Pony of the Americas

History
 The Pony of the Americas was created by accident when a Shetland bred with and Arabian/Appaloosa cross in the 1950s in Mason City, Iowa. The result was a small horse with Appaloosa spots all over its body and a unique black hand print on his hip. When Shetland breeder and lawyer Les Boomhower noticed the horse, named Black Hand, he bought him, thinking it would make an ideal children's horse able to compete in a variety of disciplines. He called several of his friends, also Shetland breeders, who became interested in Black Hand. Boomhower offered his idea of making Black Hand the foundation stallion of a new breed of pony, and his friends agreed to help.

The POA is like a miniature Quarter Horse with Appaloosa
spots and a slightly concave profile. credit

 In 1954, Boomhower and his friends founded the Pony of the Americas Club(POAC) with the goal of creating a medium-sized pony for older children. The guidelines were strict: the pony had to resemble a small Quarter Horse with a dished Arab face and spots like an Appaloosa. Black Hand fit the criteria and was the first horse to be registered, but was followed by twelve others a year later. Fifteen years later, over 12,500 ponies had been registered with the club, a large number for the breed's short time of existence. Today, there is over 50,000 ponies.

 In the 1960s, the Shetland Pony was eliminated from the breeding program, replaced with large ponies, such as Welsh ones. The height limit, originally 13 hands high, was changed to 14 with the adding of larger ponies.

 In addition to registering ponies and recording pedigrees, the POAC has programs in which youth compete with the ponies. They encourage children to be friends and support each other, even when showing against each other.

Breed Description and Uses
 The Pony of the Americas, though small at an average of 11.2 to 14 hands high, is proportioned like a horse rather than a pony. The breed is muscular with a deep chest, sloping shoulders, a rounded croup, and a sturdy neck. The head is often slightly concave, much like Arabian the POA is a descendent of. The breed can come in a variety of coat patterns, including blanket and leopard. In short, it resembles miniature American Quarter Horse with an Arabian head and spots like that of an Appaloosa.

 The POA is able to compete is a variety of disciplines, including show jumping, dressage, eventing, and endurance riding. They can also be used for ranch work and trail riding.

Nez Perce Horse

History
 In 1806, when Lewis and Clark traveled through eastern Idaho, they noticed that the Nez Perce tribes had sleek, elegant horses with spotted coats. Those early Appaloosas were far different than those of today, which are stocky and sturdy, resembling a compact American Quarter Horse rather than their long, lean ancestors. The reason for this is that in 1877, the Nez Perce were forced by the U.S. Calvalry to give up their horses to settlers throughout the West. As time passed, the horses were cross-bred with those owned by ranchers, and the original Appaloosa type died out, making space for today's stock horse Appaloosa.

Nez Perce Horses resemble a spotted Akhal-Teke. credit

 In the year 1994, leaders of the Nez Perce tribe decided they wanted to recreate the breed by breeding four Akhal-Teke stallions with 33 Appaloosa mares. They had put a lot of thought into which horse would best mix with the Appaloosa, and the sleek, desert Akhal-Teke seemed to be a good choice. The offspring were registered in with the Nez Perce Horse Registry, started in 1995.

Breed Description and Uses
 Nez Perce Horses have acquired the best traits of both breeds. They are lean, elegant, and have long necks and thin wither, often coming with a shiny, spotted coat; mottled skin, striped hooves, and the Appaloosa's white sclera. Much like both the Appaloosa and the Akhal-Teke, Nez Perce Horses are friendly, eager to please, intelligent, curious, and love to be around people. they are versatile and are used for both Western and English disciplines, including dressage, endurance riding, jumping, western pleasure, reining, competitive trail riding, and driving.

Knabstrupper

 History
In 1812, Major Villars Lunn, who owned a breeding facility in Nordsealand, Denmark, decided to breed two horses. One was the unusually colored Flaebehoppen, a small chestnut mare with a spotted blanket marking on her back, a white mane and tail, and a dusting of snowflake markings throughout her body. She was bred to a Fredirecksborg stallion.

 The result was beautiful spotted foal. Time after time, Flaebehoppen and her offspring produced spotted foals with all kinds of patterns, including leopard and blanket. Before long, Lunn's breeding facility consisted of many spotted, Baroque-type horses with great bloodlines. These horses were called Knabstruppers, after the manor Lunn owned.

Baroque Knabstrupper(credit)

 Danish soldiers used the sturdy horses as war mounts, but other people throughout Europe also sought after this beautiful breed. They loved the gorgeous spots the breed had. However, in 1891 a large barn fire occured at the Lunn stable, killing 22 of their top horses. With a small gene pool and the best of the horses gone, the breed was at risk. Supporters of the breed worked hard to save the Knabstrupper before it was lost for good. In 1947, they started a stud farm, Egemosegaard, and in 1971 three Appaloosa stallions were imported to Denmark to breed with Knabstrupper mares. From there, the number of Knabstruppers began to increase.

 Knabstrupper sport horse(credit)

 In 2002, Mike a Caroline Athey became interested in the breed, so arrangements were made for a Knabstrupper stallion, Apollon, to be bred with three Appaloosa mares, approved by the Knabstrupper's breed society. Later, Knabstrupper mares and stallions were imported to America. Today, the breed is increasing in popularity.

Breed Description and Uses
 The Knabstrupper can come in three different body types: Sport, Baroque, and Pony. The Sport type was bred specifically to compete in sports, such as show jumping, dressage, and eventing, by crossing the Knabstrupper with various wamrbloods. The Baroque horse is shorter and stockier than the first, and is what the original carriage and war Knabstruppers looked like. The last is a small, spotted pony version of the Baroque suitable for children. Despite their differences, most Knabstruppers have several things in common, such as their kind temperament, trainability, strength, and stamina.

 All Knabstruppers have spotted patterns similar to that of an Appaloosa, with leopard being the most common.

The Barb

History:
 The Barb is an ancient breed, and is the ancestor of many Spanish horses to date. Although its complete origins are unknown, it is believed to have been established in the Fertile Crescent of North Africa, a place that surrounds the countries of Morocco, Algeria, and Libya.

 The Berbers of North Africa prized the fast and agile Barb as great war mounts, using them when their large Muslim armies invaded Spain in the eight century. The name "Barb" actually originates from the group of barbarous people.

 By 1492, the Spanish had regained control of their country and began their explorations of the New World. They took with them many horses---descendants of the ancient Barb. The horses were originally taken to several islands throughout the Caribbean, where they were bred for multiple purposes, but later they were taken to what is now the United States, Mexico, and South America. From there, they became foundation horses for many popular American breeds---Quarter Horses, Paint Horses, Appaloosas, etc.

 During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many horses had escaped and were taken by Native American tribes. At about the same time, the English had begun colonizing much of the east coast, and found these Spanish horses, thinking of them as native horses.

Barbs are the ancestors of many popular breeds, including
Spanish breeds and stock horses.

 Before long, the English began importing their own horses---racehorses of a Barb type with a little bit of added Irish blood. From there, of course, the English imports were bred with the Spanish horses, and  many horses made their way West with pioneers. However, it was during these westward treks that many of the breeds already living in the West became endangered. People didn't realize the value of the Spanish Barbs that were living in the West with Native Americans. As a result, they crossed their English horses with the ones that had been their for centuries, hoping to Americanize the ones that had seemed unappealing. Many were sold or slaughtered or extensively crossbred, nearly destroying the pure Spanish Barb. However, Western ranchers liked the breed and helped preserved the ancestor of America's stock breeds.

Breed Description and Uses:
Barbs are stocky, standing 14.2 to 15 hands high, and can come in almost every color, particularly dun, chestnut, grulla, black, bay, roan, palomino, buckskin, grey, and pinto. Their head is long and refined, with a broad forehead, short ears that point slightly inwards, and a refined muzzle that often sports crescent-shaped Roman noses. Their chest is strong, their ribs well-sprung. Much like Arabians, they only have seventeen ribs. Their shoulders are sloping. As for their back, it is proportional to the rest of the body, complete with short, straight loin, a rounded croup, and hindquarters that aren't very heavily muscled.  The legs are straight and strong, with clean cannon bones, strong, sloping pasterns, and hard hooves.

 Barbs makes excellent endurance and trial horses due to their stamina and agility.

The Palouse Horse

 In the early nineteenth century, Danes began to selectively breed horses with small, round spots, a breed later known as the Knabstrupper. Other such horses were bred in Austria, too. It is likely that explorers of the New World took the forebears these special horses with them on their journey.  However, many escaped or were stolen by Native American tribes, who loved the horses spotted patterns. 

 The Nez Perce people, who lived in the area now called Oregon and Washington, were proficient horsemen, and adeptly bred their horses, only bringing out the desirable traits. Years of selective breeding produced a rugged horse with robust hooves, strong legs, sparse tails that would not catch on any brush while the horse rambled about the wilderness, and camouflage spots that were coveted by every tribe. Over the years, the number of spotted horses raised dramatically.

This Appaloosa has the coat pattern known as leopard.
The German word for this coat translates as "spotted tiger."
credit

 Then, in the early 1800s, pioneers trekking west noticed the spotted horses, referring to them as "Palouse" horses, after a river that ran through the area. In 1877, the U.S. Cavalry killed the Palouse horses after the Nez Perce had waged war on the U.S. Government for taking their land away.  Some of the horses escaped, and settlers took them, breeding them with heavy Spanish horses to produce a horse that could work on farms and ranches.

 Later, an "a" was added to the beginning of the name and the spelling changed a little(pronunciation remained the same). By 1938, the Appaloosa Horse Club was founded, and members endeavored to refine to the breed, which was then a stocky draft-type, with Arabian and Quarter Horse blood. Since then, their numbers have increased.

This Appaloosa, named Go Skippa Rock, has a dusting of white,
as if snow had lightly fallen on him. This pattern is known as snowflake.

credit

A third coat pattern(above) is called blanket.
It may cover only the hindquarters, like the one above,
or it may stretch all the way the withers.
Some blankets, called snowcaps, do not have spots on them.
credit

Marble coats, like the one above, is really no different than
a regular roan coat. credit

 Two basic types of Appaloosas exist: a bulky type, which most resembles the draft one used for farm work, and a muscular one with upright carriage.  Appaloosas are usually 14.2 to 16 hands high, and have a small, well-formed face and pointed ears(most like from the Arabian blood), with white sclera rings around the eye. They have sloped shoulders and are deep-chested. Another attribute is the mottled skin around the muzzle.

This foal is almost leopard colored, except for the fact that
that he has some brown on the knees, hocks, and face.
Some consider this to be a different color, known as near-leopard.
(click here if you are interested in seeing more coats)

 Of course, their trademark is their coat pattern. Several exist, including the snowflake, which is any solid color with a light powdering of white; blanket, which is a solid color that has a patch of white on the hindquarters, sometimes with colored spots inside of it; and leopard, a pattern with spots all over the body. Another pattern is a roan Appaloosa, with dark stripes, known as varnish, along the cheekbones.


 Appaloosas can be used in many disciplines, including combined driving, dressage, show jumping, endurance racing, and any western event. Also, on the West Coast, Appaloosas pound rapidly down racetracks, just like Thoroughbreds commonly do.

 Check out the breed's official webpage! Appaloosa Horse Club