Horses have their origins in North America, where they became extinct 10,000 years ago. Fortunately they migrated into Europe and Asia across the 80km Bering Land Bridge before it sank beneath the waves. Similarly, so much water was taken up by the ice age at that time, that there was also a narrow chalk land bridge (32km) between what is now Great Britain and Europe, which was destroyed by meltwater as the ice from the North melted. Originally the horse was the size of a small dog (Eohippus), but their padded toes & claws had evolved into hooves, and their stature grew to resemble a pony of today (Equus) before they made their escape, and those bridges disappeared.
Migrating across the vast plains of Russia, into Mongolia and the great civilisation of China, the continents of Europe and Asia became populated. In the last 4 millennia horses became domesticated and were selectively bred to assist mankind in a variety of ways. Once domesticated, horses were traded, sometimes for meat or milk, sometimes as a means of transport, for people, for goods or for materials. From that point, they were transported to anywhere in the world where people had something to trade. Some were bred for strength, some for speed, some to work in height restricted environments, some just to look pretty. There are too many breeds, and too many purposes to include all but a selection on this site.
Here are a small selection of Ancient and Modern breeds, or maybe “blends of breeds”.
