 |
 Nez Perce Horse | |
| Country of origin | Idaho, United States |
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The Nez Perce Horse is a spotted horse breed developed by the Nez Perce Tribe of the State of Idaho in the United States. The modern-day Appaloosa horse breed is descended from it, and the current Nez Perce Horse is a sport horse developed by crossbreeding Appaloosa horses with imported Akhal-Teke stallions from Russia from the 1990s to present.
The modern Nez Perce Horse was developed by crossbreeding the Appaloosa and the Akhal-Teke, an ancient breed that originated in Turkmenistan (near Afghanistan), and bred in Russia. They are known for their superb endurance and "metallic" coats. The Akhal-Teke coat colors commonly include palominos, buckskins, and dark bays. A typical Nez Perce Horse is a buckskin or palomino with Appaloosa characteristics—mottled skin with a spotted coat or a blanket.
The Nez Perce Horse's conformation is longer and leaner than the Quarter Horses or other stock horses of the Western U.S., with narrower shoulders and hindquarters, a longer back, and a lean runner's appearance. They are good at long rides and compete well in endurance races; they are also good jumpers. Some Nez Perce Horses are gaited, with a fast and smooth running walk.
The Nez Perce Tribe first encountered domesticated horses when Spanish, English, and other European settlers brought horses to what would later become the United States of America. The Nez Perce purchased and traded for horses from other Native American tribes, including the Cayuse of Oregon and the Shoshone of Wyoming, and captured feral horses that had been released or escaped by settlers. The tribe began selectively breeding horses. [1]
By the time the Lewis and Clark Expedition, a select group of around 30 U.S. Army and civilian volunteers under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend Second Lieutenant William Clark, first encountered the Nez Perce in 1805 and 1806, Lewis noted the "quality" of horses bred by the tribe, comparing their type to that of "fine English coursers", which included Thoroughbreds. [1] Lewis also noted that one member of the Nez Perce Tribe owned more than 1,500 horses alone, with "50 to 100 horses...not being unusual for one individual to possess". [2]
After the Nez Perce War of 1877, over 1,000 horses were confiscated from the Nez Perce Tribe by U.S. government forces, with many being either sold or killed. However, many horses were left in the Wallowa Valley; additional animals escaped or were released into the wild; and, after the Nez Perce Tribe had resettled in Idaho, the U.S. government allowed limited horse breeding by the Nez Perce throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries.
The Nez Perce Horse Registry (NPHR) program was established in 1995 in Lapwai, Idaho, and was based on cross-breeding the old-line Appaloosa horses (the Wallowa herd) with an ancient Central Asian breed called Akhal-Teke. [3] Four Akhal-Teke stallions that had been imported from Russia, including the Tersk Stud, were donated to the Nez Perce Tribe and their breeding program by German-born and Minnesota-based breeders Hans and Eberhard Sprandel, with assistance from the Akhal-Teke Association of America (ATAA). [4] [5] [6] As of 2020, the program was producing Nez Perce-bred spotted sport horses of up to 3/4ths Akhal-Teke blood for cross-country riding, show jumping, and eventing. [7]
The breeding program was also financed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Nez Perce Tribe and a nonprofit group called the First Nations Development Institute, which promotes such businesses.
The Nez Perce people are historically known for their selective horse breeding practices, according to NPHR breeders Jon and Rosa Yearout. [8]
The Nez Perce Horse is "fit to carry the Nez Perce name," according to Rudy Shebala, director of the Tribe’s Horse Registry and the Nez Perce Young Horsemen program. [9]
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.
The Nez Perce are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region has been occupied for at least 11,500 years.
The Akhal-Teke is a Turkmen horse breed. They have a reputation for speed and endurance, intelligence, thin manes and a distinctive metallic sheen. The shiny coat of the breed led to their nickname, "Golden Horses". These horses are adapted to severe climatic conditions and are thought to be one of the oldest existing horse breeds. There are currently about 6,600 Akhal-Tekes in the world, mostly in Turkmenistan, although they are also found throughout Europe and North America. Akhal is the name of the line of oases along the north slope of the Kopet Dag mountains in Turkmenistan. It has been inhabited by the Tekke tribe of Turkmens.
The Appaloosa is an American horse breed best known for its colorful spotted coat pattern. There is a wide range of body types within the breed, stemming from the influence of multiple breeds of horses throughout its history. Each horse's color pattern is genetically the result of various spotting patterns overlaid on top of one of several recognized base coat colors. The color pattern of the Appaloosa is of interest to those who study equine coat color genetics, as it and several other physical characteristics are linked to the leopard complex mutation (LP). Appaloosas are prone to develop equine recurrent uveitis and congenital stationary night blindness; the latter has been linked to the leopard complex.
A color breed refers to groupings of horses whose registration is based primarily on their coat color, regardless of the horse's actual breed or breed type.
Palomino is a genetic color in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white mane and tail; the degree of whiteness can vary from bright white to yellow. The palomino color derived from the inter-breeding of Spanish horses with those from the United States. Genetically, the palomino color is created by a single allele of a dilution gene called the cream gene working on a "red" (chestnut) base coat. Palomino is created by a genetic mechanism of incomplete dominance, hence it is not considered true-breeding. However, most color breed registries that record palomino horses were founded before equine coat color genetics were understood as well as they are today, therefore the standard definition of a palomino is based on the visible coat color, not heritability nor the underlying presence of the dilution gene.
The American Paint Horse is a breed of horse that combines both the conformational characteristics of a western stock horse with a pinto spotting pattern of white and dark coat colors. Developed from a base of spotted horses with Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred bloodlines, the American Paint Horse Association (APHA) breed registry is now one of the largest in North America. The registry allows some non-spotted animals to be registered as "Solid Paint Bred" and considers the American Paint Horse to be a horse breed with distinct characteristics, not merely a color breed.
The cream gene is responsible for a number of horse coat colors. Horses that have the cream gene in addition to a base coat color that is chestnut will become palomino if they are heterozygous, having one copy of the cream gene, or cremello, if they are homozygous. Similarly, horses with a bay base coat and the cream gene will be buckskin or perlino. A black base coat with the cream gene becomes the not-always-recognized smoky black or a smoky cream. Cream horses, even those with blue eyes, are not white horses. Dilution coloring is also not related to any of the white spotting patterns.
The AraAppaloosa, also known as the Araloosa, Arappaloosa and the Ara-Appaloosa, is a horse breed that is designer crossbred between an Arabian horse and an Appaloosa, combining the refined phenotype of the Arabian with the leopard-spotted coloring of the Appaloosa. As both breeds are noted for endurance and intelligence, the resulting cross is usually able to excel at endurance riding as well as other disciplines performed by either breed, including ranch work, and a variety of horse show disciplines.
The Karabakh is a mountain-steppe racing and riding horse breed. It is named after the Karabakh region, from which the breed originates. The breed is noted for its good temperament and speed; in 2004, a Karabakh horse named Kishmish from an Aghdam stud farm covered 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) in 1.09 minutes and 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) in 1.52 minutes.
A pinto horse has a coat color that consists of large patches of white and any other color. Pinto coloration is also called paint, particolored, or in nations that use British English, simply coloured. Pinto horses have been around since shortly after the domestication of the horse.
The Appaloosa Horse Club, located in Moscow, Idaho, is dedicated to preserving and promoting the Appaloosa breed. The state of Idaho adopted the Appaloosa as its state horse in 1975. More than 630,000 Appaloosas have been registered with the Appaloosa Horse Club since its founding in 1938. The Appaloosa Horse Club is an international breed registry which records and preserves the breeds' heritage and history. The club is one of the top international equine breed registries, and is dedicated to preserving, promoting, and enhancing the Appaloosa breed.
The Colorado Ranger is a horse breed from the Colorado High Plains in the United States. The breed is descended from two stallions imported from Turkey to the US state of Virginia in the late 1800s. These stallions were then bred to ranch horses in Nebraska and Colorado, and in the early 1900s the two stallions who every registered Colorado Ranger traces to, Patches #1 and Max #2, were foaled. The breed was championed by rancher Mike Ruby, who founded the Colorado Ranger Horse Association in 1935. Original registry membership limits resulted in many Colorado Ranger horses being registered instead as Appaloosas, but pedigree research is ongoing to discover additional horses who trace their ancestry back to the original stallions.
The Knabstrupper or Knabstrup is a Danish breed of warmblood horse. It is principally a riding horse, but is also used as a harness horse and as a circus animal. It is broadly similar to the Frederiksborger, but often has a spotted coat. In the past, injudicious breeding for this characteristic alone compromised its constitution and conformation. In the 21st century, it is considered to be an endangered breed, with a world-wide population estimated at little over 2,000 horses.
The Tersk Stud is a horse stud farm, and it was used to restore the Russian horse population, which suffered heavy losses during the 1917-1923 Revolution. It was officially established on 11 February 1921, on the orders of Marshal Semyon Budyonny.
Yanardag is an Akhal-Teke stallion owned by the former President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov. The stallion is depicted on the coat of arms of Turkmenistan, on a 2001 miniature sheet Turkmenistan postage stamp, and in other Turkmen national representations, and he is also often featured in newspaper and magazine articles.
The Quarter Pony is a breed of pony that is similar to the American Quarter Horse. It stands up to 14.2 hands high and was developed from American Quarter Horse foundation bloodstock. The breed was originally developed from Quarter Horses that did not meet the American Quarter Horse Association's height requirement. It is bred to look like a small Quarter Horse, although the various registries also allow crosses with other breeds, including Paint horse, Appaloosa and Pony of the Americas, all stock types. It is one of the most versatile horse breeds there are. There are three registries for the Quarter Pony, all with slightly different registration requirements. The first registry was begun in 1964, and two more were started in the 1970s. The breed is used today in a variety of Western and English riding disciplines.
A part-Arabian, partbred Arabian or, less precisely, half-Arabian, is a horse with documented amounts of Arabian horse breeding but not a purebred. Because the Arabian is deemed to be a breed of purebred horse dating back many centuries, the modern breed registries recognized by the World Arabian Horse Organization generally have tightly closed stud books which exclude a horse from registration if it is found to contain any outside blood. However, Arabian breeding has also been used for centuries to add useful traits to countless other horse breeds. In the modern era, crossbreeding has been popular to combine the best traits of two different breeds, such as color, size, or ability to specialize in a particular equestrian discipline.
The Orlov-Rostopchin, or Russian saddle horse, is a breed of saddle and sport horse originating in Russia. Born in the 19th century from the fusion of the breeding saddle horses of Counts Orlov and Rostopchin, it has had an eventful history. Very famous at the end of the 19th century as a dressage and cavalry horse, the breed was decimated after the First World War. It was restored by Semion Boudienny, and became known as the "Russian Saddle". Virtually extinct after the Second World War, it was unofficially recreated in the 1950s to produce the Ukrainian Saddle. Thanks to its success in dressage competitions up to international level, Russian breeders have been officially reviving it since 1978, from crosses with Trakehners. The Russian saddle still suffers from a lack of recognition.