The Anadolu Pony is the most common of the Turkish breeds and can be found throughout Turkey. Their bloodlines are more than 1000 years old, and draw on even older breeds such as the Arabian and Akhal Teke, Kabarda and the ancient Anatolian horse.
This breed is known for their intense strength and their ability to withstand poor conditions with ease.
Image from mx.
Used primarily as transport, for pack animals and as riding horses they possess great endurance and speed making them tireless mounts & an important part of Turkish culture.
Not Much Out There
There isn’t much documented online about this breed and for one so frequently found in it’s native land I know there has to be info out there. If anyone has information about or pictures of the Anadolu Pony, I’d love to hear from you so I can further complete their breed page. As always, I’m glad to provide credit and links to anyone who wants to contribute.
i was in the US Army in Turkey in 1957-1958, and at that time the Turkish Army was not yet extensively motorized. I saw entire battalions of Turkish Army infantry with a hundred or more of these horses to each battalion, used to carry weapons, ammo, food, water, you name it. I saw many carrying a Browning .50 caliber machine gun and tripod mount, a total of about 250 pounds. These animals were incredibly strong and sure-footed. The soldiers carried a little grain for the horses but no hay. They were expected to graze in those barren mountains. (Not the soldiers, dummy, just the horses). They had Arabs in their stables for officers to ride for fun, but they were not used in the field. They also had 75 millimeter pack howitzers broken down between two horses, a combined weight around 500-600 pounds. I wish I could say they were beautiful, but they were just plain ugly, but maybe it was just because they were in the field. (Now you have it, both the soldiers and the horses!)