Did you know there are over three hundred and fifty breeds of horses? The Appaloosa is one of those breeds. It has a very interesting history and it also had many uses. In this paper you will find out what the horse is, the history of the horse, what it is famous for, and some interesting facts about this wonderful horse! What is an appaloosa? An Appaloosa is a breed of horse.
According to Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, a horse is any of several varieties of large, strong animals (Equus caballus) with four legs, solid hoofs, and a flowing mane and tail, long ago domesticated for drawing or carrying loads, carrying riders, etc. Encyclopedia. com states, this horse can be somewhere around fourteen hands high{hh}, and can weigh about 1100 pounds. The unit of measurement, hands, is used to tell how tall a horse is.
The unit is equal to four inches. The height of a horse is measured from level ground to the highest non-variable, skeletal structure of the horse, the withers (http://www. mafra. gov. on. ca). The history of this particular horse is unique. It starts with cave drawings in what is now France, dating back to 20,000 years ago. There were spotted appaloosas. These horses were originally bred by the Nez Perce indians of Idaho, Northeast Oregon, and Southwest Washington. Ultimatehorsesite. com states this horse breed changed the Nez Perce forever. It helped them hunt buffalo easily. This tribe of indians excellent horsemen as well as the only native americans known to selectively breed their horses.
The horses name, Appaloosa, came from the Palouse River. Horses were abundant there. The river flows through Eastern Washington and North Idaho. The horses were first referred to as A Palouse Horse. Soon, it was shortened to Appalousey. The name Appaloosa was made official in 1938. During the late 1800’s, early 1900’s people became more interested in this breed. Consequently, on March 25, 1975, The Appaloosa was made Idaho’s state horse. Oregonencyclopedia. org states, the first reports of horses in Oregon are in the journals of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.
The Appaloosa is bred to be strong, fast, sure-footed, intelligent, and having a short mane and tail is bred into the horse so that it is not easily caught. There are many uses of the horse. It use to be use for hunting, showing and riding. Nowadays it is used for a wide variety of sports, rodeos, trail riding, jumping, showing, and endurance riding. This horse is has a unique appearance. There are many coat patterns. A coat pattern is a distinctive marking. First is Leopard. This pattern has large dark spots covering a white body. Next is Snowflake; Dark body with spots or speckles.
Next is Marble; A light coat covered with dark speckles. Then comes Frost, which is a dark coat covered with light speckles. Blanket is next. This pattern has white on the hips or loins. Darker spots may or may not appear on the white blanket. Some Appaloosas are a solid color meaning they have no coat pattern. This horse can change color as it ages. For example, if the horse has a snowflake coat pattern, as it ages the colors can fade into the same color. Mottled skin on the face and other parts of the body are an important appaloosa trait. Also they have a vertical striping pattern on their hooves.
A visible white sclera gives their eyes a more human like quality. Also there are four types of or horses. Each breed is classified into these groups. Starting with Light. These horses are small boned. They have thin legs and weigh less than 1300 pounds. Examples of this type are Saddlebred, Morgan, and the Appaloosa. Next is Heavy. These horses are large. They can weigh up to 2000 pounds. They have very sturdy legs. Examples of this would be the Missouri Foxtrotter, and the Tennessee walking horse. The next group is the Ponies. They are not usually larger than 58 inches tall.
Examples of a pony would be a Welsh pony, or a Hackney. The last type is a Feral. This is a wild or semi-wild horse. In this paper you learned what the Appaloosa horse was, what the name means, the history of this unique horse, some interesting things like coat patterns, and the classification. Heck, you even learned what the exact definition of a horse was. Now you know what the fantastic Appaloosa horse is. There are over three hundred and fifty breeds of horses and you are now somewhat educated about the Appaloosa. If you were asked about this specific horse breed could you tell a person about it after reading this paper?
