The horse of the breed of appaloosa, whose beauty is breathless, is one of the most recognizable in the world. She gained her popularity not only thanks to the impressive color, which gives her exceptional beauty, but also to her talents, as a result of which she can perform in almost any kind of equestrian sport.
Due to its balanced nature and racing qualities, this breed shows a high level in races held in show jumping, in various show programs and, of course, is often used as walking horses. In addition, she develops a magnificent gallop and easily overcomes obstacles that arise on the way.
Basic data
Appaloosa is a horse, the description of which is very ambiguous due to its unique motley suit. The name of the breed comes from the name of the area located near the Palouse River. This breed is easy to recognize due to the many spots that differ in color from the main color.
Exterior
The horse of the Appaloosa breed, the photo of which is posted below, attracts attention not only with its color, but also with its impressive exterior. The height of these horses rarely exceeds 1.5 meters with a weight of about 500 kg. The head is big, the eyes are expressive. The ears are small pointy.
The neck is powerful, wide, due to which a smooth transition to the chest can be traced. Croup with a rather high tail is rounded and massive. The mane and tail are unusually silky. Unlike other species, the horse of the Appaloosa breed, the photo of which is presented in this article, has a spotted color not only on the coat, but also directly on the skin.
Breed features
The sclera of the eye (the bright area covering the entire eye, with the exception of the cornea) is white. Despite the fact that it is present in all horses, in appaloosa it is much more noticeable due to the rich white shade. This is one of the main features characteristic of this breed, often manifested in conjunction with large white marks on the face.
Another notable feature of the breed is the vertical stripes on the hooves. Their color can vary from dark to snow-white. However, it must be borne in mind that such stripes may be traces of old injuries or be a continuation of the light color marks passing through the legs. In addition, similar bands are often observed in horses of white and cream colors. So striped hooves do not always indicate that the horse belongs to this breed. Having noticed such marks, it is better to conduct a thorough examination with a specialist than to take a chance and get an injured horse.
Most popular colors
Fans of this breed recognize 13 basic suits.
Among them, the most popular are:
- Horse appaloosa leopard. The color is white with many dark spots randomly distributed throughout the body.
- Snowflake. On snow-white wool there is a large number of dark spots, pronounced in the hips.
- Frost This color represents light, and sometimes even white spots on the main dark suit.
- Marble. On light wool, dark stains can be traced, the bulk of which is located on the nose, knees and back.
- Black horse appaloosa. A bay, black or other one-color horse (except gray) mixed with blond hair. At the same time, minor oval spots can form a secondary color.
Amazing facts
The skin can be either a saturated light shade or unpigmented with interspersed with dark spots. The final version of the color does not appear immediately, but is formed by about five years.
A horse of the breed of appaloosa, whose photo allows you to admire these beautiful creatures, can be born with one pattern, and in the process of growth radically change it to a new one. So, for example, the vast majority of foals are born with light hair, but within a few years they begin to shed heavily and, losing their children's hair, darken significantly. The only exception is gray appaloises, which, on the contrary, are born dark and become much lighter over time. This is directly related to the presence of a gene called Leopard, the more it will be in the horse's genotype, the greater the number of spots on the main color.
Please note that the horse of the breed of appaloosa is genetically predisposed to a rapidly developing disease called uveitis, which, without proper treatment, can even lead to blindness.
Origin of the breed and distribution
To date, there are two main options regarding the origin of the name of this breed. The first is that the horse of the Appaloosa breed was named the first white settlers of America in honor of the area near the Palouse River, according to the second version, it was named after the Palouse tribe, which previously lived within the same river. Despite the fact that the name of the breed took root quite quickly, it was officially recognized in the world of appaloosa only in 1938.
It is assumed that spotted horses were actively used by the Spaniards, surprised by the beauty and endurance of this breed, who were going to use them to quickly explore all American lands with a view to gaining profit.
Over time, this breed massively spread throughout America.
The Indians exchanged them between the tribes and repeatedly sold them to white-skinned settlers. Thus, the horse of the Appaloosa breed became the main means of transportation for most of the original inhabitants of America.
Conservation Measures
In order for the horse of the Appaloosa breed to maintain its characteristic exterior, no measures were taken until the time when the farmer Claude Thompson organized a club of fans of this breed. Thanks to his like-minded people, he was able to not only maintain the breed in purebred form, but also significantly raise its position among other breeds.
Thanks to his actions, today in Idaho a museum of the history of these horses is already functioning and a world registry of this breed has been created.
At the moment, more than 1.5 million representatives of the Appaloosa breed are registered in it, to which many new horses are added annually. In Idaho, the association’s official monthly magazine is published, devoted to the characteristics of this breed, which has repeatedly won various awards.
As the number of breed representatives grows, the association develops a variety of activities aimed at increasing people's interest in this type of horse. With the active participation of permanent members, more than 600 regional exhibitions have been held aimed at selecting the best individuals who can compete at annual world and national performances.
The organizers are trying to maximize the interest of people to get these unusual horses. In order to make possession of pampering a pleasure, a number of awards are offered at the events held for winners of all types of races.
In addition, the organization also sponsors an annual run lasting four weeks, allowing you to select the most impressive individuals to participate in further races.
