Horse Trivia

Middle Horse breeds are in between Light horse breeds and Draft horse breeds.
There are various type of breeds specialised for riding, dressage or Carriage horse. Nowadays, they are mainly developed and trained for dressage, show jumping or western horse riding.

They are usually quieter and more obedient than the Light horse breeds, and also physically stronger.

Although they inferior their speed comparing to the Light Horse breeds, they are very popular as riding horses due to their temperament and gentle character.

Here are some examples of typical Middle Horse breeds.

The Quarter Horse, formally called the American Quarter Horse, is an original breed of American Virginia.

The Quarter Horse is known as the most popular breed, more than 400 million Quarter Horse are registered across the world.

The Origin of the Quarter Horse traced back to the pioneer period, the Andalusian was crossbreed with the Thoroughbred, Arabian or Mustang that were brought from Europe.

Average height of the Quarter Horse is between 143cm to 160cm and the weight is around 400kg, which are smaller than the Thoroughbred, yet they have a bolder and muscular body with gentle personality.
Also they are able to withstand the lean diet.

The Quarter Horse was named from the fact that it is possible to run fast the quarter mile (quarter of 1600m=400m).

Excellent dash force of short-range - they can even manage the sudden acceleration or sudden stop. If it is under 400m, they can run as fast as thoroughbred.

Top speed becomes 75km/h, the record is 88.5km/h.

In the United States it is used as a racehorse for the quarter race, but not being used in Japan.

However, Ohi Racecourse and other local racecourses keep the Quarter horse as an induction horse to prepare in the event of escaping horses due to their mobility and gentle character.

The Quarter Horse has been used in various applications, it is said that Quarter Horse can do anything a horse was expected to do.

Traditionally it has been used for farming, cattle drives, transportation, workhorse, battle horse and received a reputation as a horse for cowboy rides.

The American Quarter Horse is famous for Western style horse riding but also well known for its performance in rodeos, trekking, dressage and jumping competition.

The Selle francais is from France, originated from French native horse.

Based on Anglo-Norman, also was crossbred with the Thoroughbred and the Norfolk Trotter.

Although the size and characters vary depending on individual horses because it is a relatively newly established breed, all of them are exceptionally good, as it must have a excellent physical ability in ordered to be registered as a Selle francais.
They are particularly good at show jumping.

It can range from 152cm to 163cm, with the long neck, deep chest and the muscular body.

It is usually bay or chestnut in color.

The nature of the Selle francais is gentle and obedient, it is also excellent in durability.

They are most commonly seen in eventing, dressage and show jumping.
In France, some Selle francais which was crossbreed with the Thoroughbred and the Anglo-Arabian are also seen in steeplechase.

It is a very athletic horse, it has won numerous medals in the Olympic games. Some excellent of this breed traded with billion dollars.

Standardbred Developed in North America in 19th century.
Similar to the Quarter Horse, the Thoroughbred from Europe was crossbred with the Arabian or the Mustang to produce the Standardbred breed.

It is produced over 5 million all over the world, mainly in the Unites States but also in Europe and Oceanian countries.

It usually stands 160cm with the weight of 450kg.

It tends to be more muscled, longer bodied and short-legged than the Thoroughbred. This means it has better endurance thanks to its cardiopulmonary function.

It is easier to handle it than the Thoroughbred thanks to its temperament.

The coat colors could be bay, brown, chestnut or other.

It is best-known for its ability in trot racing, which was the main aim for the development of the Standardbred breed.

It is now used for a riding and a horse racing.

However, it is mainly used for harness racing as it cannot compete the Thoroughbred with its speed.

In Japan. it is not so popular as the harness racing is not so common, yet it is still popular in France or Italy where people like the harness racing.

The origin of their name came from the traditional method of measuring its speed – it had to reach the standard speed which was 2.30mins/mile.

It is also called the American Trotter.

The origin of Hackney traced back to England, the breed was based on the Norfolk Trotter.

It stands from 140cm to 153cm and may be in any solid coat colour such as bay, dark bay, chestnut or black.
The Hackney has small ears and expressive eyes with powerful hindquarters and the tail is carried high naturally.

In the United States, there is a tradition to cut the dock hair to set it high.

Thanks to its strong hind feet and good stamina, it is capable of trotting at high speed for long periods of time.

As well its use for military purposes, it has been used as a tool for transportation until the car took over their role.

It has continued to working as a horse-drawn carriage for the competition.

Hackney is the first-class workhorse, famous for its unique Hackney gait.

Hackney gait, exaggerate its elbow and knee high, is an artistic and beautiful gait.
It is the most important criteria when the horse performing the review in competitions.

It has intentionally extended hooves in order to highlight this gait.

Hackney gait is also an important artistic criteria used at the other animal shows such as a dog show.

Although there is really a few Hackney in Japan, it is still improved abroad to develop its beauty further rather than its power.

It is rather produced for competitions than for its daily use.

There is a small pony called Hackney pony which was crossbreed the Hackney with the Welsh pony or the Fell pony.

The Appaloosa is the North American native horse with its distinctive spots across the body.

The origin of Appaloosa could trace back to 18th century, an American native tribe called Nez Perce crossbred the Mustang and the Thoroughbred.

Many Appaloosa horses were killed at the war of Nez Perce, the number of the Appaloosa went really low for a few decades. Now over 65,000 horses are registered.

The name Appaloosa came from the river Plateau where the Nez Perce tribe used to live around.

Height of Appaloosa ranges from 142cm to 163cm, it is a breed has a physical strength and very endurance.

In addition, it is also an easy breed to handle in order to withstand food resistant and disease.

These characters were result of Nez Perce's endless effort.

Appaloosa is one of the most popular breeds alongside with the Thoroughbred and the Quarter Horse and it had a great influence on other breeds.

The most distinctive feature of the Appaloosa is its spotty coat.

There also are distinctive spotty pattern called 'leopard', 'blanket', 'snowflake', 'frost' and 'marble', depending on the coat.

The coat colors are usually obvious since newborn for other breeds, but it seems difficult to determine the hair color of the baby Appaloosa.

It can be used for riding purposes such as dressage, show jumping , cross-country and endurance, as well as for shows such as a workhorse and at the circus.

The Appaloosa is also appeared in the number of the Western movies.

It can be used in such a variety of applications, because of its obedience and intelligence.

The Hanoverian horse is originating in Saxony, Germany in1600s.

Then influenced by the Thoroughbred and the Trakehner bloodline.

Height of Hanoverian ranges from 153cm to 170cm.
All of its neck, chest , shoulder and waist are robust, it has a good temperament also obedient.

Commonly in bay, chestnut, black and gray.

The Hanoverian was originally used for the horse-drawn carriage. From the 1700s to the 1930s, it was produced at the royal farm and served at the ceremony carriage of the royal family.

By introducing the Thoroughbred bloodline to a breed which had a power to pull the horse-drawn carriage, it successfully obtained dexterity as well as power.

The Hanoverian is well known for its good temperament, athleticism, beauty, and grace.
It is particularly popular in Germany as a riding horse.
It receives good reputation worldwide as a competition horse for dressage and show jumping.
It won numerous gold medals in the Olympic competitions.

Approximately 80 % of horsemanship in the world are said to the Hanover breed.
Due to its robustness, it is a very good breed for horsemanship.

The Westfalen is a native horse of Westfalen area in Germany, also called Westphalian.

The Westfalen is a breed which was certificated by the Westfalen State Farm.

It is particularly famous for its performance in dressage and show jumping, you can see the Westfalen breed at the international competitions such as Olympic games.
Following the Hanoverian, it has the large breeding population as a riding horse in Germany.

In recent years, its stallions were imported and produced in Japan too.

Heights are vary between 154cm to 174cm, weights are about 450kg to 580kg. Its elastic gaits attract many horse lovers.

It is rare to find different the coat colors other than bay, chestnut, gray and black.

The first stallions of its kind were similar to the Trakehner of the time, imported from the East Prussia.

It also inherited the Thoroughbred bloodline means it has an excellent agility.
Therefore, it was perfect for the horses for the German sabres.

It is very good at dressage and show jumping. As well as the Hanoverian, the Westfalen is popular as a riding horse in Japan too.