Horse Breeds

Horse breeds have a history as long or longer than the history of man on this planet.  There are ancient horse breeds; extinct breeds; breeds on the “rare and endangered list; current day and popular breeds; and new and developing breeds.

All ponies can be called a horse, because both horse and pony belong to the same species.

The world today has many breeds and/or types of horses – in referring to some of them as horses and some as ponies, varying aspects and standards are applied by scientists, breed associations, or the general public.

Draft horse breeds include those of heavy horses traditionally used for farm work, mining, logging and for the hauling of freight. From prehistoric times, it seems any race of people who conquered parts of the world were aware of the value of the horse. The importance of horses to Man grew through the centuries, and new breeds were developed to handle various types of tasks.

Since 1100 B. C ( Iron Age), various horse sports and the skills of horsemen and horses, have been honed through games, races and other competitions.  Surely there is little doubt that such sport occurred even earlier.  The role of sports has greatly exceeded simply entertainment; at first, it increased excellence in horsemanship that gained great rewards on the battlefield.  Societies that could mount large cavalries had an enormous advantage over those less prepared. Competition helped hone the skills of soldiers and generated improvements in equipment and breeding that time after time altered the outcome of history.