Horses have been around for a very long time, but some are very rare and on the list of endangered species fighting to stay alive in the 21st century. For example, did you know that the history of American Bashkir Curly is unknown? You also wouldn't want to miss seeing El Rey Magnum, an Arabian horse that looks very strange. Check out this list of the 10 most endangered and rare horse breeds that are still around today or for now.
The Caspian horse is an old breed of horse that has been found in art from around 3000 B.C. This makes it one of the oldest horse breeds still alive today. This horse is a national treasure in its home country of Iran, where it was first found. It was thought to be extinct for 1,300 years until 1965 when two researchers found some living in the wild in Iran. Most likely, this breed is the direct ancestor of all Oriental horse breeds and, by extension, all light horse breeds. The Caspian is a horse with a short head and big, beautiful eyes. It is known for being good at show jumping. Leading archaeozoologists are studying it now to find out if there is a connection between the modern Caspian and Persia's ancient little horse.
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There are less than 200 Sorraia horses in the world, making it one of the rarest horse breeds in the world. Before a zoologist found them in the early 1900s, no one knew that these horses were from Portugal. All Sorraias today come from just 11–12 animals that were saved in 1930, and they have been breeding a lot. Some experts think that the Sorraia is a direct descendant of the first horses that lived in Iberia. This idea is still debatable, but the breed has primitive traits, such as a dun colour with a dorsal linea, zebra-like leg markings, and a rounded profile.
In 2007, there were less than 200 of this great breed of horses left, and only 80 of them were bred mares. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FDA) calls the breed "critical," and many projects to save the Sorraia from going extinct have been started.
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People think the Akhal Teke horse breed is one of the most beautiful in the world because its fur has a metallic sheen that makes it look almost like a golden or bronze statue. This type of horse is Turkmenistan's national horse, and in some places, it is even called "the golden horse." This breed developed in the deserts of Central Asia, and nomadic tribes used it to travel long distances. Even though this breed of horse is already considered to be rare, things like inbreeding within the herd could cause the number of these horses to drop.
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The Exmoor Pony is one of the last horses from the Ice Age that is still alive today. The breed has been around for thousands of years and is the oldest and most pure of the native British pony breeds. Ponies have been grazing on grass in the barren, open moors of southwest England, called Exmoor, for hundreds of years. The breed was brought to Canada for the first time in the 1950s. Today, Exmoors can be found in different herds all over North America. The Exmoor pony is still a rare breed since only about 800 of them are left in the world, and less than 40 are in North America.
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The Eriskay Pony is a small and rare horse breed from Scotland's Hebrides. It likely grew out of the Celtic and Norse horses that settlers brought to the islands, and it even shows up in Pictish art. The breed almost went extinct because ponies and horses were crossed with them too often. The Eriskay Pony is tough and hardy. It has a waterproof coat and eats a lot of seaweed, especially in the winter. They are about 12 to 13 hands tall and are mostly grey, but there are also bay and black ones. Since they have a friendly temperament, Eriskay Ponies can be used for driving, light draft work, and as ponies for children.
About 420 purebred Eriskay ponies are left in the world today. Some sources even say that the number is less than 300. On the remote Eriskay Island, there is also a small group of about 20 ponies.
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El Rey Magnum is one of the strangest Arabian horses in the world. This breed looks like a cross between a horse and a giraffe because of its strange appearance and thin neck. El Rey is a type of Arabian horse with a dished face and a thin neck-latch that are typical of the breed. Now, vets are worried about horses like El Rey because they say that breeders who want their horses to look perfect are messing up the breed and putting the horses' health at risk. Most horse experts think that most Arabian horses are born with congenital defects like El Rey's, which could be fatal. It might make breathing hard for them, but their breeders think the colt is perfect and could be worth millions.
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The Newfoundland Pony is also one of the rare horse breeds that are most likely to go extinct. There are still about 400 Newfoundland Ponies in the world, and only about 250 of them can breed. Newfoundland Ponies were workhorses to plough, carry, and move goods. But machinery replaced them, and many Newfoundlands were killed or left behind. The Newfoundland Pony comes from the Canadian province of Newfoundland. It is related to the moorland and mountain ponies that European settlers brought to the area.
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The Oregon Wonder Horse sports beautiful braids that would make any woman envious. It's hard to believe that these horses have manes so beautiful that they would make a hairdresser scream with joy. It's no wonder they are called "wonder horses" because legend says they are magical, and they sure look that way. Experts say that Oregon wonder horses were actually made by crossing draught horses with Andalusian horses. The first horse with a long mane was named Prince Imperial. It belonged to Emperor Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte III. Prince Imperial was known as the horse with the longest mane in the world.
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The American Cream Draft is the only breed of draft horse that came from the United States. The breed can be traced back to a horse named Old Granny, who lived in Iowa in the early 1900s. Old Granny was a mare and a cream-coloured draft horse with a cream-colored offspring from an unknown ancestor. The American Cream Draft horse is a type of draft horse that is medium-heavy. On average, when they are full grown, mares weigh between 1600 and 1800 pounds (725 to 816 kg). The stallions will weigh anywhere from 1800 pounds to a tonne. They will be able to stand with 15 to 16.3 hands. This size is perfect for those who harness, hitch, and drive today's Cream of Draft Horses, which are easy to train, well-positioned, and eager to work. The American Cream Draft horse has always been a unique breed because of its origins. Only about 400 American Cream Drafts are registered right now.
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The Bashkir Curly horse is among the rarest horse breeds with American roots. It has a curly coat. They are one of the most beautiful horse breeds in the world today. However, no one knows where the breed came from, which is one of the biggest mysteries in the horse world. In 1868, Peter Damele and his father were riding horses in Nevada's Peter Hanson Mountain Range when they saw the first of this breed. They found three horses with strange curly hair, so they decided to find out more about them. One theory, which is where their name comes from, is that they are related to the Russian Bashkir or the Lokai, that live in Tajikistan and have the characteristic curly coat of the Bashkir Curly. However, this is almost impossible because no ship logs from Russian settlers mention horses.
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