Horse Basics Category

Image from Diamondback Mules

American Mammoth is the largest breed of ass and was developed through the need for larger & stronger animals in the US.

How It Happened

Breeding began by the selective crossing of imported European breeds to local Native American & Mexican animals.

Informal breeding of the mammoth began more than 100 years before they became official.

A registry was formed in 1888 to track and register the animals & originally close attention was paid to bloodlines. The intention was to preserve desired traits and produce black animals over 15 hands tall.
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The Altwurttemberg is a recent add to the breeds list. Unfortunately there isn’t much information online about them (in English anyway). Fortunately I had some help & here is what we know.

How It Began

The breed comes from Germany and was started by the Wurttemberg Prince House. Normandy horses were crossed with English Thoroughbreds, Holsteins & Oldenburgs, without an obligatory breeding goal.
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The Abstang is a relatively new breed and one that doesn’t have much published information available. However the mix of Arabian & Mustang blood is an interesting one indeed.

Both bloodlines have incredibly old roots which have been shaped over hundreds of years, one by environment and the other through selective breeding.
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How soon after you rescue are the animals available for adoption?
Adoption of the horses depends on their condition when they come in – not only physically, but mentally as well. There may be training issues but there may be emotional issues that need to be dealt with as well. A horse that comes in healthy physically may need a specific type of person to work with them – both temperment wise, and riding wise.

What types of horses do you have available?
HorseNet Horse Rescue has many horses available for adoption. Some are ridable, and some are companion only. We don’t sell horses, but rather adopt them out to suitable and approved homes.
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*Click on image for a larger view

Recently I delved into the exciting world of public domain and found some great images to modify and make my own. So I wanted to write a quick post to let everyone know that I’ve updated the horse anatomy page with a clearer image & additional parts.
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The blood of the American Miniature Horse comes from England & the Netherlands where they were used as mine horses. Their ancestors were brought to North America in the 19th century for use in the Appalachian coal mines.

The Blood of Many

The original miniature horse bloodlines come mainly from Shetland & Dartmoor ponies. However, once brought to the states, there was an attempt to refine them with Hackney, POA and Thoroughbred genetics.
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Recently I received a comment from Juli over at HorseNet Horse Rescue asking for help determining the color of one of their rescues.

So I told her I’d post pictures of him to see if any of my readers could help her pinpoint Comanchee’s coloring.

Not Easy To Eyeball

I realize that color genetics isn’t always as it appears but thought it was worth a try. Here are a couple images of Comanchee and one more can be found on their website (scroll down and he’s the first one under the Non-Ridable animals header).
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The American Indian Horse is known by many names, including Indian Pony, Cayuse, Buffalo Horse and Cow Pony.

The ancestors of these animals were brought to the US by the Spanish during their colonization of the west. The Spanish were smart horsemen and only brought their strongest mounts on the journey west. Thus the strongest animals of the strongest Spanish strains were the ones that made it across.
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The American Drum Horse is a relatively new breed, however their lineage is part of what makes them so special.

Royal Duties

Drum horses were originally used by the Queen of England as part of her ceremonial band. They had to be sturdy and calm enough to carry a rider with large kettle drums through large crowds of people.
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The American Cream Draft Horse has the honor of being the only draft breed native to the US. The roots of this breed only date back to 1905 and come from the bloodlines of a foundation mare in Iowa named Old Granny.
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