There are over 350 horse breeds in the world and we have featured 150 of the best known breeds below. Currently, there are over 75 million horses worldwide and they come in a tremendous variety of shapes and sizes and are clearly designed for different tasks.
Horse breeds are loosely divided into three main categories based on general temperament: "hot bloods" are known to be spirited and have great speed and endurance; "cold bloods," such as draft horses and some ponies, are suitable for slow, heavy work; and finally "warmbloods," developed from crosses between hot bloods and cold bloods, which are bred for specific riding purposes, especially in Europe.
In America, we have the Light Horse Breeds such as the Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds, and Quarter Horses that are very athletic and used for racing and working while the Arabian Horse tends to be used for show and pleasure riding. These horses are an average of 14 to 17 hands and they weigh approximately 400 to 1,500 lbs.
Draft horses are considered "cold blooded", heavy horses that are built to work and pull. These breeds include the Belgian, Percheron, Clydesdale, Suffolk and Shire. Draft breeds range from approximately 16 to 19 hands high and can weigh 1,400 to 2,000 lbs.
NOTE: A "Hand" when measuring horses, is 4 inches. Horses are measured from the ground near their front hoof to the top of their withers or shoulder.
| Abyssinian Horse Akhal-Teke Horse Albanian Horse Altai Horse American Albino Horse American Cream Draft Horse American Gaited Pony American Indian Horse American Miniature Horse American Paint Horse American Saddle Horse American Shetland Pony American Walking Pony American Warmblood Horse Andalusian Horse Anglo-Arabian Horse Anglo-Kabarda Horse Appaloosa Horse AraAppaloosa Horse Arabian Horse Ardennes Horse Asturian Horse Australian Brumby Horse Australian Pony Australian Stock Horse Azteca Horse Banker Horse Barb Horse Bashkir Horse Bashkir Curly Horse Belgian Horse Belgian Warmblood Horse Black Forest Chestnut Horse Boer Horse Breton Horse Buckskin Horse Budyonny Horse Byelorussian Harness Horse Camargue Horse Campolina Horse Canadian Horse Canadina Sport Horse Carthusian Horse Caspian Horse Cayuse Indian Pony Chilean Corralero Horse Chincoteage Assateague Horse Cleveland Bay Horse |
Clydesdale Horse Colorado Ranger Horse Connemara Pony Criollo Horse Dales Pony Dartmoor Pony Deliboz Horse Dole Horse Don Horse Donkey Dulmen Horse Dutch Draft Horse Dutch Warmblood Horse Egyptian Horse Eriskay Pony Horse Exmoor Horse Falabella Horse Fell Pony Finnhorse Horse Fjord Pony Florida Cracker Horse Frederiksborg Horse Friesian Horse Galiceño Horse Galician Pony Horse Gelderlander Horse Gidrán Horse Golden American Saddlebred Gotland Pony Groningen Horse Guangxi Horse Gypsy Vanner Horse Hackney Horse Haflinger Horse Half Arabian Horse Hanoverian Horse Hequ Horse Highland Pony Hokkaido Horse Holsteiner Horse Hungarian Warmblood Hucul Horse Icelandic Horse Irish Draft Horse Irish Hunter Horse Knabstruper Horse Lipizzaner Horse Lusitano Horse |
Mérens Horse Missouri Fox Trotter Horse Morab Horse Morgan Horse Moroccan Barb Horse Mountain Pleasure Horse Mule Mustang Nakota Horse National Show Horse National Spotted Saddle Horse New Forest Pony Noriker Horse Oldenburg Horse Paint Horse Palomino Horse Paso Fino Horse Percheron Horse Peruvian Paso Horse Pintabian Horse Pinto Horse Poitevin Horse Pony Of The Americas Przewalski's Horse QuArab Horse Quarter Horse Racking Horse Rocky Mountain Horse Selle Francais Horse Shagya Arabian Horse Shetland Pony Shire Horse Spanish Barb Horse Spanish Mustang Standardbred Horse Suffolk Punch Horse Swedish Ardennes Horse Swedish Warmblood Horse Tarpan Horse Tennessee Walking Horse Thoroughbred Horse Trakehner Horse Welsh Cob Horse Welsh Pony Westphalian Horse Wurttemburg Horse Zebra |
Color Breeds of Horses
There are some registries that accept horses, 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. The stud book is not limited in any fashion. Often, the color also does not always breed on, in many cases due to a genetic impossibility. Offspring born 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
- Palomino
- Pinto horse
- White
White Horses 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 does not exist in horses.
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.
Ponies and the Pony Breed
The Pony Breed originated from the wild horse prototypes that developed their small stature because of the confined living and grazing spaces. These ‘smaller horses’ were domesticated and bred for specific purposes all over the world. Ponies were historically used for driving carts, hauling freight and as children's mounts as well as for recreational riding. Later, ponies became competitors and performers. During the Industrial Revolution, particularly in Great Britain, ponies were used as "pit ponies," hauling heavy loads of coal up from the mines.
The Pony Breed is generally classified as standing less than 14.2 hands tall and often having thicker manes, tails and overall coats with proportionally shorter legs, heavier bones and shorter heads. Ponies have other distinct traits that make them unique, they are not simply small horses. Miniature horses are classified under the horse breeds.
Ponies are a cute and cuddly, hardworking breed that have been adored for centuries by animal lovers around the world. Ponies have also become beloved pets for many world leaders including President’s Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. President John F. Kennedy gave his daughter, Caroline, a precious pony named “Macaroni” that would happily graze on the front lawn of the White House.
| American Shetland Pony American Walking Pony Anadolu Pony Ariegeois Pony Chincoteague Pony Asturian Pony Australian Pony Australian Riding Pony Bali Pony Bardigiano Pony Bashkir Pony Basque Pony Basuto Pony Batak Pony Bhutia Pony Bhote ghoda Pony Bhutan Pony Bhutani Pony Bhutua Pony Bosnian Pony British Riding Pony Burmese Pony Carpathian Pony Hucul Pony Caspian Pony Chincoteague Pony Chinese Guoxia Pony Connemara Pony |
Czechoslovakian Small Riding Pony Dales Pony Deli Pony Dartmoor Pony Deutsches Reit Pony Dulmen Pony Eriskay Pony Exmoor Pony Falabella Pony Faroe Pony Fell Pony Flores Pony French Saddle Pony Galician Pony Garrano Gayoe German Riding Pony Gotland Pony Guizhou Pony G?o-xìa Pony Highland Pony Indian Country Bred Java Pony Kazakh Pony Kerry Bog Pony Landais Pony Lijiang Pony Lundy Pony Manipuri Pony Merens Pony Misaki Miyako Pony |
Narym Pony New Forest Pony Newfoundland pony Noma Pony Nooitgedacht Pony Northlands Pony Ob Pony Peneia Pony Petiso Argentino Pindos Pony Mousseye Pony Pottok Riding Pony Sable Island Pony Sandalwood Pony Sardinian Pony Shetland Pony Skogsruss Skyros Pony Spiti Pony Indian Country Bred Sumba and Sumbawa Pony Tibetan Pony Timor Pony Virginia Highlander Vyatka Pony Welara Pony Welsh Pony Welsh Mountain Pony |
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