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 Photo Courtesy of ApHC
A Brief History: In 1806 the famous explorer Meriwether Lewis wrote in his diary about the Nez Perce (Read More...)
A Look at a Versatile Breed and Its Colorful History A Brief History: In 1806 the famous explorer Meriwether Lewis wrote in his diary about the Nez Perce Indian tribe. Despite only being introduced to horses around 1700, the Nez Perce tribe quickly became talented and able horsemen. The tribe introduced a breeding program that eliminated weak stallions and created a large herd known for their strength, intelligence and beauty.
In one entry Lewis wrote, “Their horses appear to be of excellent race; they are lofty, elegantly [sic] formed, active and durable…some of these horses are pided with large spots of white irregularly scattered.” While there are no official numbers, the Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC) believes that an estimated 10 percent of the Nez Perce’s horses were spotted. According to the Appaloosa Museum, the name Appaloosa, which appeared in the late 1800s, was used to refer to Nez Perce’s spotted horses of the Palouse region, an area of Washington and Idaho that had been drained by the Palouse River. Over time, white settlers slurred together the words “A” and “Palouse,” creating Apalousey, which later turned into Appaloosa. The Nez Perce War of 1877 between settlers and the Nez Perce saw the tribe’s horses dispersed and the Appaloosa breed lose its notoriety. In 1937, however, Western Horseman magazine published several articles on the Appaloosa horse, re-kindling interest in the spotted horses. In
1938 the ApHC was founded and in 1947 had 200 registered horses and 100 members. Today, the ApHC is an international breed registry with over 635,000 Appaloosas’ records and 33,000 members.
 Arresting Colors
Probably the most striking characteristic of the Appaloosa breed is its variety of colors and markings. Appaloosas can come in a variety of base colors, including bay, blue and red roan, palomino, grulla and black, and their coat patterns are remarkably diverse, as noted by Julie Kreider, who runs Sawyer Creek Appaloosas. Julie says “The wide range of colors and coat patterns make each Appaloosa as individual as snowflakes.” The ApHC also describes four characteristics of an Appaloosa, two of which must be present for a horse to be registered as an Appy; coat pattern, mottled skin, white sclera, and striped hooves. To be registered, a horse must bear either mottled skin or white sclera as well as one of the two remaining characteristics.
Coat Patterns in Appaloosas are incredibly diverse and a mare can produce offspring of different colors and markings each time she foals. The ApHC provides seven of the most common terms used to describe Appaloosa patterns and they include blanket, which refers to a horse with a solid white area over but not limited to the hip area, and blanket with spots. Other patterns are roan, in which the horse has lighter colored areas around his head, back loin and hips and darker areas on the legs, stifle and the point of hip. Appaloosas can be solid in color as well, but must exhibit mottled skin and one other characteristic to get regular papers.
Mottled skin is “unique to the Appaloosa horse and is a basic and decisive indicator of an Appaloosa.” Mottled skin contains areas of pigmented skin within its areas and should not be confused with the more common pink skin found on other breeds.
White Sclera is the area of the eye that encircles the iris, which is the colored or pigmented portion. “All horses have sclera but the Appaloosa’s is white and usually more readily visible than other breeds,” says the ApHC. Striped Hooves are also a common characteristic in Appaloosas, many of which will have “bold and clearly defined vertically light or dark striped hooves.” Because there are other ways for horses to get hoof stripes, the presence of the stripe does not automatically identify an Appaloosa. Appaloosas, bred to be tough mountain horses, were used to engage in warfare and hunting, and so had to have sense and stability. Today, through crossbreeding, Appaloosas are used in a whole host of disciplines, including dressage, hunt seat, jumping, endurance, reining and roping. Admired for their intelligence (which can sometimes be interpreted as stubbornness) and their trainability, the breed is known to be well-mannered and highly capable.
Virginia Hood, who owns JG Appaloosas, has bred Appaloosas with great success and today produces Appys for hunter/jumper and dressage competitions. Virginia owned Wap’s Spot 2, the founding sire of the Wap dynasty who, as well as being the top producing Appaloosa sport horse sire in the world, was also an ApHC and
USDF Medallion Sire and Multi National World Champion Sire.
Wap’s Spot 2 produced AHSA Reserve Champion Horse of the Year Scandal, who won classes at Devon, and Wap’s Reflection, who was USDF All Breed Champion and ApSHA Dressage Champion. As an example of how trainable Appaloosas are, one of Virginia’s horses was ridden under saddle only three times before she entered him into a pleasure class at a show, which he went on to win. “Appaloosas are especially easy to train under saddle,” Virginia says of her success in the show ring. “You can teach them a lot in ten minutes. They don’t take a lot of riding, they don’t need to be lunged for half an hour before you ride them, you just get on and go.”
Julie Kreider and her husband, John, owners of Sawyer Creek Appaloosas, show their horses in in-hand classes and have owned and bred World and National Champions. Horses from their breeding program are also regularly on the leading the nation list and the pair offers classes to riders in a variety of different disciplines. Julie was converted from Quarter Horses to Appaloosas with unexpected ease. “I immediately fell in love with the uniqueness of the breed,” says Julie. Another factor that drew her to Appaloosas was their ability to do well in multiple disciplines. “The Appaloosa is a genuinely versatile horse; our halter horses can ride and our performance horses can halter.” According to Julie, “Instead of having a horse that is specialized, a good balanced all-around Appaloosa has the ability and stamina to do it all successfully.” John Kreider’s father and brother were two of the early Appaloosa breeders in the 1950s and since then John has seen a shift in the type of Appaloosas that are being bred. “The Appaloosa has changed over time. They were originally bred to be extremely tough and now some have been selectively bred and outcrossed so that they can be a trail, stock or English horse in all different disciplines, and they excel in reining and endurance rides.”
Virginia believes that the cross breeding of Appaloosas, especially with Thoroughbreds, may in fact
have lessened some of the breed’s versatility. “It depends on how they’re bred,” she says, “but some people specialize too much now and will
cross an Appy with a Thoroughbred, but that leads to them losing their Appy sense, getting larger bodies and small feet.” Virginia does believe, however, that the less out-crossed horses still retain the integral Appaloosa character traits of being incredibly smart and having strong feet. “I’ve also found them to be very honest and they will really try for you,” she says. It is not only the mares and geldings that have a reputation for ease of handling. Appaloosa stallions are also known for their even temperament. Judy Oleson, who runs Circle J Ranch in Florida, Massachusetts, said many people she showed alongside were surprised when they found out her horse was a stallion. “People wouldn’t realize because he was so quiet,” she says. Judy took part in competitive trail riding with her Appaloosas and found it was a great way to meet people and to advertise the horses she bred. In fact many Appaloosa breeders use shows and competitions as a way of advertising their stock and showing prospective buyers the horse’s character and disposition.
Appaloosas continue to build a reputation of being good all-round horses that are intelligent, easy to work with and extremely versatile. This is a breed to keep your eye on as they rise in the ranks of dressage and hunter classes as well as endurance and roping competitions.
Thank you to the following people for their help with this article: The Appaloosa Museum; The Appaloosa Horse Club; Virginia Hood, JG Appaloosas; Julie and John Kreider, Sawyer Creek Appaloosas; Judy Oleson, Circle J Ranch. |
