For Kids                                                                               Everything you need to know about horses!

Arabian

The Arabian comes from the Bedouin tribes of the desert.  They are prized horses for the Bedouin tribes.  Bedouin tribes’ people are desert dwelling people from the Sahara, Western, Sinai, Negev, and Arabian deserts.  These horses are known for their strength, courage, survive skills, and speed.   These horses have the ability to run great distances across the desert and were used in tribal wars of the Bedouin tribes.  Ancient Bedouin breeders recorded bloodlines and helped to maintain pure bloodlines.  For this reason, Arabians cannot be mistaken for other breed.  Arabians can be found throughout the world.  Additionally, Europeans wanted to strengthen their saddle horses and bred Arabians with native European horses.  As a result, Byerly Turk, Darley Arabian and Godolphin Arabian are English Arabian breeds.  In addition, similar improvements to saddle horses by using Arabians also occurred in France, Germany, Spain, Poland, Hungary, and Russia.

Arabians come in grey, chestnut, bay, roan, and black.  They are occasionally between 14-15 hands in height and weight 800-1,000 pounds.  Arabian’s have prominent eyes, large nostrils, and a small muzzle, which leads to a graceful arched neck.  They have a long sloping shoulder and broad chest.  A common characteristic is their tail, which has a slight curve when they run. 

The American Paint

The American Paint horse can be traced back to the Spanish Explorers and are descendants of horses from North Africa and Asia Minor.  Many of these horses escaped for the Spanish and roamed the Great Plains.  In early American history they were used for buffalo and cattle drives.  Many Native Americans and cowboys sought these horses for their hardiness and their beautiful coloring.  Currently, theses gentle horses are used for pleasure riding, showing, racing, rodeos, and trail riding.

            Their colorful coat pattern of white and any other colors of black, bay, brown, chestnut, dun, grulla, sorrel, palomino, gray, or roan.  In addition, these horses have a strict bloodline requirement and a distinct body type.  These horses are versatile, powerful, stocky, and have powerful muscles tone stronger than other light horse breeds.  The American Paint horses are categorized by their specific patterns:  tobiano or overo pattern.  The tobino pattern has head marketing like those of a solid-colored horse, where their heads may be solid white or have a blaze, strip, star, or snip.  Generally, all four of tobino’s legs are white, at least below the knees or the hocks.  Their spots are generally oval or round and extend down the neck and chest.  Lastly, their tails are often two colors.  The overo pattern is mostly dark or white.  Generally one or all four legs will be dark.  They typically have white heads and generally have irregular, scattered markings and their tails are usually one color. 

Thoroughbred 

          The Thoroughbred is a descendant from three different breads of horses – the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, and the Byerly Turk.  These three stallions were brought to England in the 17^th century and bred with native horses.  The result was a horse that could carry a lot of weight with great speeds over extended distances.  Over the past 250 years a selective breeding process between the best possible stallions and mares has produced the highest quality race horses in the world. 

            The average Thoroughbred is over 16 hands high, which is larger than the breeds that they descended from.  They have four slender legs that carry more than 1000 pounds of their body weight.  They can travel up to speeds of 35-40 miles per hour and they have the ability to change their pace and directions quickly.  Thoroughbreds have a flat forehead and wide-set eyes.  They have a head that is longer and lighter than other breeds.  The withers are high and well defined which leads to a curved back.  They should have muscular shoulders and forearms, which narrows at their knees.   

Morgan 

The Morgan horse was created from breeding of Dutch, Thoroughbred and Arabian breeds.  The first Morgan was created in 1789 by Justin Morgan.  The ancestry of this horse showed that he had strength in his legs, deep muscles over his quarters and shoulders, and small head with large eyes and short ears.  The horse was quite small for a horse, standing at only 14 hands high.  However, what he did not have in size the horse had in strength.  The first Morgan could pull logs that a draft horse could not and could work long, hard hours.  Justin Morgan’s first Morgan horse became an early American legend.  The result was that countless mares were brought to Justin Morgan to be bred with his first Morgan horse. 

Today all the Morgan horses can be traced back to Justin Morgan’s original Morgan horse.  Present-day Morgan horses differ from the original horses, as they are a bit larger at 14.2-15.2 hands.  Their coats are chestnut, bay, or brown, however, some are black, palomino, buckskin, or sometimes gray.  Like the early Morgan horses, they have a lot of courage and a strong personality, which are qualities that their owners are looking for.  These horses are regarded as performers in Morgan shows across the country.  Lastly, Morgan horses can be found in many different countries, such as, Canada, England, Germany, Italy, France, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South America.