Horse breeds

This page is a list of horse and pony breeds, and also includes terms for types of horse that are not breeds but are commonly mistaken for breeds. While there is no scientifically accepted definition of the term "breed", a breed is defined generally as having distinct true-breeding characteristics over a number of generations; its members may be called "purebred". In most cases, bloodlines of horse breeds are recorded with a breed registry. However, in horses, the concept is somewhat flexible, as open stud books are created for developing horse breeds that are not yet fully true-breeding. Registries also 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 is little or no evidence of the trait being a true-breeding characteristic. Other recording entities or specialty organizations may recognize horses from multiple breeds, thus, for the purposes of this article, such animals are classified as a "type" rather than a "breed".

For additional information, see horse breed, horse breeding, and the individual articles listed below. Additional articles may be listed under Category:Horse breeds and Category:Types of horse.

Horses are members of Equus ferus caballus that generally mature to be 14.2 hands (58 inches (150 cm)) or taller, but many breed registries do accept animals under this height and classify them as "horses," as horse characteristics include factors other than height. For the purposes of this page, if a breed registry or stud book classifies the breed as a horse, it is listed here as a horse, even if some representatives are pony-sized or have some pony characteristics. Pony breeds are listed in the next section, below.

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