Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred horse was developed in England where it was bred for racing and exported across the world. Thoroughbred horses are so inbred that the pedigree of every horse can be traced back to one of three stallions, Byerley Turk (1680-1696), Darley Arabian (1700-1733) and the Godolphin Arabian (1724-1753), and these are known as the "Foundation sires". The Introduction to the General Stud Book was published in 1791 recording the pedigree of every Thoroughbred horse and since 1793 Weatherby have recorded the pedigree of every foal born to thoroughbred race horses in the General Stud Book. From the early 1800s the only horses that could be called "Thoroughbreds" and allowed to race professionally are those listed in the General Stud Book.

A typical Thoroughbred will have long sloping shoulders, a refined head, long neck, good depth or girth, fine limbs and powerful quarters. Colours vary from grey, bay, chestnut, black and brown, but the TB X can have other colour varieties.However, in 2009 there have been a few registered coloured thoroughbreds.

Thoroughbreds typically stand between 15hh - 18hh

The Thoroughbred is typically a solid colour i.e. black, bay, brown, chestnut and grey, but can be any colour, e.g. recently TBs with palimino and coloured coats have been added to the stud books.

The Thoroughbred traditionally was used within the racing industry. In more recent years the Thoroughbred has been used in breeding to help refine the heavier breeds. They are valued for their versatility, fine limbs and power. Thoroughbreds are popular for racing, eventing, dressage, showjumpng and general riding.

Thoroughbreds often suffer from Orthopaedic problems, as well as bleeding from the lungs, low fertility, foot sores (due to small feet in proportion to body) and small hearts. These problems are largely due to their over exertion and high intensity training.