- Breeding
- Feeding and Management of Horses During the Transition from Warm to Cool Weather
- Equine Experts Send Us Your Best Tip - Win $750 Worth of KAM’s Healthy Horse Products and More
- The History of Horse Breeding
- Buying a Horse
- Rocky Mountain Horses
- How to Buy Horses: A Step by Step Process
- So You Bought A Friesian, Now what!
- General Horse Articles
- Applying Natural Aids
- Ingredients in Feed that Affect Behavior
- Choosing The Horseback Riding Vacation That’s Right For You
- Horse Feeding
- A Look at Horse Feed
- Targeted Nutrient Therapy for Insulin Resistance
- Keeping the Horse Replenished - Equine Electrolytes
- Horse Grooming
- OmegaTri & the Equine - Reducing Inflammation, Restoring Balance
- eZall Shine & Detangler Transforms Ratty Manes and Tails Into Flowing Tresses
- When Dealing With Horses Get It in Writing - Sign Up for May 16 FREE Webinar
- Horse Health Issues
- Common Horse Illnesses: Colic
- A Look at Horse Vision
- Common Horse Illnesses: Laminitis
- Horse Training
- Training Brasilia
- Relive Southern Eighths/Nikon Three-Day on YouTube
- Do you need insurance for horses?
- Horses & History
- What do do when the Panic is On to keep our Horses Safe!
- The History of Overalls
- When Dealing With Horses Get It in Writing - Sign Up for May 16 FREE Webinar
- Horses & Sports
- ELITE DINING AND HOSPITALITY CLUB TO DEBUT AT 53rd WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW
- How to Prepare for Your First Equestrian Competition
- Submit Your Grant Proposal To USA Equestrian Trust
The History of Horse Breeding
05/26/2008
Horse domestication has potentially occurred for thousands of years. During this time, planned horse breeding developed. Documentation of this process is slim, but the few that are available provide interesting insight into the history of it.
Horse domestication has potentially occurred for thousands of years. During this time, planned horse breeding developed. Documentation of this process is slim, but the few that are available provide interesting insight into the history of it.
The earliest documentation of horse breeding was of the Arabian horse, bred for the Bedouin of the Middle East. There were written histories of horse breeds dating back to A.D. 1330, though oral histories could place this process even earlier. The Akhal-Teke of West-Central Asia is also known for breeding horses for war and races. Mongolian nomads are also believed to have been horse breeders for thousands of years.
Horses were bred for a variety of uses: war, messenger carriage, plowing, pulling wagons, packhorses, and many others. The type of horse and the qualities therein determined its use.
The medieval European war horse was named the destrier, and was a very large beast. These massive horses provided strength to carry armor, as well as power behind a knight’s lance. Muslim warriors of the Middle East preferred to breed the faster, agile horse. The Bedouins wanted to outmaneuver their enemy, not overpower them, so these lighter horses were more suitable for them. When Muslims clashed with Europeans, the Muslims would outmaneuver and conquer the powerful, but slower, European destriers. Thus, the Europeans began cross-breeding to create a more balanced, quick and powerful horse, much like today’s Thoroughbreds.
Nobility during the Renaissance began to ride horses for recreation and general mobility. They bred lighter horses to benefit from the war horses’ athletic abilities. These horses were also used by the cavalry, as guns began to be used, and a cavalry horse could assist in a “shoot and run”-type tactic.
The rise of horse racing in the mid-1600s led to the development of the Thoroughbred – considered to be the “ultimate race horse.” James Burnett, Lord Monboddo worked closely with the theories of species relationships and experimented with parentage in horse breeding. In the late 1700s, he established the Thoroughbred breeding hub in Lexington, Kentucky, which became the capital of race horse breeding in America.
In 17th- and 18th-century Europe, fine carriage horses were developed, ushering in the age of the warmblood horse. The warmblood has been one of the most adaptable breeds, developing from carriage horses to the show horses of today.
