Colours and uses of Horses

https://pixabay.com/en/horses-horse-head-animals-1414889/

Horses come in many different colours some of these colours include bay (brown body with black points), chestnut (light orange to a coppery orange), piebald (back and white), grey (anything from  white to nearly black) and skewbald (brown and white). Horses are never called black or white they are called bay if white and dark bay if black. These are just general names but you can have many different varieties of colours such as dappled grey (grey with darker rosebuds), bright bay (a reddish brown with black points), and flea-bitten grey (grey with tiny brown or black speckles) es)

Horses have many different uses I will list a few below:

• showjumping
• eventing
• dressage
• western riding
• polo
• racing
• farmwork
• pulling carraiges
• police horses
• therapy  
• hunting
• polocrosse

hunting, eventing and showjumping would probably be the 3 most common in Ireland. Thank you for reading my blogs i hope you have enjoyed them and learnt something.

Irish Horse breeds

Irish horse are very popular around the world. Ireland produces some of the best racehorses(thoroughbreds) in the world, but they also produce some of the best native horses such as

Wikimedia Olaf Kleinwegen
A Connemara Pony 

Connemara Pony ~ This is Ireland's native pony. It was named after a small area in the Connacht region of Western Ireland where this breed was thought to be developed. This habitat is pretty barren, bordered on one side by Galway Bay  and on the other side by the Atlantic Ocean. No one knows how this breed was formed, some believe Spanish horses got loose from a ship and bred with the native ponies. They developed in to very hardy little ponies. Nowadays they are very popular among children and small adults. They excel in all aspects of horse riding. Most are grey in
colour.

Wikimedia Wasechun Tashunka 

Irish Draught ~ a horse that was bred on farms to be strong enough to pull a plough but light and spirited enough to be ridden. It is no longer used for farm work as tractors have replaced it but now it is used for showing and crossing with other horse breeds to produce excellent eventers and show-jumpers. they come in all colours.

Wikimedia Don Carey 

Irish Sports Horse ~ its a cross of the Irish Draught and the Thoroughbred. It is an excellent sports horse and it is very common to see some competing at the highest levels of showjumping and eventing. Mostly comes in solid colours i.e not piebald or tricoloured.

Rare breeds of Horses

Horses, they come in all shapes, sizes and colours. On this post i will be introducing you to some of the rarer breeds of horses and ponies.











Wikimedia Ulruppelt

Akhal-Teke ~ They are an ancient breed that have been ridden for over 3000 years. Originating from Turkmenistan and bred to be warhorses and racehorses, these horses have remarkable endurance. They are tough and athletic. They have a fine head and a long elegant neck. They are best known for their thin coat which has a striking metallic sheen that is used to reflect the sun as they were bred in the desert. They come in a variety of colours.

http://abcregistry.blogspot.ie/2014/09/question-where-did-curly-horses.html



Bashkir Curly Horse ~ (Curlies) They are an ancient breed from Russia. They are known for their endurance. A very hardy breed since herds of them were left out during the winter in Russia where temperatures can drop to below -40 Celsius. This is the reason for their curly coat which they only have during winter months but they have a curly mane and tail all year round.

Wikimedia Paul Hermans

Knabstrup ~ A breed developed during the Napoleonic war. Nowadays it is a very popular circus horse due to its striking coat pattern. The 'Old Knabstrup' nearly died out because it was bred for its spotted coat instead of conformation. The 'Modern Knabstrup' has better overall conformation and allows a wider variety of colours not just the original spotted coat.

Wikimedia Heather Moreton

Marwari ~ This breed was developed in India. It was used as a mount of warriors and as a sport horse. It comes in a very wide variety of colours and it is most recognizable by its inward-curving ears.

An introduction to Horses



https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Nokota_mare_and_foal.JPG

Horses have evolved over the past 45-55 million years from a small multi-toed creature called a Eohippus which was about double the size of a fox terrier. Horses started to be domesticated by humans in 4000 BC with the majority of horses being domesticated by 3000 BC. Some domesticated horses have escaped and become feral. There is only one true wild horse left and that is the endangered Przewalski's Horse. Horses are fast fight-or-flight animals with a good sense of balance. To be able to get away from predators faster horses can sleep standing up and foals (baby horses) can stand and run shortly after birth. The gestation period of a horse is approximately 11 months. When a horse is born it is called a colt or filly based on gender until it is 4. When it turns 1 it can be called a yearling.  Horses usually begin training under saddle or harness between the ages of 2 (usually only racehorses) and 4 but they do not reach full adult development until 5 years. Horses have an average lifespan of 25-30 years but usually retire or do less work at 15-25 years depending on the horses job. The oldest horse ever was 'Old Billy' who was a heavy barge horse in 19th century England that lived to 62 years.  Horses are loosely split into 3 separate categories based on build and general temperament, cold-bloods - heavy draft horses used for slow heavy work, hot-bloods - spirited speed and endurance horses and warm-bloods - crosses of hot and cold, usually bred for specific purposes mainly bred in Europe. There is over 300 different breeds of horses, developed for many different uses such as racing, eventing, police work and even therapy horses.