Horse Breeds From A to Z

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There are an estimated 60 million horses worldwide, belonging to a wide variety of breeds. There are more than 400 horse breeds in the world, divided into the horse types: pony, warmblood, cold-blood, and thoroughbred. Do you know all the horse breeds in the world? We have put together an overview of all known horse breeds in this article. You can also discover new horse breeds that you may not have known about yet.

Contents

What is a Horse Breed?

All horse breeds belong to the Equidae family and the modern genus Equus, within which they are grouped as Equus caballus. The species Equus caballus is subdivided into numerous horse breeds that differ in size, build and temperament.

The term horse breed describes a group of horses with uniform genetic characteristics that are passed on from generation to generation. Each breed has a common ancestry and a similar genetic composition. In total, there are more than 400 different horse breeds worldwide, which are divided into ponies, warm-blooded horse breeds, cold-blooded horse breeds and thoroughbreds.

While some old horse breeds were created by natural selection, others were shaped by humans through targeted breeding. A distinction is therefore made between natural horse breeds and artificial horse breeds.

Natural horse breeds

Natural horse breeds include those that have developed without targeted breeding by humans. These horse breeds evolved through natural selection by adapting to their environment over centuries and thus developing characteristics that are essential for survival.

Examples of natural horse breeds

One example of a naturally evolved horse breed is the Basque Pottok pony, which is characterized by its thick winter coat. This protects it from the cold and from the prickly plants on which it has to feed in winter.

Another example is the Tarpan, one of the most original horse breeds in the world. Although these horses no longer exist in the wild today, they have been imitated through back-breeding. The tarpan had a winter coat that turned white to protect it from predators.

Some of the best-known natural horse breeds have survived to this day. These include black horse breeds such as the Friesian, which impresses with its resilience and robustness.

Artificial Breeds

While some horse breeds are the result of natural selection, many modern horse breeds have been selectively bred to emphasize certain characteristics. Through selective breeding, horses with certain characteristics were crossed to create horse breeds optimized for specific purposes.

‍Sport horses and warmblood breeds

Many warmblood horse breeds were bred for show jumping. One well-known example is the Hanoverian, which has established itself particularly well in show jumping and dressage. The Trakehner, one of the noblest German horse breeds, was also developed specifically for sporting purposes.

Spanish horse breeds such as the Andalusian and the Lusitano have been bred for centuries for classical dressage. Their special elegance and high collection ability make them popular horses for demanding horsemanship.

Horses with special colors were also selectively bred. This resulted in black horse breeds such as the Friesian, but also spotted horse breeds such as the Appaloosa.

Working horses and cold-blooded breeds

Particularly strong cold-blooded horse breeds were bred for agricultural work. These large horse breeds are characterized by their strength and endurance. Well-known examples are the Shire Horse, which is one of the largest horse breeds in the world, as well as the Percheron and the Belgian cold blood.

With increasing mechanization, however, many of these horse breeds were no longer needed for heavy work, so that breeding today concentrates more on leisure and sport horses.

The Studbook

Every recognized horse breed is registered in a studbook kept by breeding associations. These associations define the breeding regulations and determine which horses are approved for further breeding.

Open and closed studbooks

There are two types of studbooks that determine the degree of purity of a horse breed:

An open studbook allows the inclusion of horses whose parents do not belong to the same horse breed, provided they meet the breed standards. This often applies to warmblood horse breeds such as the German Sport Horse.
A closed studbook only allows the registration of horses whose both parents are already officially recognized as purebred. This strict selection ensures the genetic purity of the breed, as is the case with the Arabian horse breed, for example.

Breeding associations define specific requirements for each horse breed. These include size, conformation, gaits and often also coloring. For example, there are specific black horse breeds, white horse breeds and horse breeds with spots, which are maintained through strict selection.

Development of Horse Breeds

The variety of horse breeds from A to Z is the result of centuries of breeding work and adaptation to different areas of use. In the past, many large horse breeds were used as working animals, but today they are mainly in demand for leisure and sport.

From draft horses to modern riding horses

Whereas in the past it was mainly horse breedsfor heavy work such as the Belgian cold blood or the Suffolk Punch that were bred, today it is mainly sport horse breeds that are in demand. Especially in show jumping and dressage, specifically bred warmblood horse breeds such as the Holsteiner, the Westphalian or the Selle Français dominate.

Horse breeds for beginners have also been developed in recent decades through targeted breeding. Particularly calm, good-natured horses such as the German Riding Pony or the Haflinger are ideal partners for riders with little experience.

The breeding and further development of horse breeds remains an ongoing process. While some old horse breeds disappear, new horse breeds that meet the requirements of riders and athletes are constantly being created through targeted crossbreeding.

Horse Breeds From A to Z

Pony Breeds

American Shetland pony
American Walking Pony
Ariègeois
Australian pony
Aveligneser
Bali pony
Bardigiano
Bashkir
Basuto pony
Batak
Bhutan
Bosnian pony
Burmese
Camargue
Chinese Guoxia Pony
Connemara Pony
Dales Pony
Dartmoor Pony
German Riding Pony
Dülmen wild horse
Exmoor Pony
Falabella
Fur pony
Galician
Galiceno
Garrano
Gotland Pony
Hackney Pony
Haflinger
Highland pony
Huzule
Icelandic horses
Java Pony
Kazakh
Caspian pony
Taper
Landais
Lundy
Manipuri
Mongolian pony
New Forest Pony
Nigerian pony
Northerner
Norwegian Fjord Horse
Peneia
Pindos
Pony of the Americas
Pottiock
Przewalski's horse
Sable Island
Sandalwood
Sardinian pony
Shetland Pony
Skyros
Sorraia
Sumba
Tarpan
Tibetan pony
Timor Pony
Tinker Pony
Viatka
Welara
Welsh Mointain Pony
Welsh pony
Zemaituka

Cold-Blooded breeds

Ardennes
Auxois
Boulonnais
Brabant
Breton
Clydesdale
Cob Normand
Comtois
Dole-Gudbrandsdal horse
Dutch cold blood
Finnish horse
Freiberger
Irish Draught
Italian cold blood
Jutlanders
Latvian horse
Lithuanian cold blood
Muraközer
Noriker
North Swedish horse
Percheron
Poitevin
Rhenish cold blood
Russian cold blood
Schleswiger
Shire Horse
Sokolsky
Soviet cold blood
Suffolk Punch
Tinker
Tori horse
Trait du Nord
Vladimir cold blood

Warmblood breeds

Age-Real
American Cream
American Saddlebred
American Standardbred
American Bashkir Curly
Andalusian
Appaloosa
Australian Stockhorse
Aztec
Belgian Warmblood
Brumby
Budjonny
Cleveland Bay
Colorado Ranger
Criollo
Danish Warmblood
Don
Finnish universal horse
Florida Cracker Horse
Frederiksborger
French trotter
Friesian
Furioso
Gelderland
Groninger
Hackney
Hanoverian
Dutch Warmblood
Holstein
Indian half-breed
Irish Hunter
Calabrese
Canadian cutting horse
Carbadiner
Karabacher
Karabai
Carthusians
Kisber Felver
Kladruber
Knabstrupper
Custanaier
Latvian
Lipizzaner
Locomotive
Lusitano
Malapolski
Mangalarga Machador
Maremma
Missouri Fox Trotter
Morab
Morgan Horse
Murgese
Mustang
Vernier
Nova Kirghiz
Oldenburg
Orlov Trotter
East Bulgarian
East Frisian
Paso Fino
Peruvian Paso
Pinto
Pleven
P.R.E.
Quarter Horse
Rocky Mountain horse
Russian trotter
Salern horse
San Fratello
Sardinian horse
Swedish warmblood
Selle Francais
Tennessee Walking-Horse
Tersker
Trakehner
Ukrainian riding horse
Wielkopolski
Württemberger

Thoroughbred breeds

Achal-Tekkiner
Anglo-Arabian
Arabs
Berber
English thoroughbred
French Anglo-Arabian
Gidran Arab
Hispanic-Arabian
Iomud
Kathiawari
Marwari
Persian Arab
Shagya Arab
Turkmene

Breed portraits at ClipMyHorse.TV

In our ClipMyHorse magazine you will already find several breed portraits in which the above-mentioned horse breeds are described in detail. Why not take a look?

American Quarter Horse: The all-rounder from North America

Arabian horses - The Arabian horse breeds at a glance

Clydesdale - A breed portrait of the famous Budweis horses

Connemara Pony - Origin, character and breeding

German Riding Pony: Versatile athletes

Dülmener Wildpferd - Wild horses in Germany

Falabella - The smallest horse breed in the world

Fjordpferd - The Norwegian horse in breed portrait

‍Friesian horses: history, appearance and uses

Haflinger: The blond all-rounder

Hanoverian: An all-rounder in the sport and leisure sector

‍Holsteiner horses - elegance and performance from Schleswig-Holstein