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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 moorland areas which are their geographical point of origin and their native home.   The Dartmoor and Exmoor are often paired together by virtue of geography, rather like the Dales and Fell ponies from the north of England. However the Dales and Fell ponies resemble each other far more closely...

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.  Essentially a Warmblood is so called to distinguish it from draught horses such as the Shire and Clydesdale which would be described as “cold bloods” and Thoroughbreds and Arabs which are “hot bloods”. In simple terms, if you mix hot and cold together then you get warm and this is ho...

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 familiar that is because they are still two famous names on today’s flat racing scene. His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has a prolific stud of this name which stands stallions around the world in six countries including the UK at the heart of British racing, Newmarket. ...

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 KWPN means but not many know what it actually stands for so a great one for the equestrian quiz at your yard or local riding club, correct pronunciation would merit a bonus point or two as well!   KWPN represents the modern Dutch Warmblood which has found huge favour and ultimately succes...

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-Holstein in Germany from which it takes its name. Originally influenced by both Spanish and Neapolitan blood, the Holstein has always been a popular export to other European countries. However the biggest breeding impact on the Holstein was the introduction of both the Thoroughbred and the Yorkshire Coach ...

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 wild native stock crossed with Andalusians that swam ashore from shipwrecked vessels from the Armada. Other sources suggest that the pony is much older than that and dates back to the time of the Vikings and that with the Highland, the Shetland, the Iceland and the Norwegian ponies, it forms a Cel...

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.  However, it is more complicated than that. There are really three sorts of cob, one is a type and two are breeds. And they are:-   1.     The Welsh Cob or Section D which is a defined Welsh breed, the largest of the four sections with its own Studbook.  ...

The Hanoverian horse is arguably the most successful and well known of all the German warmbloods perhaps even of all the European warmblood breeds.  It is an iconic sports horse noted for its fine conformation, athletic ability and performance record; as a modern athlete to compete in either dressage or show jumping, you could not want for more.   The Hanoverian is more modern than some of the European breeds perhaps because its specific creation was to provide a lighter workin...

The Oldenburg may perhaps be described as the most powerful of the German ridden breeds, particularly in comparison to, say, the Hanoverian. The breed was established in the 1600s almost solely by one man, Count Anton Gunther von Oldenburg, who was a notable dressage rider and from whom the breed derives its name, in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg. Originally there were Friesian influences with Iberian and Barb bloodlines added. In subsequent centuries, other breeds were used to develop ...

The Irish Draught as its name suggests, began life as a working horse in Ireland and is their national horse. It originated as a much smaller animal called the Irish Hobby. As in other quarters of Europe, there had been a need for many hundreds of years, for a weight carrying animal that could be used as a beast of burden, an animal of war and a servant of agriculture. The original heaviness of the Irish Draught came from French and Flemish blood after the Norman Conquest. However ligh...

The American Quarter Horse was purpose bred for a specific discipline and it is this job which gave the horse its name. The horse originates from Virginia and was bred for racing. Due to a lack of proper racecourses in Virginia, the early horse racing was carried out on dirt tracks called “race paths” which were effectively just areas hacked out of the wilderness. The race paths were often about a quarter of a mile long, hence the name, American Quarter horse.   The comp...

Is the Palomino a breed or a colour? Well, like the Appaloosa, it is probably both. There are some breeds that feature the palomino coat colour amongst other colours such as the Welsh breeds or the Haflinger, where palomino is almost the dominant colour.   The palomino arrived in America from Spain and, as with many golden objects, it had a lure, desirability and a cachet which only such a striking coat colour can bring. There is no more detailed knowledge of the exact origins of th...

This breed of horse has become increasingly popular in the UK, and for a rather strange reason.  In more recent times, there has been a resurgence in demand for horse-drawn hearses and there is no better fine funeral horse than a Friesian or even a pair of Friesians. Complete with black plumes on their heads and often dark purple or black tabards across their backs, these horses will take your breath away with both their presence and nobility. This is perhaps a more unusual way to raise bre...

As the Shire horse was the agricultural engine of the southern, shire counties, the Clydesdale was its northern counterpart. The Clydesdale originated in Lanarkshire in the eighteenth century, it is a relatively new breed therefore compared to some. The old name for Lanarkshire was in fact Clydesdale, hence the breed title.   In the nineteenth century and during the industrial revolution, the road network in the north of England, which had been rudimentary in the extreme, was improv...

Is there any heavy horse breed more iconic than the English Shire Horse. Referenced in history as far back as Elizabethan times, it was called the Great Horse of England then, the name Shire horse being a more modern derivation and referring to the areas of England where the horse was perhaps most prevalent, the Shire counties in the centre of England.  The north of course has its own equivalent heavy horse in the Clydesdale.   Looking back through English history, it is easy t...

Perhaps it was when Rafael Sotto Andrade and the Spanish team gained a team silver at the Athens Olympics in 2004 that the Andalusian really shot to prominence in the UK. The love of the Spaniard for his horse, the sheer exuberance of his performance, was such a refreshing change from the dominance of the Germans and the Dutch in dressage and some might say, suddenly an alternative to big moving warmbloods and the serious Germanic nature of the sport – a breath of fresh air and Spanish vib...

As interest in the origins of the food we eat increases, more people are asking the same question of the feed they give their horses. A wide variety of feedstuffs are used in horse feed and as manufacturers try to find novel ingredients to make their feed stand out from the crowd, new materials such as rice and hemp are appearing in our horse’s feed buckets.    Feeding a horse can sometimes be a tricky business, particularly when you are trying to determine the right ...

Lameness in horses is something that is relatively easy to spot and can end up becoming quite a serious issue if it is not looked after properly. You can usually tell if your horse is lame, by watching its gait. A lame horse will usually develop a limp, which is often recognisable by the bobbing of its head whilst it walks.    One way in which you can examine your horse to see if it is lame or not is to walk it on a lunge line. Often, a horse will appear lame when it first step...

The ArcEvo unit has been nominated for the ‘British Inventors Project’ at the ‘Gadget Show Live 2015’, this category displays products that are set to shape our future or have innovative technological solutions to some of the world’s problems. Following in the footsteps of the hugely successful ArcEquine unit, the ArcEvo is specifically designed for human, rather than equine, use. As with the ArcEquine unit, the ArcEvo uses the same microcurrent technology to he...

We all love our horses. We would do anything for our horses, and our horses are easy to spot. To an outsider, horses just look like normal horses but some you can identify by their unusual markings. Most markings on a horse are the white areas that standout on their dark coat. The markings are present from the moment they are born and will not change throughout their life; when shedding their coat it might differ slightly but the main shape and district look will stay the same. There are lot...