1# Camarillo White Horse
Height: 14-17 hands
Weight: 900-1,250 lbs
About: Just over a hundred years old, this is a breed of horse that is known for being completely white; pink skin, white hair, dark eyes. Lending to the dominant white allele W4, this breed does not carry the genes for Lethal White Foal syndrome and all horses in the breed are white.
The breed was started by Adolfo Camarillo, the last of the Californios, in 1921 when he bought a pure white stallion named Sultun at the California State Fair. Called “the stallion of a dream”, the Spanish mustang became the founding sire of the Camarillo White Horse. Bred with Morgan mares, the Camarillos made a family business breeding white horses until 1987, with the death of Adolfo’s daughter Carmen. The remaining stock were auctioned off, scattering the breed until 1992 when the breed association was founded.
Camarillos are well built, with strong feet and expressive faces. They are known for their appearance in parades, such as the Tournament of Roses parade, the Santa Barbara Fiesta parade, and the opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Ronald Reagan, 1946 Nobel Peace Prize winner John Mott, actor Leo Carrilo, and Steven Ford (son of Gerald Ford) have all ridden Camarillo White Horses.
To Learn More: camarillowhitehorses.org
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2# Yakutian
Height: 12-14 hands
Weight: 700-1,000 lbs
About: Originating in Siberia, Yakutians are known for being able to sustain themselves in extremely low temperatures. They even have antifreeze compounds in their blood, like fish in Antartica! This combined with their thick coats (up to 3 inches) and lowered metabolism creates a horse that for eight hundred years has lived in unstabled herds that survive in the 100 Fahrenheit temperatures of summer and the -97 Fahrenheit temperatures of Siberia’s eight month winter. This is not a horse without design!
Yakutians are similar in build to Prezwalski’s Horse and Mongolian horses, and are used for milk and meat.
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3# Akhal-Teke
Height: 14.3-16 hands
Weight: 750-1,200 lbs
About: From the deserts of Turkmenistan comes a horse full of history. One of the oldest horse breeds in the world and descending from the Turkoman, Akhal-Tekes are called the “Golden Horses” for their hollow hair shafts that keep the horse cooler in the desert and give the coat a golden sheen. Interestingly, most Middle Eastern Horse Breeds (the Arab, the Barb, the Turkoman, and the Akhal-Teke) seem to descend from the same original horse breed that is yet unknown. Of course, Creationists might just have the answer in Noah’s ark and the single stallion and mare on it, which landed in an area where many of these horse breeds come from.
Once used for raids in the tribes, Akhal-Tekes are the ultimate desert horse. Today they are used for endurance, show jumping, and flat racing. They come in many colors, but are most noted for the golden sooty bay or buckskin.
To Learn More: https://akhal-teke.org
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4# Prezwalski/Taki
Height: 12-14 hands
Weight: 550-800 lbs
About: The last truly wild horse on earth, Prezwalski’s (pur-shev-vaul-ski) Horse is a different subspecies than domesticated horses. Equus przewalskii was once extinct in the wild, but thanks to careful breeding programs, they have slowly been reintroduced into the wild over the years. Prezwalski’s live on the Central Asia steppe, and are called “the last wild horse” because unlike the brumbies of Australia or the mustangs of America, they do not come from captive stock. However they have been tamed in the past.
What is very interesting about these horses is how many features they have in common with donkeys and mules. Like a mule, they have 33 chromosomes, but they are able to reproduce. They have longer tail hair than donkeys, but their mane is always short and never grows longer than a mohawk. Intriguingly, stallions do not go out looking for their own herds until age five, and unlike brumbies and mustangs, have many natural predators. They are always dun with pangare markings, and have extremely thick hooves for running the Asian steppe.
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5# Falabella
Height: 26-30 inches
Weight: 150-200 lbs
About: From the mountains of Argentina comes one of the smallest horse breeds in the world. Named after one of their founders, Juan Falabella, these tiny horses descend from Spanish stock and Shetland ponies. They can be any color, but bay and black are the most common.
They are similar to their larger cousins in all but size. However, dwarfism mutations from inbreeding can appear, resulting in heavily or mildly crippled foals.
To Learn More: https://falabellafmha.com/
Fascinating! I’d only ever heard of Falabella’s and Akhal-Teke’s before. All the others were new to me!