Hi, it’s Katrina!
From German horses with very hard to pronounce names to American horses that are almost extinct,
here are 8 of the rarest, most beautiful horses in the world!!
8.
Akhal-Teke This heavenly horse is also the national emblem
of Turkmenistan!
This kind of horse is known worldwide for its speed, endurance, intelligence, and of
course, its beauty.
Did I mention that it can also adapt to severe climatic conditions?
Gosh, what can’t it do!?
It is also one of the oldest breed of horses that still exist today.
Maybe.
Scientists can’t say for sure, because it’s pretty hard to determine our own human history,
let alone horse history!
In any case, the ancestors of this breed date back to horses that lived 3000 years ago!
The famous historian Herodotus even mentioned this horse.
Some say that the Akhal-Teke is a direct descendant of the Turkoman horse, a breed that is now
extinct.
The Akhal-Teke is listed as threatened, which is extremely rare with domestic animals.
This horse is also famous for its metallic sheen, caused by its extremely fine hairs.
It always looks super glossy and shiny no matter what the color.
The younger ancestors of Akhal-Teke were golden, but now it is one of the few horse breeds
that has a wide range of colors.
The 3 main colors are black, bay and red.
The stallions of this breed have influenced many breeds and were often given to Heads
of State and important people in foreign lands.
7.
Sorraia Sorraia is a very rare breed of horse, specific
to the Iberian Peninsula, in the area surrounding the Sorraia River in Portugal.
Hence the name.
Previously the breed was simply known by the locals as “zebro” or “zebra”.
This is because newborn foals, were born with hair that would lay in stripe-like patterns.
This horse is known for its primitive features and they lived practically wild on a large
estate until 1999.
When outsiders discovered them in 1920, few could believe that a wild horse subspecies
had survived in Europe for that long.
This entire breed was isolated and unknown to science for such a long time that we don’t
really know much about their past.
What we’ve found out is that they share similar characteristics with Mustangs in the
western part of the United States.
This suggests that Spanish conquistadors took Iberian horses to the Americas during their
trips abroad and one breed must have been the ancestor of the Sorraia.
Today the breed is almost extinct, with less than 200 horses existing as of 2007.
They are mainly found in Portugal, but also in Germany, where they are used for different
things like herding bulls, dressage riding or light harness.
6.
German Forest Horse Also known as the Black Forest Draft Horse,
this horse is a small but very tough draft breed with a high fertility rate and a long
life span.
Even though they are tough, this breed is almost extinct.
They are about 600 years old, and for most of the time, this breed was used almost exclusively
for forestry work because of their immense strength, patience and gentle temperament.
They also have a dark chestnut coat with a flaxen mane and tail, their short head has
small ears and large eyes, their chest is broad, and their legs are trim and strong
with little feathering.
The most common color for them is dark chestnut, but they can also be gray or bay.
They began to decline during the 20th century when their jobs were taken by machines.
Back in 1981 only 160 registered broodmares were reported!
Since then the government stepped in to help protect the Black Forest horse breed and only
the finest stock was used, so now they boast that those that remain are of the best quality.
Today a major breeding center is located at Marbach, where only 16 from a total of 46
State Approved Stallions are located.
The rest are scattered in different private breeding facilities.
5.
Bashkir Curly Horse This breed comes in all sizes, colors and
body types, all with one unique characteristic in common: curly hair!
They are calm, intelligent and appear to enjoy human company.
They have great stamina and a tough build.
They generally have a nice calm temperament which makes them less flighty and skittish
than other kinds of horses.
My mom had an Arabian that would spook at its own shadow!
They are also hypoallergenic – so those of you with allergies to horses most likely
will have no issues being around a Curly Horse!
The level of curly-ness can vary.
This unique gene that makes the hair of Curly Horses curly can be greater or less, changing
from horse to horse.
As with other special breeds of horses, the exact origin of the Bashkir Curly horse is
unknown!
One guess was that they descended from the Russian Bashkir, a Russian breed that was
mostly used as a draft and utility horse.
However after a little research this theory is probably not accurate because breeding
was not very successful and the horses had a low survival rate.
Other hypotheses regarding the origins of the Bashkir Curly Horse exist but they all
failed to prove anything, so until more evidence comes to light, we won’t know where the
first curly haired horse came from!
Its origins are one of the greatest mysteries of the horse world!
Even without a clear past, these horses are doing pretty well recently, as they can be
seen in a wide range of equestrian events like Western Riding, Competitive and Endurance
Trail Riding, English Equestrian events and much more!
4.
Falabella A pony or not a pony!
That is the question that surrounds this horse breed called Falabella.
By definition, the main distinction between ponies and horses is height.
A horse is usually considered to be at least 14.2 hands (4 ft 10 in/ 147 cm) tall.
A pony is less than that.
The fun part is that the Falabella horse, despite its size is not considered a pony,
but a miniature horse since it rarely is taller than 8 hands (32in/81cm).
So is it a horse or a pony, or something in between?
The debate is still ongoing.To me it doesn’t really matter, either way it’s cute!
(Although I used to have a pony and he wasn’t very nice!
Falabella’s apparently are very friendly and social.)
The name Falabella comes from the family who developed the breed in the 19th Century.
The breed was first established in the 1850’s by an Irishman named Patrick Newtall, who
acquired some small horses being kept with Indian tribes.
He transferred his breeding methods and knowledge to his son-in-law Juan Falabella.
Then this knowledge was passed from generation to generation until this day!
Only horses that come from the ranch in Argentina that has a pedigree of uninterrupted bloodlines
originally bred by the Falabella family is a genuine, rare, Falabella horse.
Some breeders are selling mixed breed horses as Falabellas when they are not.
These little guys are small, but they are pretty tough.
They can live up to 50 years!
And despite their size, they look just like any other horse.
They are also intelligent and easy to train, making them perfect for shows, cart driving
or even guide horses!
3.
Gypsy Vanner
This horse, also known as the Irish Cob, is a breed of horse from the British Isles.
It has a very interesting story, as it was not officially recognized until the 90’s.
It’s not every day that a new breed is discovered!
On a trip to England in 1995, Dennis and Cindy Thompson were fascinated by a colorful stallion
they saw at a farm.
The horse had black and white markings and very hairy legs.
They met the owner, a gypsy named Fred Walker, who was known as “King of the colored horses”.
He sold the stallion to the Thompsons and they all decided on the name with the blessings
of the dedicated British Gypsy breeders.
On November 24, 1996 the couple made the world’s first registry for this breed under the name
Gypsy Vanner Horse.
“Vanner” is a term that used to describe a horse that was suitable to pull a caravan.
This breed was mainly used to pull carts and caravans all over Europe.
Nowadays, Gypsy horses are used in many equestrian sports!
2.
American Cream Draft Horse
The American Cream horse breed is one of the newest breeds of horses and an American native
– actually the American Cream is THE ONLY draft breed native to the US that still exists!
They come from Iowa and originate from a cream-colored mare named Old Granny.
Her cream-colored coat, pink skin and amber eyes became the defining characteristics of
the breed.
The color of her coat was so unique and beautiful that people named it “gold champagne”.
The color of their coat isn’t the only thing that makes this breed beautiful.
They have refined heads, wide chests, strong backs and are very muscular.
Females are about 15-16 hands and can weigh around 1600 lbs (700 kg) while stallions can
be about 16 hands and weigh more than 1800 lbs (820 kg)!
The breed is calm, making them a good choice for owners who are new to handling draft horses.
Although it might be hard to get one since they are so rare!
Like many other horses, they suffered from machines taking their jobs.
Just as the breed was getting established, the demand for draft horses dropped.
In the late 50’s no more than 200 American Cream Draft horses were registered.
Because of this, the breed was placed on the endangered species list by the American Livestock
Breeds Conservancy.
The good news is that their numbers are still increasing, despite them being critically
rare.
1.
Knabstrupper
The Knabstrupper breed is one of the oldest breed registries in Europe.
Its history is up for debate, but spotted horses were bred in Denmark as long ago as
1671, descended from Spanish horses known as “Tiger Horses”.
The original horses were extremely rare and only given to nobility so the original line
died out.
In 1812 spotted horses returned to Denmark with a new bloodline.
It all started with just one mare owned by a Danish butcher name Flaeb.
He purchased it from a Spanish cavalry officer, and named it Flaebehoppen, which literally
translates to Flaeb’s mare.
In case anyone got confused!
The mare was dark red with white snowflakes and and white mane and tail, very unique for
the day and very beautiful!
A wealthy landowner who lived in Knabstrupgaard, a manor, bought the horse and all of the horses
today are said to descend from Flaebehoppen.
The Knabstrupper stand out mostly because of their unusual color.
The knabstrupper horse exhibits different patterns, such as the most famous leopard
with white background covered with black, bay or chestnut spots or the blanket, the
snowflake, the snowcap and so on.
They are known for being extremely gentle and are very easily trainable.
Their strength and stamina are also incredible!
Danish officers often used Knabstrupper horses during war!
They are the perfect choice for a war mount, except one minor, but very important, detail:
their color.
Yup, what makes them different and beautiful is a disadvantage on the battlefield.
Because of their eye-catching marks they were easy targets for the enemies!
In the Battle of Isted in 1850 for example, two officers used knabstrupper as mounts.
They both died, but somehow one of the horses survived.
They now come in all shapes and sizes and are a respected breed around the world used
for all kinds of competitions.
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