
Walk   Trot   Canter      Walk Trot Canter Rest      Walk   Trot   Canter
            6                                        7                                           5
4                                        3                                           5
            6                                        7                                           5
4                                        3                                           5
                        12                                      22                                         12
5                                        3                                           5
            6                                        7                                           5
4                                        3                                           5
                        12                                      22                                         12
5                                        3                                           5
            6                                        7                                           5
4                                        2                                           5
            3                                        2                                           2
                                                                           5
30       27         3 = 60    20    30       5       5 = 60   35       22         3 = 60

STRIDE—A racing horse's stride, from the time any hoof leaves the ground until the same hoof strikes it again, is from 20 to 26 feet.

HIGH JUMP—A horse can high jump over eight feet. Fred Wettach's Kings Own cleared 8 feet 32 inches in November 1925. Heatherbloom, between 1901 and 1903, is reported unofficially to have cleared a height of 8 feet 3 inches. Great Heart jumped 8 feet and m inches on June 9, 1923 in Chicago.

BROAD JUMP—A horse can broad jump over 35 feet. Allegedly, Chandler, in 1847 in Warwickshire, England, jumped 39 feet. In September 1933, Master Crump, ridden by Larry Landsburgh, jumped 36 feet over brush and water at San Mateo, California, equalling two previous jumps of the same distance by Louis Leith's Roustabout and Julian Morris' Overall at Laurel, Maryland. The United States Army mount Nigra jumped 35 feet, clearing triple bars, and Touraine, another Army mount, jumped 33 feet.

GAITS—The natural gaits of a horse are the walk, the trot and the gallop. The three fastest gaits in descending order of speed are the extended gallop, the pace and the trot. (The canter is a collected gallop and generally slower than the extended trot, particularly the trot of a Standardbred racing horse.)

Acquired, or inbred gaits include the: pace, slow gait, rack, fox trot, running walk, single foot, (for detailed information on gaits, see p. 73)

NEAR AND OFF SIDE—The left side of the horse is referred to as the near side. The right side of the horse is referred to as the off side. CROSS-COUNTRY—If you are riding cross-country and come to a stream, permit your horse to drink—even if he is hot (obviously though, not overheated or in a lather) and provided he is moved along directly after drinking. There is an ill effect only if the horse is allowed to stand after drinking.

Returning to the stable after a long or hard ride, do not remove the saddle immediately—loosen the girth and leave the saddle on the horse's back so that the blood will not return too strongly to the long compressed blood vessels under the saddle.

BREEDS

The Horse family is now represented by one genus only which includes the Horse, the Ass and the Zebra.
WILD HORSES:

The Tarpan or wild horse of Mongolia (also called Przewaiski's Horse) is the only truly wild horse surviving today. About 12 hands high, it has an erect mane and lacks a forelock and is very nearly extinct. The zebras: (A white animal with black stripes, not the reverse).

Quagga—Formerly found in South Africa; now extinct.

Burchell's Zebra. Found throughout most of southern and central Africa. There are four races.

Mountain Zebra. Southwest Africa. The smallest zebra. There are two races.

Grevy's Zebra. Ethiopia and Somaliland south into Kenya. The largest of the zebras.

Efforts to train zebras to harness or the saddle have failed. The wild asses of Asia: A single species; three separate races.

Onager or Persian Wild Ass. Iran and Afghanistan.

Kulan or Mongolian Wild Ass. Gobi Desert.

Kiang or Tibetan Wild Ass. The largest of the wild asses. High plateaus of Tibet. The wild asses of Africa: One species, two races, both very rare and approaching extinction.

Abyssinian or Somali Wild Ass. Somaliland, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Nubian Wild Ass. Considered to be the ancestor of the domestic donkey. Found in the Sennar and Nubia districts of the upper Nile.

DOMESTICATED HORSES:

The Donkey or domesticated ass. The name derives from its supposed dun color. There are several breeds, including the Burro, a small donkey introduced in the Americas by the Spaniards.

The Shetland Pony. In its native islands 10 hands is the average height; tends to grow taller when removed from them.

The Norwegian Dun. Resembles the wild Tarpan; a trotter of moderate size.
The Iceland, or Celtic Pony. Resembles a coach horse in miniature; a fast trotter; with the Shetland enjoys most popularity of the eight pony breeds of the British Isles. Others include the Welsh, New Forest, Exmoor, Dartmoor, Dales, Fell, Highland and the Irish Connemara.

LIGHT HORSES:

The Arabian Horse. Oldest breed generally recognized, 14r-15 hands. Occurs in several colors, generally bay, chestnut and gray. The Barb from North Africa is another desert horse related to the Arabian.

The Hackney. English trotting horse. Varies in size from the pony to over 16 hands. Most used in heavy and light harness. Noted for his style, smartness and high action at the trot.

EUROPEAN  LIGHT BREEDS-Before the automobile, German Coach Horses (Oldenburgers) and French Coach Horses (Normands) were popular in the U. S.; a few are still used in Canada. Recently, a few stallions of the military breeds were imported from Germany—the Trakehner (officer's charger), the Hannoveraner (trooper's mount) and the Holsteiner (artillery) to breed to Thoroughbred and other light mares to produce weight-carrying horses of quiet disposition.

The Cleveland Bay. Originated in Cleveland district of Yorkshire, England. The oldest existing breed of general purpose horse suitable for riding, driving and general farm work. 16-17 hands high. Resembles a Thoroughbred and is often crossed with it.

The Thoroughbred. A racing breed developed in England. Three Arabian stallions laid the foundations. Bred primarily for racing. Crossed with other blood for saddle, polo, hunting and other purposes.

The Hunter. Not a distinct breed. Often a Thoroughbred. In Ireland the mating of Irish Thoroughbreds with Irish cart mares has produced excellent hunters.

The Standardbred. An American bred horse 15-16 hands high, used for trotting and pacing races. Also known as the American Trotting Horse.

The American Saddle Horse. The five gaited horse, first developed in the South by mixing Thoroughbred stock with Morgan, Canadian and the best pacers. In addition to walk, trot and canter, it demonstrates the rack and one of the three slow gaits in the ring. A horse of showy conformation, fineness and spirit.

The Morgan Horse. An American bred utility horse named for Justin Morgan a tavern keeper who moved from Massachusetts to Vermont taking with him a famous stallion who became the progenitor. Noted for its endurance and docility and all around ability. Average height 15V2 hands.

The Quarter Horse. Noted for its tremendous short burst of speed especially in quarter mile races. 14¾-15 hands, muscular; stands with legs well under body; carries head low. Ideal for cattle work.

Tennessee Walking Horse. Resembles American Saddle Horse although descended from Morgan and Standardbred also. 15-16 hands high. While capable of mastering all gaits, in the show ring they exhibit three: flat-footed walk, running walk and canter. Ideal for a home stable and comfortable country riding.

The Mustang. Decended from horses released by Spaniards and tamed by the Indians. The name derives from the Spanish mesteno (wild). As Broncos they became the horses of wild west shows and rodeos.

DRAFT HORSES:

The Belgian. Heavy horse, easy disposition, roan or chestnut.

The Shire. A massive, heavy boned English horse, usually black. The Suffolk. An English draft horse 15-16 hands, chestnut colored, lighter in weight than the Shire.

The Clydesdale. Scottish draft horse noted for its style. Heavier than Suffolk, lighter than Shire. Heavy hair on lower legs.

The Percheron. Bred originally in France, it is the most popular draft horse in America. Lighter than Shire and Belgian. Black or gray.

AMERICAN BREEDS—The distinctly American breeds are the Standard-bred (American trotting horse); the (gaited) American Saddle horse; the Morgan horse; the Quarter horse; the Tennessee Walking horse; and the Mustang.

The term Thoroughbred refers to a horse of extreme refinement of form and appearance, thin skin, a long slender neck, small head and ears, uniform coloring. He is extremely fast and possesses sustaining power and courage to a high degree. Horses are only properly referred to as Thoroughbreds if they are listed in the recognized Thoroughbred stud book. Thoroughbred type horses and others that are not registered, are referred to as cold-blooded.
The Foundation Sires of the Thoroughbred line—all imported from the East—are: The Darley Arabian (about 1685), the Byerly Turk (about 1700), and the Godolphin Barb (about 1725).

By curious coincidence, just a few generations later, only three direct male descendants of the three imported foundation sires remained: Eclipse (five generations removed from the Darley Arabian) foaled in 1764; Herod, 1758 (five generations removed from the Byerly Turk); and Matchem, 1748 (three generations removed from—grandson of—the Godolphin Barb). Therefore, all of today's Thoroughbreds are direct descendants also of these three.

The term thoroughbred is frequently used to denote purebred such as a "Thoroughbred Saddle Horse" or "Thoroughbred Morgan." This is incorrect usage. The correct term is purebred or registered Saddle Horse and purebred Morgan.

An Orloff is a light harness breed (trotting horse) native to and popular in Russia. From the stud of Count Orloff, it is derived of a mixture of Arabian, Dutch and Frisian blood.

Pony breeds include the Hackney, Shetland, Welsh and many others. However, in several breeds, in which characteristically the horse is 14.2 hands and over in height, animals 14.2 and under are generally classified as ponies. But, Arabian, Morgan and Palomino horses are generally classified as "horses" regardless of their height. Chincoteague Ponies—A hardy breed of small wild pony of Moorish descent, resident on Assateague Island, Virginia—from where they are rounded up yearly on the last Thursday of July, swum across the channel to Chincoteague Island, Virginia, and sold at auction— for the benefit of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department. Legend has it that they originated from survivors of a shipment of small Moorish ponies—consigned to the Viceroy of Peru to work in the gold mines of America—which were shipwrecked on Assateague Island (which shelters the Tidewater country of Virginia and Maryland) in the 16th century.

The Lipizzan Horse, or Lipizzaner, now associated almost entirely with the Spanish Riding Academy in Vienna, is distinguished by its proud and noble appearance, classic step with high knee action, daintiness of movement, lively temperament, courage, hardiness, endurance, perseverance, docility and great aptitude for training. These stylish horses were originally bred for and used to supply the royal stables with light carriage and riding horses.

The Lipizzan has a somewhat compact, well shaped body, broad chest, muscular back and strong croup, slightly pronounced withers, a thick, arched neck, a long, clean, relatively small head with expressive eyes and well set ears, and a fine mane and tail with long thick fine hair. It has short legs, strong bones and a well formed hoof. The Lipizzan varies in height between 15 and 15.3 hands. Generally it develops late and attains a greater age than other horses. Several have lived to about 33 years.

The color of Lipizzans is predominantly white; however, they are foaled dark brown and black, turning to white at about four years of age or later. There are some, but only a few, mature brown-coated Lipizzans.

The foundation stock of the Lipizzan (about 1564) was derived from Spanish horses imported to Austria from Spain and Italy (especially the Kladruber mixed with some Neapolitan blood). The name of the breed stems from the stud farm founded in the village of Lipizza in Austria (east of Trieste) by the Archduke Charles, son of Emperor Ferdinand I, in 1580.

The course of initial training given the Lipizzaners at the Spanish Riding Academy lasts three years and starts when they are three or four years old. Generally they reach their peak in the haute école (advanced dressage) at about 10 years of age. They may perform well up to 30 years of age.

Appaloosa—A horse which has a mottled hide—white with varying size round oblong dark spots behind the withers; black and white vertical striped hoofs and eyes showing more white than other breeds. Frequently, the horse is more solidly dark in front than behind. Cayuse—The name applied to the Indian pony descended from the Spanish horses brought into Mexico by Cortez. It has a great deal of stamina and lives easily on the range.

The Circus Horse—There are three varieties of circus horses: (a) the white broad-backed and even-gaited draft horse used by bareback riders; (b) a horse used in high school or dressage exhibitions—fancy steps and evolutions to music—put through its paces by an attractive woman clothed in a colorful velvet. These horses are of varying size and color; (c) Liberty horses which do a variety of tricks and go through routines without a rider—wheeling, bowing, pirouetting, finding their places in line and prescribed order, etc.

TYPES—Cob: a small stocky horse with stylish action used for driving and riding. There is a registered breed of Welsh Cobs.

A Broomfail is a small, slight horse not worth taming, found in rapidly decreasing numbers on the plains of the western United States. NUMBER—Based on data obtained from the U. S. Department of Agriculture, it is estimated that there are somewhat more than two million horses in the United States. Some 400,000 of these are registered with the various breeding associations (Thoroughbreds approximately 75,000; Quarter Horses over 160,000; Standardbreds in the order of 50,000, etc.).

NEAR HORSES—The sire of a mule is an ass (jack) and its dam is a mare.

A mule is distinguished from a horse by its long ears; rat tail; smaller, narrower flinty hoof; straight back; thicker neck; proportionately bigger head; and straighter pasterns.

A hinny is the offspring of a stallion and a jenny (female ass).

A jennet is a small Spanish horse.

The mating of a horse and a zebra will result in an offspring called a zebrass.

A charger is an archaic military term formerly used for an officer's mount.

A palfrey. A light riding horse especially for ladies. Popular in the literature of knighthood.

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