A horse breed is a selectively bred population of domesticated horses, often with pedigrees recorded in a breed registry. However, the term is sometimes used in a broader sense to define landrace animals of a common phenotype located within a limited geographic region, or even feral "breeds" that are naturally selected. Depending on definition, hundreds of "breeds" exist today, developed for many different uses. Horse breeds are loosely divided into three categories based on general temperament: spirited "hot bloods" with speed and endurance; "cold bloods," such as draft horses and some ponies, suitable for slow, heavy work; and "warmbloods," developed from crosses between hot bloods and cold bloods, often focusing on creating breeds for specific riding purposes, particularly in Europe.
Trakehner is a light warmblood breed of horse, originally developed at the East Prussian state stud farm in the town of Trakehnen from which the breed takes its name. The state stud was established in 1731 and operated until 1944, when the fighting of World War II led to the annexing of East Prussia by Russia, and the town containing the stud renamed as Yasnaya Polyana.
Warmbloods are a group of middle-weight horse types and breeds primarily originating in Europe and registered with organizations that are characterized by open studbook policy, studbook selection, and the aim of breeding for equestrian sport. The term distinguishes these horses from both heavy draft horses and refined light saddle horses such as the Thoroughbred, Arabian, and Akhal-Teke. Although modern warmbloods are descended from heavier agricultural types systematically upgraded by hotblood influence, the term does not imply that warmbloods are direct crosses of "cold" and "hot".
The Byerley Turk, also spelled Byerly Turk, was the earliest of three stallions that were the founders of the modern Thoroughbred horse racing bloodstock.
The Kinsky Horse is a Czech breed of warmblood sport horse. It was bred by the Kinsky family in the Kingdom of Bohemia, and is now one of four warmblood sport horse breeds reared in the Czech Republic, the others being the Czech Warmblood, the Slovakian Warmblood and the Moravian Warmblood. It was for many years absorbed into the Czech Warmblood; a separate stud-book was established in 2005. It is characterised by an unusual golden-yellow coat, though other colours are also seen.
A draft horse (US), draught horse (UK) or dray horse, less often called a carthorse, work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred to be a working animal doing hard tasks such as plowing and other farm labor. There are a number of breeds, with varying characteristics, but all share common traits of strength, patience, and a docile temperament which made them indispensable to generations of pre-industrial farmers.
A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. Crossbreeding, sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism. While crossbreeding is used to maintain health and viability of organisms, irresponsible crossbreeding can also produce organisms of inferior quality or dilute a purebred gene pool to the point of extinction of a given breed of organism.
The Selle Français (SF) is a breed of sport horse from France. It is renowned primarily for its success in show jumping, but many have also been successful in dressage and eventing. An athletic horse with good gaits, it is usually bay or chestnut in color. The Selle Français was created in 1958 when several French riding horse breeds were merged into one stud book. The new breed was meant to serve as a unified sport horse during a period when horses were being replaced by mechanization and were transforming into an animal used mainly for sport and leisure.
Gem Twist was a 16.3 hands world champion American Thoroughbred show jumping horse registered under the name Icey Twist. Bred by equestrian Frank Chapot, Gem Twist had an incredible career at the Grand Prix level. The gelding is the only horse to have won the "American Grand Prix Association Horse of the Year" title three times, and is regarded as one of the best show-jumpers in history.
The Czech Warmblood, Czech: Český Teplokrevník, is a modern Czech breed of warmblood sport horse.
A sport horse or sporthorse is a type of horse, rather than any particular breed. The term is usually applied to horses bred for the traditional Olympic equestrian sporting events of dressage, eventing, show jumping, and combined driving, but the precise definition varies. In the United States, horses used in hunt seat and show hunter competition are often classed as sport horses, whereas the British show hunter is classified as a "show horse."
The American Warmblood is a horse of warmblood type, intended primarily for the traditional sport horse disciplines of dressage, show jumping, eventing and combined driving.
The Belgian Warmblood or Belgisch Warmbloedpaard is a Belgian breed of warmblood sport horse. It is bred for dressage, for show-jumping and for three-day eventing. It is one of three Belgian warmblood breeds or stud-books, the others being the Zangersheide and the Belgian Sport Horse – to which last it is quite similar.
An Austrian Warmblood is a warmblood type of horse registered with the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Warmblutzucht in Österreich. Although the studbook is made up of jumping and dressage horses from many other countries, the mare base consists of native horses with a long history. The AWÖ keeps an open studbook, in which mares and stallions must pass rigorous inspections before becoming breeding stock.
The heavy warmbloods are a group of horse breeds primarily from continental Europe. The title includes the Ostfriesen and Alt-Oldenburger ("Old-Oldenburger"), Groningen, and similar horses from Silesia, Saxony-Thuringia, and Bavaria. Breeds like the Hungarian Nonius, Kladruber, and Cleveland Bay are also often classed as "heavy warmbloods." They are the ancestors of the modern warmbloods, and are typically bred by preservation groups to fit the pre-World War I model of the all-purpose utility horse. Unlike the registries of the sport horses that followed them, many heavy warmblood registries maintain closed or partly closed studbooks. However, external evaluation and performance testing of the breeding stock is still a key element in these registries. Many of the heavy warmbloods are selected primarily for family-friendly temperaments.
German warmblood may refer generally to any of the various warmblood horses of Germany, or more specifically to a warmblood registered with the nationwide German Horse Breeding Society. Beneath the umbrella term German warmblood are several regional variations on a singular standard; individual German warmblood types are not necessarily considered "breeds", because they have an open stud book and freely exchange genetic material between each other, with other warmblood types, with Anglo-Arabians, and with breeds like the Thoroughbred, Arabian, and Trakehner. All horses that are warmbloods and bred in Germany are named after the region in which they are born in. There is an exception to this and that is the Trakehner breed.
The Belgian Sport Horse, Dutch: Belgisch Sportpaard, French: Cheval de Sport Belge, is a Belgian breed of warmblood sport horse. It is one of three Belgian warmblood breeds or stud-books, the others being the Belgian Warmblood and the Zangersheide. It is bred for dressage, for show-jumping and for three-day eventing.
The Zangersheide is a Belgian breed or stud-book of warmblood sport horses. It is one of three Belgian warmblood breeds or stud-books, the others being the Belgian Sport Horse and the Belgian Warmblood.
