How To Tell What The Breed Of A Horse Is?
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You’ve purchased a horse and are not sure what breed it is, or you are thinking of buying a horse from an auction and need to determine what the breed is.
Being able to determine a breed of a horse can also come in hand for personal and professional reasons too.
There are 15 recognized horse breeds.
Information is readily available from horse breed organizations for you to study and memorize some of the more distinctive characteristics of some of the more popular breeds.
The first thing to look at is the color variations of the horse.
Look at the coat of the horse, what are the colors?
Are there any splotches of a second color? If there are splotches of white and another color to the coat then you probably have Paint or a Pinto.
Grays are horses that have black skin underneath white hair coat unless they have pink skin under white markings.
There are a number of breeds that can be identified by specific body characteristics.
The Morgan for instance is a breed that is known for its stocky, solid body and high tail, broad forehead and short ears.
Learn how to measure a horse using “hands”.
Arabians are a smaller horse at approximately 14 hands, where Clydesdales are tall at around 18 hands.
Look at the legs; Thoroughbreds have long tendons and muscles in their legs that make them good runners.
Look at the feet. Clydesdales have very distinctive large, strong feet that are good for pulling heavy weight. Clydesdales are good workhorses.
If you have multiple characteristics of more than one breed than you may have a Crossbreed horse on your hands.
Color specifics:
If you have a brown horse with black mane and tail, than you may have a Bay horse.
If the horse has a light color of brown with a mane that is lighter in color than the horse’s body than the horse may be a chestnut or a sorrel.
Other Breeds:
Light riding horses are Arabians, Morgans, and Quarter Horses.
Larger riding horses are Thoroughbreds, American Saddlebreds or Warmbloods. Heavy or draft horses are Clydesdales, Belgian, Percheron, and Shire.
If all else fails and you need to know what type of horse you have purchased or are thinking of purchasing, take a knowledgeable or experienced horse person with you.
If you can, bring the horse to a vet for identification. Sometimes horse boarding establishments will be able to identify a horse for you.
To learn about different breeds, spend some time at horse shows and horse auctions where you will be exposed to different breeds up close. Soon you will be able to distinguish the difference between most popular of breeds.
Previous Articles By This Author
- Buying Your First Horse
- Equipment for Horses
- Basics of Horse Care
- Grooming your Horse
- The History of Horses
