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The Appaloosa Horse

Historians are not exactly sure of the origin of the Appaloosa, some believe the Spaniards brought them on their quest for god, glory, and gold, and others believe that the Russian fur-traders brought them. Both are plausible.

The early Appaloosas were short, sturdy, sure-footed, and fast. The Nez Percé tribe had strict selection policies to encourage traits that can be found in the modern Appaloosa. These traits include temperament, endurance, intelligence, along with a distinctive look.

When the breed was brought to the Americas the Nez Percé fell in love with the breed for its many characteristics. This horse became associated with the Nez Percé, which later caused problems for the breed.

The word Appaloosa originated from the name Palouse River, which runs through the original Nez Percé country, evolved a few times until the name Appaloosa was officially adopted by the Appaloosa Horse Club.

Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition wrote of the horses of the Nez Percé in a February 15, 1806 journal entry. "Their horses appear to be of an excellent race: they are lofty, elegantly formed, active and durable: in short many of them look like fine English horses and would make a figure in any country".

When the cavalry captured Chief Joseph and the remaining Nez Percé on October 5th 1877, they immediately took all of the horses and sold all they could, and exterminated the rest. The Nez Percé tribe once again began a breeding program in 1995 to develop the Nez Percé Horse. Their program is based on crossbreeding the Appaloosa and a Central Asian breed called Akhal-Teke. This is a program the Nez Percé hope will resurrect their horse culture, a proud tradition of selective breeding and horsemanship that was destroyed by a 19th century war. The breeding program was financed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Nez Percé tribe and a nonprofit group called the First Nations Development Institute, which promotes such businesses.

In 1877 the Appaloosa breed was nearly extinct, but by 1937 the Appaloosa had caught the eye of the public and in 1938 the Appaloosa Horse Club, based in Moscow, Idaho was founded. Idaho adopted the Appaloosa as its official state horse in 1975. Today the breed is one of America's most prized breeds and there are over a million registered horses. More information on the history of the Appaloosa can be found at the Appaloosa Museum.

Physical Characteristics:

Because the coloring of the Appaloosa is its primary qualification, there are several body styles found in the breed. There are stock-types, sporthorses, pleasure horses, race horses and some that are very nearly ponies. Because of this wide variety, Appaloosas can happily be used for just about anything.

The physical conformation of the stock-type Appaloosa is generally similar to that seen in the American Quarter Horse, partly because the Quarter Horse was used to "improve" the conformation of the Appaloosa when the breed was being established. Both breeds are powerfully muscled with broad bodies and thick bones. Their build is meant more for short bursts of speed and rapid stops and starts. They are therefore ideally suited to western sports: working cattle, reining, rodeo and playday sports such as barrel racing (Camas Prairie Stump Race) and pole bending (Nez Percé Stake Race) and short-length racing (generally one quarter-mile.)

The stock-type Appaloosa is not the only body type found in the breed. There are some Appaloosas that display more of a sport-horse conformation. They have longer legs, cleaner joints and more grace than sheer power. These horses have been bred to be used in English sports, in particular dressage and English showing.

Most Appaloosas are recognized by their colorful spotted coat patterns, striped hooves, mottles skin (most visible around their eyes and on their muzzle) and white sclera (on most horses this will be black). However, some do not display the typical traits and may appear to be "solid" (sans spots, visible coat pattern or other characteristics generally associated with the breed.) While the original, "old time" Appaloosas also had a sparse mane and tail among its characteristics, today's "modern" Appaloosas generally have thick, full manes and tails. Appaloosa characteristics

The markings of an Appaloosa are distinct from the dapples seen in grays and some other horse colors. The base color of the horse can be any color, including bay, black, chestnut, palomino, buckskin, dun, grulla, and grey.

• Patterns
  • Blanket - white over the hip that may extend from the tail to the base of the neck. The spots inside the blanket (if present) are the same color as the horse's base coat.
  • Leopard - dark spots of varying sizes over a white body.
  • Few Spot Leopard - only a very sparse pattern or dark spots over a white body. Some may have as few as only one or two spots.
  • Snowflake - white spots on a dark body. Typically the white spots increase in number and size as the horse ages.
  • Varnish - dark points (legs and head) and some spots or roaning over a light body. May occur in conjunction with another spotting style and change with age.
  • Frost - similar to varnish but the white hairs are limited to the back, loins, and neck. May occur in conjunction with another spotting style and change with age.

Registration

The Appaloosa registries are fairly recent, and the breed was established from unregistered horses with certain color patterns. In addition to the spotting patterns above, certain other characteristics were used to determine whether a horse could be registered:

• Mottling skin, which is apparent around the lips, eye lids, and genitalia
• White sclera (a white ring around the eyes)
• Striped hooves

At the present time, a horse without the color pattern on his coat can be registered with the Appaloosa Horse Club. The registry is based upon the pedigree of the horse reflecting a recognized Appaloosa bloodline. The horse must be the offspring of two registered Appaloosa parents or an Appaloosa and a horse from an approved breed registry. Appaloosas are commonly crossbred with Arabian horses, Quarter Horses, and Thoroughbreds, and these offspring are eligible for registration. When registering a solid-colored horse, it must be blood typed and there must be a DNA link established to both parents. The owner of the horse then must pay to have the horse inspected. The registration papers then indicate that the horse is not colored, but is registered through the Certificate Pedigree Option CPO. CPO horses can be shown in ApHC approved events; however, CPO horses do have breeding restrictions. A CPO registered horse can be upgraded to regular registration at any time if the horse begins to show a color pattern.

Though there is much debate about CPO, the preface of the ApHC rule book states that the Appaloosa is "a breed defined by ApHC bloodline requirements and preferred characteristics, including coat pattern." In other words, the Appaloosa is a distinct breed that also has a color preference. It is not strictly a "color breed" as many people believe.

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                                                         MORE INFORMATION

HORSE OF THE NEZ PERCE'

 

 

There are two stories about how the Appaloosa first came to live with the Nez Perce'. One tells of horses, descendants of the mustangs brought to the New World by the Spaniards, who arrived from the south. Among the horses traded to them by other tribes, these spotted creatures caught the eye of the Nez Perce' people and soon became the tribe's horse of choice. While this theory is the one most often cited by historians, there is another account, one handed down through the oral tradition of the tribes. It is a story of three stallions who came from the sea to the land.  A ship from a faraway land we now know as Russia came to the shores of the Pacific Northwest.  The stallions were sent from the ship to swim to the Nez Perce' traders, who received these amazing creatures with awe.  These stallions had powerful medicine. When they were bred to the tribe's mares, this medicine was passed down to their young. Known as the Ghost Wind Stallions, these three horses are believed by some to be ancestors of the Appaloosa.

 

The story of the Nez Perce's flight from the U.S. cavalry has been told many times in history books. The tribe had lived for centuries in the Palouse Region of the Pacific Northwest. In 1877, the Nez Perce' entered a war with the U.S. government, and the entire tribe with all of its horses embarked on a journey that would take them 1,300 miles in three months toward the country of Canada, where they hoped to find refuge. Only a few miles before they reached the border of Canada, the tribe was besieged and outnumbered by the U.S. cavalry. Chief Joseph, their great leader, surrendered. There was sadness in his heart; sadness for the land he would never see again, sadness for the horses. Chief Joseph and his captured people were taken far away from their homeland, and the horses, those who had not escaped into the hills, were deliberately destroyed by army gunfire. Although the Nez Perce' were captured and taken to a reservation, their horses lost in the mountains or killed by soldiers, a few Appaloosas remained. Scattered around the West and recognizable by their unmistakable color and conformation, these horses still had advocates. Some whites continued to breed them quietly, seeking to preserve the same traits the Nez Perce' had so painstakingly developed. Just before the second World War began, a small group of these people came together to form the Appaloosa Horse Club, and they became the official caretakers of the breed.

 

As much as the Nez Perce' loved their spotted companions, the tribe's enemies feared them more. Wild and ferocious in battle, it was said the Nez Perce' horse was trained to charge an enemy and knock him from his mount. The horse would then attack the man, striking him with its hooves and tearing at him with its teeth. But this same animal, said to be vicious on the battlefield, would be cared for later that night by a young child whose job it was to tend to the warriors' horses who had fought well in battle. The Nez Perce' had a love of racing, and this is deeply etched into the Appaloosa's soul. Spotted horses were often pitted against one another, asked to challenge each other's swiftness over vast areas by the people who first bred them. The faster the horse, the more prized he was and the more he was bred, until the Appaloosa became a "ground-borne" Pegasus. Now, in our time, the Appaloosa continues to race against his brothers. On tracks around the country, spotted horses with winged feet strive to repeat the glory of their ancestors. But the greatest job of all for the Appaloosa horse is that of companion. Nez Perce' men grieved over their lost warhorses, while warhorses with fallen warriors went on to fight without them. Each horse shared his warrior's triumphs and defeats, in life and in war. The descendants of the Nez Perce' Appaloosas share this ability to bond with the people who love them most. In a calm, gentle way, these Appaloosas give their souls, quietly, subtly. And once the bond is forged, there is nothing that can destroy it--not even death.

While there are hundreds of breeds the world over, there is only one horse whose destiny placed her in the hands of a Native American people. While the color is unique, so is the Appaloosa soul. She has been touched by a bond with a spiritual people, a bond that no other breed has ever known. This horse is the Appaloosa. The heart of the Appaloosa is that of a Native warhorse. Her devotion to the one who loves her is undying. The old ways, that ancient life in the wilderness are gone forever. The simplicity, the oneness with nature that was the Nez Perce' culture in its purest form can be no more. The memory of warriors on spotted mounts, of herds of thousands of Appaloosas grazing on the rich Palouse grasslands fades more with each passing day. But there is one remnant of this time in our country's history, one remaining piece of the past. It is not a museum object sitting under glass somewhere, or an artifact yet to be uncovered. It is a living, breathing creature whose genes share the substance of those horses of long ago and whose hearts bear the spirit of Chief Joseph's mighty herds. The Appaloosa horse, with all of her characteristics so important to those whose lives depended upon her, is a treasure--one that needs to be guarded and cherished for as long