Horse Breed Guides

Buying your first horse is an exciting milestone, and while rewarding, owning a horse is a significant commitment, so it’s important to remember that breed alone should not be the defining facto...

An Irish Sport Horse is traditionally – as the name suggests – a horse breed that’s bred in Ireland. A true Irish Sport Horse (or ISH as they are known for short) is the product of b...

The Exmoor pony is one of the nine native breeds of pony to be found throughout the British Isles. The pony originates from the moor in the south west from which it takes its name.  The Exmoor fo...

Mountain and Moorland is a generic term that is normally used to refer to the indigenous and native breeds of pony which can be found throughout the United Kingdom. The title is used because many of t...

The Welsh breeds are divided into four sections types called the Sections A, B, C and D.  The smallest of the four groups are the Welsh Section A, the Welsh Mountain pony and the Welsh Section B,...

The Arab horse is perhaps the most influential of all breeds in the modern equine population. Consider its prominence in the modern Thoroughbred through the three founding stallions, the Godolphin Ara...

Of all the breeds of horse to have perhaps the greatest and most far reaching influence on not just other breeds but the development of the modern sports horse, the Thoroughbred  must take the ac...

The Shetland pony is one of two native pony breeds that heralds from Scotland, the other being the Highland pony. The Shetland pony as its name suggests, derives from the Shetland Islands. The Shetlan...

A Warmblood is a horse bred somewhere between the hot bloods of the Arab and Thoroughbred and the cold bloods of the Draught horse. So it follows that a British Warmblood is a warmblood horse that has...

The New Forest pony has one of the largest height ranges of all the nine native pony breeds found in the UK and comes from an area in the south of England from which it takes its name. The New Fo...

The Fell is one of the nine indigenous native breeds of pony to be found across the United Kingdom.  As its name might suggest, it is a pony that originates from the north of England.  The F...

The Selle Français is the main French breed of warmblood horse, but unlike its Dutch and German warmblood neighbours, the Selle Français has had quite a different evolution.   ...

The horse has long had a place in harness and some breeds evolved solely for the purpose of pulling vehicles and literally, the clue was in the name. Amongst these would be the Yorkshire Coach horse, ...

The Dartmoor pony is one of two native breeds of pony in the UK which originates from the south west of England.  The other pony is the Exmoor pony and both are named after the respective moorlan...

Warmblood is a term that can cause some confusion amongst even knowledgeable horse owners. Ask a few people on your yard to define the term and you will get plenty of different answers.  Essentia...

All Thoroughbred horses can trace their ancestry back to three original Arab stallions which are the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian and the Byerley Turk. If the name Darley and Godolphin sound ...

KWPN stands for Koninklijk Warmbloed Paarden-stamboek Nederland which in English means a Dutch Warmblood registered with the Royal Warmblood Studbook of the Netherlands.  Most people know what KW...

The Holstein is a German warmblood breed believed to date as far back as the thirteenth century so the oldest of the German warmblood breeds.  It originated from the area called Schleswig-Holstei...

The Connemara pony takes its name from a rugged and remote part of Ireland situated on the west coast. The origins of the Connemara are not clear. Some believe that the pony derives from wil...

The word Cob is used to describe in general terms, a small horse with short legs that is slightly heavy and coarse of build i.e. lacks any Thoroughbred breeding, and with a strong musculature.  H...