Global Horse Culture

Greek Pacers

This is a brief clip of a Greek pacing horse race....

And this is a guy showing off his pacer for the camera. The breed is called the Arravani.

Turkish Pacers

Everyone loves a horse race. This guy is showing off the speed of his pacing horse in Turkey. It's pretty speedy.

Darn Fast

The Speed Racker is a Standardbred horse with a propensity to rack (ETA: they can be of various breeds, with Standardbred and Tennesee Walker being common.) The rack is a four-beat gait, and thus very comfortable to ride, even at high speeds. Speed Racking is a sport mostly found in the southeast United States. The horses go amazingly fast - 25-30 mph. Turn up the volume (rock music required!) and check out this video:

Not quite roan

This stunning Shire mare is a sabino. Her basic black with four tall socks and blaze is overlayed with a roan that looks like it's been spray-painted on from below. It's not uncommon for Shires and Clydesdales to have some roaning or jagged white spots on their bellies or flanks, but this horse has unusually extensive sabino characteristics.

Whoa!

Check out this link to see a pinto zebra hybrid! That's some cool coloration!

Thanks, Rachel!

Blue Ponies

Blue roan is my favorite horse color. Genetically it is a roan pattern on top of a black base, although horses with a bay base color and roaning are also sometimes called blue roan.

Blue roan is fairly unusual, but seems to be more common in Tennessee Walking Horses, some Quarter Horse lines (Foundation and Hancock breeding especially), some British pony breeds, and some French draft breeds.

This picture is of a Newfoundland Pony mare, a rare Canadian breed derived from a mix of British pony breeds. The Newfoundland Pony Society has lots of pictures and information about these endangered ponies.

Antique Decoration

Modern English-style tack and accessories are often by fashion quite plain, certainly compared to the flashy adornment found in the horse gear of other places. However, antique items in particular sometimes have interesting and unusual adornment. This whip handle is decorated with a clever metal hand, where a plain whip would only have a simple knob or mushroom-shaped end.

Take a look at Sporting Collection, a British site showing this and other unusual antique horse-related items. Some items are for sale, others just for looking at.

Beautiful Saddles

Skyhorse Custom Saddles makes some of the most beautiful Western saddles I've ever seen. Browse their collection to appreciate the  elaborate leatherwork and stunning silverwork by Lisa and Loren Skyhorse that makes these saddles collector's items. Shown here, a custom parade saddle. A look at their website is like visiting a museum.

Another interesting horse color

This horse, named RJ Masterbug, has an interesting color called "frame overo". As you see him from different angles you can see how the colored hair (chestnut in this case) outlines the perimeter of his body, being found mostly along the spine, up the back of the neck, then down the middle of his underbelly. From the side, then the horse is "framed" by color, with the middle of his sides being white.

He's a charming and intelligent horse, and yours truly made this little video of him, which shows off some of his basic tricks.

Ski Joring in Switzerland

In St. Moritz, Switzerland, Ski Joring races are done without a rider! The skier is protected from flying snow by the piece of fabric behind the horse. No jumps or tricks, just a flat-out run around a track.