Appaloosa Horse Breed

Appaloosa Horse Facts
 

• Standing on average between 14 and 16 hands high
• Small facial features
• Usually have wispy thin manes and tails 
• Usually have striped hooves
• Can be used for various diciplines
• Well suited for riders of various experiance
   

Getting technical, if the Mustang is the horse of the wild west, then the Appaloosa is the breed of the wild northwest. Appaloosas are attractive, agile and can endure harsh conditions but risked extinction in the 19th century as conflicts between the Native Americans who bred and preserved the coat color breed and new settlers occurred. Today the breed is supported by one of the largest global breed registries and can be seen worldwide thanks in part by interested advocates for the Native American breed.

Appaloosas gained the name in the 1800s as the Palouse's horse, or the Palouse River's horse. Before being bred by the Nez Perce Indians, the spotted coat patter can most likely trace its heritage back to feral Spanish breeds, or Mustangs found throughout Southeastern and Western United States (there is controversy that the spotted horse was brought over across the Bering Straight thousands of years ago but with far less concrete evidence). It was the Nez Perce Native Americans that took interest in the color and furthered the development of the breed by breeding only the strongest spotted mares and stallions. By the mid 1800s, word of a Native American tribe with over 10,000 horses in one herd was out and the Nez Perce's wealthy independence and freedom was at risk. Native American reservations threatened their wealthy lifestyle with small perimeters and restricted access to buffalo hunts in Montana and Wyoming that greatly served the Nez Perce people and their animals. 

Fighting between the Natives and new settlers threatened the breed but loose Appaloosas rounded up in herds for cheap sales in the west spread the interest of the new color pattern. By the early 1900s many new and second generation settlers owned Appaloosas and were interesting in establishing and securing the breed in a registry. In 1938 the Appaloosa Horse Club was created in Moscow, Idaho and the Appaloosa secured its place in American and world history. Once a small club, registering a breed that barely existed, the Appaloosa Club is now international, with over 630,000 registered individuals today.

Somewhat similar to a Quarter Horse or Paint Horse, the Appaloosa is a medium sized horse, standing on average between 14 and 16 hands tall, with medium muscling, small heads, ears and small, expressive eyes. More specific breed characteristics unique to Appaloosas include striped hooves, whispy, thin, manes and tails (although selective breeding is trying to introduce more Jane Fonda-like manes and tails to the breed), white sclera visible around their eyes (think cartoon horses- more white like our eyes is visible around the iris) and parti colored skin. Parti coloured skin means the skin has dots and black coloring, not just the coat hair and is very visible around the horse's eyes, muzzle, underbelly and genitalia.