- Breeding
- Should You Go Into Horse Breeding?
- Horse Breeding, Part 1: The Estrous Cycle
- The Missing Equine Link: How the Modern Horse Came to Be
- Buying a Horse
- The Top 4 Places to Find Horses for Sale
- Rocky Mountain Horses
- When Good Gaits Deteriorate
- General Horse Articles
- The Top 4 Equine Colleges in the United States
- Traveling in the Best Circles
- Communicating by the Seat of your Pants
- Horse Feeding
- You’ve Got the Right Feed, Now What?: Proper Feeding Practices
- A Look at Horse Feed
- 5 Horse Feeding "Don'ts"
- Horse Grooming
- An Overview of Horse Grooming
- Keeping Your Horse Beautiful with Horse Products
- Mane Saving Ideas
- Horse Health Issues
- Let Sleeping Horses Lie: A Look at Horse Sleep Patterns
- The Winning Horse
- You’ve Got the Right Feed, Now What?: Proper Feeding Practices
- Horse Training
- Training Mythunderstandings: Groundwork: From Basics to Games
- Training Mythunderstandings: More Early Lessons for the Green Horse
- Training Mythunderstandings: Green Horse Lessons: Adding the Lead Rope
- Horses & History
- A Brief History of Draft Horses
- The History of Horse Breeding
- Horses in Art: An Abridged History
- Horses & Sports
- Halter Horse Show
- Ask Chelsie Natural Horsemanship - What Does It Mean To Disengage My Horse?
- In Defense of Horses in Sport
Top 5 Strange and Unusual Horses
03/27/2009
These strange, rare, and unusual horses have a beauty all their own, which is why we thought it was high time they got their due.
When we think of horses, in our mind we usually picture an animal like the Thoroughbred: sleek, brown, and slender. But as equids have evolved into different breeds, there have emerged some rare and unusual horses that look very different from the horses we see every day. These strange, rare, and unusual horses have a beauty all their own, which is why we thought it was high time they got their due. That’s why we rounded up our top 5 favorite strange and unusual horses:
1) Fjord horse
These short, strong horses are one of the world’s oldest breeds. Fjord horses (also known as Norwegian Fjord Horses) come from the mountains of Norway, and only grow to around 13.7 hands tall. Despite its size, Fjord horses are definitely horses, not ponies. Bred and domesticated by the Vikings, these pure-bred horses have a pale, almost orange color, a bristly mane, and a short nose, making them look more like ancient prehistoric horses than almost any other horses alive today.
2) Moyle Horse
This relatively new (and rare) breed of horse was “invented” in Idaho by rancher Rex Moyle in the 1940’s and 50’s. Moyle cross-bred light riding horses with Utah Mustangs, creating a breed that is strong, sturdy, and…horned? Yes, Moyle horses have frontal bosses or horn nubs that grow in the middle of the nose above the eyes. The only other horned horses include China’s Datong breed and the Spanish Carthusian. Because Mustangs are feral Spanish horses, it’s very possible that Moyle mixed his work horses with Carthusian stock, causing the horns to appear. The Moyle horses have amazing endurance, having the ability to outrun most other horses. This is due in part to the larger rib cage that allows these horses more breathing room and, so leend has it, bigger vital organs. These horses also have large, wide shoulders and muscular forlegs which give them great speed and agility. But despite the Moyel’s intelligence, speed, and endurance, they are very quickly dwindeling towards extinction.
3) Zhorse
Not technically a breed, a zhorse (or zorse) is a kind of horse, formed by a zebra mating with a horse, zhorses are typically grey or pale brown, with slight stripes around their backs and legs, similar to that of a zebra. They also have the charachterisitc short and bristly main of a zebra. Some of these horses have particularly fascinating banding, like Eclyse, a German horse that has patches of pure white, and patches of zebra stripes. Zhorses are not technically a breed of horse because they are sterile: two zhorses can not mate and make a horse, just like two mules cannot foal a mule. Still, their beautiful markings and lively spirit make them a lovely oddity.
4) Bashkir Curly
With a coat of long fur that looks like it’s been permed, Bashkir curly horses are some of the strangest looking horses around. Ranging in size from pony to draft horses, these horses have almond shaped eyes, tough black hooves, and a coat full of small, tight curls. The curly horses also have beautifully curly eyelashes that match the curls on their fur. Each summer, these horses completely shed their mane (and sometimes tale), only to grow them back in the winter. As a result, the mane is softer than is typical for horses, and has been known to cascade on both sides of the horses’ necks in ringlets. Just as these horses shed their manes in the summer, their thick coats become wavy in the summer, only to regrow their thick, tight curls in winter.
5) Kathiawari
These Indian horses come from the Kathiawar peninsula, and were originally bred by members of the royal Mughal Empire in the 14th century. A mixture of Chinese and Arabian horses, the Kathiawari are small (14.7 hands), light eaters with a quiet temperament. These horses can be found in almost every color and pattern but Appaloosa. But what makes these horses truly distinctive is their in-turned ears, which curl out, then curl back in until the tips almost touch. Interestingly enough, the hocks on these horses also turn slightly inward. But these wiry horses are otherwise slender, graceful, and very quick. They are most commonly used today as the preferred horses for the mounted police in the Gujarat division.
