Spotted Breeds

This page contains information on spotted breeds and characteristics.

Spotted Breed Information

Spotted horses and ponies have been known to exist since prehistoric times - they appear in cave paintings in France dating back around 20,000 years and have also featured in Egyptian pictures dating from 1400BC.

The Persians has a spotted strain of horse which they claimed traced back to Rakush, the spotted war horse of the hero Rustom, who lived around 1400BC. The Chinese obtained spotted horses from the Persians which were so highly prized that during the T'ang Dynasty (618-907 AD) they were called Heavenly Horses

in Europe Spain became famous for the breeding of the finest horses and many, including spotted horses, were exported throughout Europe and Scandanavia where over the centuries they frequently appeared in paintings as mounts for the Nobility.

During the 17th and 18th Centuries when Classical Riding was very fashionable, many spotted horses of an Andalusian type appeared in pictures and prints depicting the various airs of haute école movements.

The Spanish conquistadors took horses to the Americas in the late 16th century and must have included some spotted horses in their expeditions. The horse spread northwards from Mexico and the Nez Perce tribe who came from the Northeast Oregon/Southeast Washington area, known as the Palouse country, specialised in breeding the spotted horse which later became known as the Appaloosa. The Appaloosa was famed for its speed and endurance coupled with intelligence and a calm temperament.

Latterly the Appaloosa was crossed with ponies to produce the Pony of the Americas.

Whilst there were many spotted horses and ponies throughout Europe, they were not developed as specific breeds apart from in Denmark, where the Knabstrupper can be traced back to one mare, Flaebe, who was purchased in 1812 from a Spanish Cavalry officer during the Napoleonic wars.

There are many European strains of spotted horses and ponies, including the Swedish Gotland Pony and, until the last century, a strain of spotted Welsh Pony ran on the Welsh hills.