Brady’s Blog February ’14 Rare Horse Breeds

There are many horse breeds that people do not know much about, partially thanks to their rarity, like the Caspian, Hackney and the often mispronounced Akhal-Teke, (Akhal-Teke is pronounced a.hal’tеk.je). All these breeds have are down to numbers less than five thousand. The Caspian comes from Iran. The Hackney comes from Great Britain. The Akhal-Teke comes from Turkmenistan. So they come from a variety of locations.

The Caspian horse was bred first in 3000BCE. This predates all other known horse breeds. It was bred for all purposes, from royal carriages to war. It disappeared though when the Persian Empire collapsed for one-thousand-three-hundred-twenty-one years until 1965 when a lady by the name of Louise Firouz rediscovered them. She was living with her Iranian husband at the time and noticed it first in a field wandering. She decided to try and catch more of them for study and found them to be a previously thought to be extinct species. Caspian horses are typically; 11.2 hands, every color except pinto.

Caspian Horse

Hackney horses were first bred in Norfolk, England in 1760. They were bred to be long distance carriage racers. They would commonly race over one hundred miles. They were similar to the trotters in the sense that they were very fast over long distance. The breed started dying out when automobiles took over the racing. They are typcally the size of the average thoroughbred.i

Hackney Horse

The Akhal-Teke was bred in 200BCE in Turkmenistan. They were bred as royal horses. They are often known for their golden coat of hair. They are quite intelligent, responding well to training. They are typically tall, reaching up to 16 hands and weighing up to 1100 pounds. They have a short mane and forelock.

Akhal-Teke

These breeds come from a variety of different areas but they all share the genus equus.

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