The Caspian is an Iranian breed of

pony A pony is a type of small horse ('' Equus ferus caballus''). Depending on the context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. Compared ...

or small

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

of Oriental type. The breed was created in 1965 by Louise Firouz, an American living in Iran, from a base stock of a small number of small horses found in the

Elburz Mountains The Alborz ( fa, البرز) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs nort ...

. In 2011, the remains of a small horse dating back to 3400 B.C.E. were found at Gohar Tappeh, Iran, giving rise to claims that today's Caspian originates from the oldest known breed of the domestic horse. It is also one of the rarest horse breeds and its population status is critically endangered.

History

The Caspian is said to originate from the mountainous regions of northern Iran, which explains how the breed is tough, athletic, and nimble. Indeed, the oldest known specimen of a Caspian-like horse was found in 2011, in a cemetery dating back to 3400 B.C.E., in the archaeological dig at Gohar Tappeh in the province of Mazandaran in northern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, between the cities of Neka and Behshahr. Small horses were depicted in ancient art where they appeared in scenes pulling chariots. The Persian Empire required land transport on a huge scale. They were the first people to breed horses especially for strength and speed. That these horses were very small by modern standards is shown by a miniature golden chariot, a toy or perhaps a votive offering, found in the so-called Oxus Treasure,Both c. 500 BC, British Museum, London discovered in the extreme east of the empire but apparently made in central Persia. The vehicle was obviously built for speed. Its wheels are taller than the horses, which are themselves of lesser height than the two passengers – and not because of the status of the passengers. Neil MacGregor likens this vehicle to a Ferrari or Porsche amongst cars – fast and luxurious. King Darius (the Great) trusted his life to the little horses during lion hunts, and honored them on his famous Trilingual Seal. As seen on the bas comfortes on the great staircase at Persepolis, the Persian Shah demanded tributes of only first class animals.

Characteristics

The Caspian generally stands about at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle a ...

. It has concave profile and a vaulted forehead; the back is straight and short, the croup level and the tail is set on high. The Caspian Horse is extremely hardy, with strong hooves that rarely need shoeing unless they are consistently worked on very hard or stony ground. Their base coat colors are bay, chestnut, and

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

and other color modifiers include

grey Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

and

dun A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse. Etymology The term comes from Irish ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is cognat ...

. White markings may appear on the head and legs, but minimal white or no white markings are usually favored. Some lack

chestnuts The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelated ...

or ergots.

Genetics and phenotype

There are experts who classify the Caspian horse as one that does not directly fall into the four ancestral types, namely the Northern European, Northern Steppe, Southern Steppe, and the Iberian/Mediterranean, making it unique and an important link to ancient horses. It is this reason the Caspian is considered to be one of the rarest breeds of horses, along with the Akhal Teke. Research has shown that Caspian and Turkoman horses occupy positions in phylogenetic analysis that has given rise to a hypothesis that they carry genetics that are ancestral to all other oriental type breeds studied to date.E. Gus Cothran, Ph.D., Animal Genetics, Texas A & M University. (Initial studies took place at Kentucky University, 1990).

References

External links

Caspian Horse Breeders AssociationCaspian Pedigree Online Studbook
by Caspian Horse Breeders Association
Caspian Horse SocietyCaspian Conservation SocietyCaspian Horse Society of the AmericasInternational Caspian SocietyA cytogenetic study of the Caspian pony
H Hatami-Monazah and RV Pandit
Tiny Caspian horse breed back from the brink
Horsetalk, 19 July 2007

{{Equine, state=collapsed Horse breeds Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy Horse breeds originating in Iran

History

Characteristics

Genetics and phenotype

References

Further reading

External links