A Pet's View / April 2008
Spring - A Horse Lover's Dream
Women are well known for their love of horses. Once a young girl has experienced the love of a horse, the bond goes on forever. It is a bond like no other bond you will experience in life with an animal. Horses are beautiful animals. They are graceful, elegant and athletic. There is no other feeling in the world like riding a horse. If you’ve never had the pleasure of riding a horse you don’t know what you’re missing. It is an absolute feeling of freedom. People the world over love horses. Today there are more than 350 breeds of horses and there are approximately 75 million horses in the world.
Columbus, Ohio has one of the largest horse events in the United States. Called the Equine Affair, the event is scheduled in April of each year. People travel from all over the United States to attend this event. Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia are “big” horse states. The horse industry in Kentucky is one of its major businesses. Tennessee is becoming well known for its community developments for horse lovers; complete with stables, acreage, and everything the horse lover wants. These plantation style homes with acreage are for all age groups as the common denominator is the horses. Spring is the start of the horse circuit season and is also when new foals are being born. Horse lovers cannot wait until spring! New foals, training, riding, trail riding adventures, horse shows, sporting events, are the upcoming activities that horse lover’s think about constantly.
In this part of the country there is a vast majority of breeds, but the American Quarter Horse is the most popular. However, one of the most colorful breeds is the Appaloosa. The Appaloosa’s heritage is as colorful and unique as its coat pattern. Usually noticed and recognized because of its spots and splashes of color; although the abilities and beauty of this breed are more than skin deep. Appaloosas has very distinctive characteristics. The four identifiable characteristics are: coat pattern, mottled skin, white sclera, and striped hooves. Mottled skin is a basic and decisive indicator of an Appaloosa. This is a speckled or blotchy pattern of pigmented and nonpigmented skin. The sclera is the area of the eye which encircles the iris - the colored or pigmented portion. The white of the human eye is an example. All horses have sclera but the Appaloosa’s is white and usually more readily visible than other breeds. All horses can show white around the eye if it is rolled back, up or down or if the eyelid is lifted. Readily visible white sclera is a distinctive Appaloosa characteristic. Appaloosas have bold and clearly defined vertically light or dark striped hooves.
One of the most exciting things about an Appaloosa is how it changes color. It is not always easy to predict the color of a grown horse. Most foals are born with lighter colored coats than they will have when they shed their baby hair; with the exception of gray horses, which are born dark and progressively become lighter. Most often, a black horse is born mousy gray. Appaloosas that are born with a solid color may change color over time.
The Nez Perce Indians of Washington, Oregon and Idaho became especially sophisticated horsemen and their mounts, which included many spotted individuals, were prized and envied by other tribes. Historians believe they were the first tribe to breed selectively for specific traits - intelligence and speed - keeping the best, and trading away those that were less desirable. The Nez Perce’ tribes inhabited the Palouse River country of central Idaho and Eastern Washington. When white settlers came to the Northwest Palouse region, they called the spotted horses “Palouse horses” or “a Palouse horse.” Over time the name was shortened and slurred to “Appalousey” and finally “Appaloosa.”
Now an international breed registry, the ApHC - along with the Appaloosa Museum and Heritage Center - is located in Moscow, Idaho. More than half a million Appaloosas are on record, with about 10,000 new horses registered and with 26,000 members annually.
Appaloosas are found in nearly every discipline. Setting speed records on the race track, excelling at advanced levels of dressage, jumping, games, reining, roping, pleasure, endurance and as gentle family horses - any of these roles can be filled by the versatile Appaloosa. Their eagerto-please attitudes and gentle dispositions make them a pleasure to work with in any area.
Did you know that Secretariat’s first foal was an Appaloosa? First Secretary, a 17 hand chestnut with a white blanket, socks and a blaze, was foaled November 15, 1974.
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