Breed A group of horses with common ancestry and common inherited characteristics related to appearance, body shape and/or coloration.

Common Breeds

Abtenauer, Abyssinian, Akhal Teke, Albanian, Altai, Alter Real, American Cream Draft, American Creme and White, American Indian, American Walking Pony, American Warmblood, Andalusian, Andravida, Anglo-Kabarda, Appaloosa, Araappaloosa, Arabian, Ardennes, Argentine Criollo, Asturian, Australian Brumby, Australian Stock Horse, Azteca, Balearic, Baluchi, Banker, Ban-ei, Barb, Bashkir, Bashkir Curly, Basotho Pony, Basuto Pony, Belgian, Bhirum Pony, Bhotia Pony, Black Forest, Boer, Breton, Buckskin, Budyonny, Byelorussian Harness, Camargue, Campolina, Canadian, Carthusian, Caspian Pony, Cayuse Indian Pony, Cheju, Chilean Corralero, Chincoteague pony, Cleveland Bay, Clydesdale, Cob, Colorado Ranger Horse, Connemara pony, Criollo (Uruguay), Crioulo, Dales Pony, Danube, Dartmoor Pony, Deliboz, Djerma, Døle, Dongola, Dülmen Pony, Dutch Draft, Dutch Harness Horse Dutch warmblood, East Bulgarian, Egyptian, Eriskay Pony, Estonian Native, Exmoor Pony, Faeroes Pony, Falabella, Fell Pony, Finnhorse, Fleuve, Fouta, Frederiksborg, French Saddlebred, French Trotter, Friesian, Galiceño, Galician Pony, Gelderlander, Gidran, Golden American Saddlebred, Gotland, Groningen, Guangxi, Gypsy Cob, Gypsy Vanner, Hackney, Haflinger, Hanoverian, Heck, Hequ, Highland Pony, Hokkaido, Holsteiner, Hucul, Hungarian Warmblood, Icelandic, Iomud, Irish Draught, Jinzhou, Jutland, Kabarda, Kabardin, Karabair, Karabakh, Kazakh, Kerry Bog Pony, Kiger Mustang, Kirdi Pony, Kisber Felver, Kiso, Kladruby, Knabstrup, Konik, Kushum, Kustanai, Latvian, Lithuanian Heavy Draft, Lipizzan, Lokai, Losino, Lusitano, Malopolski, Mangalarga, Marwari, M'Bayar, Mérens Pony, Messara, Miniature, Misaki, Missouri Foxtrotter, Miyako, Mongolian, Morab, Morgan, Moyle, Mustang, Murgese, National Show Horse, New Forest Pony, New Kirgiz, Newfoundland Pony, Noma, Nooitgedacht Pony, Noric, Noriker, Nordland, Northeastern, North Swedish Horse, Norwegian Fjord, Ob, Oldenburg, Orlov Trotter, Paint, Palomino, Pantaneiro, Paso Fino, Percheron, Peruvian Paso, Pindos Pony, Pinia, Pintabian, Pinto, Polish Konik, Pony of the Americas, Pottok, Przewalski, Pyrenean Tarpan, Qatgani, Quarab, Quarter Horse, Quarter Pony, Racking Horse, Rocky Mountain Horse, Russian Don, Russian Heavy Draft, Russian Trotter, Saddlebred, Sanhe, Schleswiger Heavy Draft, Schwarzwälder Fuchs, Selle Francais, Shagya, Shetland Pony, Shire, Single-Footing Horse, Skyros Pony, Somali Pony, Sorraia, Soviet Heavy Draft, Spanish Mustang, Spanish-Barb, Spanish-Norman, Standardbred, Sudan Country-Bred, Suffolk, Swedish Warmblood, Taishuh, Tarpan, Tawleed, Tennessee Walking Horse, Tersk, Thessalian, Thoroughbred, Tokara, Tori, Trakehner, Ukrainian Saddle, Vlaamperd, Vladimir Heavy Draft, Vyatka, Welara Pony, Welsh Pony, Westfalen, West African Barb, Western Sudan Pony, Wielkopolski, Xilingol, Yakut, Yanqi, Yili, Yonaguni, Zaniskari Pony, Zhemaichu

Breed Associations

Organizations dedicated to promoting and showcasing the virtues of a specific breed of horse. A breed association generally sponsors shows open only to horses of the breed it promotes.

Breed registries

They maintain records identifying all ancestral and living members of each breed; they also accord registrations papers to qualifying horses.

Breeding

refers to reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of planned mating of animals. While feral and wild horses breed successfully without human assistance, it can be beneficial to domesticated horses. Humans can increase the chances of conception, a successful pregnancy, and successful foaling.

The male parent of a horse, a stallion, is commonly known as the sire and the female parent, the mare, is called the dam. Both are genetically important, as each parent provides 50% of the genetic makeup of the ensuing offspring, called a foal. (Contrary to popular misuse, the word "colt" refers to a young male horse only; "filly" is a young female.) Though many amateur horse owners may simply breed a family mare to a local stallion in order to produce a companion animal, most professional breeders use selective breeding to produce individuals of a given phenotype, or breed. Alternatively, a breeder could, using individuals of differing phenotypes, create a new breed with specific characteristics.

Some breeders consider the quality of the sire to be more important than the quality of the dam. However, other breeders maintain that the mare is the most important parent. Because stallions can produce far more offspring than mares, a single stallion can have a greater overall impact on a breed. However, the mare may have a greater influence on an individual foal because its physical characteristics influence the developing foal in the womb and the foal also learns habits from its dam when young. Foals may also learn the "language of intimidation and submission" from their dam, and this imprinting may effect the foal's status and rank within the herd. Many times, a mature horse will achieve status in a herd similar to that of its dam; the offspring of dominant mares become dominant themselves.

While horses in the wild mate and foal in mid to late spring, many horses domestically bred for competitive purposes, especially horse racing and various futurities, are usually born as close to January first as possible, so as to be at an advantage in size and maturity when competing against other horses in the same age group. When an early foal is desired, barn managers will put the mare "under lights" by keeping the barn lights on in the winter to simulate a longer day, thus bringing the mare into estrus sooner than she would in nature. Mares signal estrus and ovulation by urination in the presence of a stallion, raising the tail and revealing the vulva. A stallion, approaching with a high head, will usually nicker, nip and nudge the mare, as well as sniff her urine to determine her readiness for mating.

Once fertilized, the oocyte (egg) remains in the oviduct for approximately 5.5 more days, and then descends into the uterus. The initial single cell combination is already dividing and by the time of entry into the uterus, the egg might have already reached the blastocyst stage.

The gestation period lasts for about eleven months, or about 342 days (normal average range 320-370 days). During the early days of pregnancy, the embryo (up to about 35 days), or fetus (after 35-40 days), is mobile, moving about in the uterus until about day 16 when "fixation" occurs. True implantation - invasion into the endometrium of any sort - does not occur until about day 35 of pregnancy with the formation of the endometrial cups, and true placentation (formation of the placenta) is not initiated until about day 40-45 and not completed until about 140 days of pregnancy. A heartbeat can be detected on day 21, and the fetus gender can be determined by day 70 of the gestation. Halfway through gestation the fetus is the size of between a rabbit and a beagle. The most dramatic fetus development occurs in the last 3 months of pregnancy when 60% of fetal growth occurs.