Ways to use this list
- Horse race party: press Ponies or American breeds, switch to the horse race with the game buttons, and let each guest cheer for one breed to the finish line.
- Geography link: spin a breed and find its home country on a map. The Akhal-Teke of Turkmenistan is famous for a coat that shines like metal.
- Drawing for horse-mad children: spin, look up the breed's usual colours and markings, then draw it. Friesians are almost always glossy black.
- Story writing: give your hero's horse a breed that fits the tale, such as a Shire for a farm story or a Mustang for a ride across the open plains.
- Riding club quiz: spin, and teams score a point each for saying horse or pony, heavy or light, and the breed's country of origin.
Press Spin the wheel, tap the game or press the Space bar. Change the list in the box as you
like: add your own, delete what doesn't suit you, or write *2 after an entry to give it double the
chance. The game buttons switch the same list to a duck race, hat, claw machine and more.
The full list (40 entries)
- Arabian – Arabian Peninsula
- Thoroughbred – England
- American Quarter Horse – United States
- Appaloosa – United States
- Mustang – United States
- Morgan – United States
- Tennessee Walking Horse – United States
- American Paint Horse – United States
- Standardbred – United States
- Missouri Fox Trotter – United States
- Clydesdale – Scotland
- Shire – England
- Suffolk Punch – England
- Percheron – France
- Belgian Draught – Belgium
- Friesian – Netherlands
- Dutch Warmblood – Netherlands
- Hanoverian – Germany
- Andalusian – Spain
- Lusitano – Portugal
- Camargue horse – France
- Knabstrupper – Denmark
- Norwegian Fjord – Norway
- Icelandic horse – Iceland
- Haflinger – Austria and Italy
- Akhal-Teke – Turkmenistan
- Marwari – India
- Kathiawari – India
- Mongolian horse – Mongolia
- Peruvian Paso – Peru
- Falabella – Argentina
- Brumby – Australia
- Irish Draught – Ireland
- Connemara pony – Ireland
- Welsh pony – Wales
- Shetland pony – Scotland
- Highland pony – Scotland
- Exmoor pony – England
- Dartmoor pony – England
- New Forest pony – England
Questions people ask
Is a palomino a horse breed?
No, palomino is a coat colour: a golden body with a white or cream mane and tail. It turns up in many breeds, such as Quarter Horses and Morgans. Pinto, meaning patches of white, is a colour pattern rather than a breed too.
What is the difference between a horse and a pony?
Mostly height. A pony usually stands under 14.2 hands (147 cm) at the withers, the top of the shoulders, and a hand is 4 inches. A few breeds keep their name anyway: the Icelandic horse is pony-sized but always called a horse.
Which horse breed is the biggest, and which is the smallest?
The Shire is one of the tallest and heaviest breeds, and some stand well over 17 hands. The Belgian and Percheron are huge too. The Falabella from Argentina is the smallest, often hardly taller than a big dog.
Which is the fastest horse breed?
Over a mile or more, the Thoroughbred, the breed bred for racing. Over a short sprint the American Quarter Horse wins: it is named after the quarter-mile races it was first used for.