Native Turkish Horse

Origin: Turkey — Sivas.

Height: 14-14.2hh.

Color: Bay, brown, gray.

Character: Willing, arid extremely enduring, and hardy.

Physique: Plain head with long ears on short, thick neck, body short and dim. Legs are strong with good bone, medium length, and hard feet.

Native ponies are widely used in Turkey for all kinds of farm work, as pack patties, in harnesses, and for riding. They are tough, enduring animals of no racial distinction except for their readiness to do any job that is asked.

Turkey has a great equestrian tradition that has lived on for many centuries. Anadolu Pony or the native Turkish horse is a small pony that is believed to have developed over thousand years ago.

The Turkish horse is descended from crosses like Turkoman, Arab, Persian, Karabakh, Akhal-Teke, Kabarda, Deliboz, Mongolian, and the ancient Anatolia horse.

The Anadolu Pony is the most popular horse breed in Turkey due to its specific characteristics. These are:

• A height between 12.1 and 13.3hh
• Small head and mouth
• Nostrils are open and flexible
• Low withers
• Narrow chest and sloped croup
• Known for their speed, endurance, and stamina

History:

The native Turkish horse has descendants from crosses of various horse breeds. Professors Salahattin Batu and M. Nurettin Aral divided the types of horses. The word Anadolu is interpreted as ‘Turkey on Asia’, where it is believed that there are around 930,000 Turkish horse breeds alive to date.

Uses:

Due to the characteristics that it possesses, the Turkish horse is used as a riding horse and a pack horse. Qualities like strength, stamina, and speed make it a favorite among the horse enthusiasts of Turkey. In addition, the breed has been developed to live in poor conditions and that’s why it is commonly found all across Turkey.

Related horse breeds

The Turkoman horse breed from which the native Turkish horse descended had become extinct now. The horse breeds from Turkmenistan are still referred to as Turkoman and have similar traits. Developed from an ancient oriental horse-keeping tradition, this variety is known to have influenced the English thoroughbred.

See more: Russian Heavy Draft Horse