List of horse breeds
The following list of horse and pony breeds includes standardized breeds, some strains within breeds that are considered distinct populations, types of horses with common characteristics that are not necessarily standardized breeds but are sometimes described as such, and terms that describe groupings of several breeds with similar characteristics.
While there is no single definition of the term "breed", it can be defined as a population sharing common ancestry, which has been subjected to similar selection objectives, and which conforms to certain established "breed standards". Its members may be called purebred. In most cases, bloodlines of horse breeds are recorded with a breed registry. The concept is somewhat flexible in horses, as open stud books are created for recording pedigrees of horse breeds that are not yet fully true-breeding.
Registries are considered the authority as to whether a given breed is listed as a "horse" or a "pony". There are also a number of "color breed", sport horse, and gaited horse registries for horses with various phenotypes or other traits, which admit any animal fitting a given set of physical characteristics, even if there the trait is not a true-breeding characteristic. Other recording entities or specialty organizations may recognize horses from multiple breeds, or are recording designer crossbreds. Such animals may be classified here as a breed, a crossbreed, or a "type", depending on the stage of breed recognition.
Horse breeds
In some cultures and for some competition-sanctioning organizations, a horse that normally matures less than about 145 cm or when fully grown may be classified as a "pony". However, unless the principal breed registry or breed standard describes the breed as a pony, it is listed in this section, even if some or all representatives are small or have some pony characteristics. Ponies are listed in the section below.A–C
D–K
L–R
S–Z
Pony breeds
If a breed is described as a "pony" by the breed standard or principal breed registry, it is listed in this section, even if some individuals have horse characteristics. All other breeds are listed in the section above.A–K
L–Z
Color "breeds"
There are some registries that accept horses of almost any breed or type for registration. Color is either the only criterion for registration or the primary criterion. These are called "color breeds", because unlike "true" horse breeds, there are few other physical requirements, nor is the stud book limited in any fashion. As a general rule, the color also does not always breed on, and offspring without the stated color are usually not eligible for recording with the color breed registry. There are breeds that have color that usually breeds "true" as well as distinctive physical characteristics and a limited stud book. These horses are true breeds that have a preferred color, not color breeds, and include the Friesian horse, the Cleveland Bay, the Appaloosa, and the American Paint Horse.The best-known "color breed" registries that accept horses from many different breeds are for the following colors:
- Buckskin: a color which cannot breed "true" due to the cream gene which creates it being an incomplete dominant
- Palomino: a color which cannot breed "true" due to the cream gene which creates it being an incomplete dominant
- Pinto: there exists a registry for Pinto-colored horses of varying breeds, distinct from the American Paint Horse registry, though some qualifying horses may be registered in both.
- White: some of these animals are registered in the United States with the American creme and white horse registry, which was once called an "Albino" registry until it was understood that true albino does not exist in horses.
Crossbred registration
This list does not include organizations that record horses strictly for competition purposes.