This short video shows two Sorraia horses in a carriage driving event in Portugal. The Sorraia is an ancient breed thought to have been influential in the development of the Lusitano horse. The Portuguese breed association page is here. You can find English information here.
If you like ancient mosaics, I've just discovered a wonderful blog called the Mosaic Art Source Blog! The post on horses in mosaics is not to be missed! They have collected a wonderful set of photos of both modern and ancient mosaics from a variety of sources, all featuring horses.
davesag on flickr posted this excellent snapshot. His caption says these Greek donkeys are carrying the computers to a conference. There are a couple other photos of the same scene in his photostream. Just too cute!
The traditional Turkish sport called jereed or cirit is played by teams who hurl (blunted) javelins at members of the opposing team. This video has a nice collage of still photos, and the one after it shows some footage of game in action:
Here's a cool website with a very complete listing of Italian horse breeds. The breeds are listed in the menu on the left side. Clicking each will give you a description (in Italian, of course) [update: a reader points out this listing is now available in english at this link] and photos (usually towards the bottom of the page). There is quite a diversity, from mountain ponies to saddle horses and draft horses. Many of the saddle horses derive from combinations of Iberian, Arabian and Thoroughbred blood. Worth a browse, even if you don't speak Italian.
The Coudelaria de Alter (Alter Stud Farm) in Portugal is a grand and historic horse breeding and training facility where the rare Alter Real breed originated and is still preserved today. The facilities are sprawling and elaborate, including broodmare and breeding facilities and laboratories; multiple arenas, both indoor and outdoor; areas for cross country riding; even a mounted falconry facility (scroll down to see photos on that page).
The Alter Real is related to the Lusitano, but of a more specific bloodline, having been bred for the Portuguese School of Equestrian Arts (equivalent of the Spanish Riding School). The horses are typically bay in color, consistently larger than the Lusitano, and selected for their abilities in classical dressage. The breed has been nearly lost at times, due to war, and there were past attempts to rescue it by introducing Arabian, Hanoverian, Andalusian and other breeds. You can read a brief overview of the history in English here.
There are some nice photos of a demonstration by the Portuguese School of Equestrian Arts here.
This short video shows the huge herd of broodmares strolling through the stud farm on their way to their pasture. It's a beautiful moment, shot by a visitor (the farm is a popular tourist destination for horse lovers).
The Retuerta horse is a breed that runs wild in Andalucia, in southern Spain. According to this fascinating article the Retuerta horse "is said to be the oldest surviving breed of horse in Europe, if not
the world – and the most unique, having no genes whatsoever in common
with any other known race on the planet." It continues:
Studies into the Retuertas have been ongoing since the 1980s. The
DNA of this endangered species of horse has been closely examined along
with that of another ten breeds from Europe and North Africa, and was
found to have nothing whatsoever in common with any of them. Neither
the English thoroughbred nor the Pura Raza Española; neither Arabs nor
British mountain and moorland ponies, and were found to be no relation
whatsoever to native Spanish breeds such as the Losino, Mallorquín,
Menorquín, Asturcón, the Spanish Trotter nor the Basque ‘pottoka’ breed.
This horse has a bright colored browband with a decorative ornament - it appears to be decorated with a cross of cowrie shells, though I can't be sure. A nifty decoration. The bridle is otherwise very plain.
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