What are the pros and cons of different breeds of horses?

Question

Mustangs

Trakehners (East Prussians)

Missouri Fox Trotters

QHs

Peruvian Pasos

Percherons

Akhal-Tekés

Tennessee Walkers

Palominos

Morgan Horses

Appaloosas

Arabians

Paint horses (pintos)

Andalusians

if anyone could help me out with this i would like it very much =D

(i would also like to point out that NOT ALL ARABIANS HAVE HOT HEADS!! i have worked with many who are just as hot headed as some QHs so you really dont have to point this out for me! thanks)

PS!!!!

I have experience in barral racing, and jumping, and I am around 5'3 if this helps you answer my question. I also would like to know out of these breeds which are good for pleasure riding and can learn well if its not too much trouble...thanks!!!

Answer 1

So you want the pros and cons of every breed but no generalisations. Listen love I think you need to rethink that.

Answer 2

Okay, that's a lot of horses.... I would like to start by pointing out that a Paint is a horse breed and a Pinto is a horse color.  A pinto horse can be any breed, a Paint horse is generally accepted to mean an American Paint Horse.

Typically, barrel racers and jumpers are not the same breeds... barrel racing is typically a western sport and jumping is typically English.  A Quarter horse is pretty versatile and could excel at both, as well as Appaloosas and Paints.  Probably Palominos as well.  

Morgans/Mustangs I don't know much about, but I've never seen them used as jumpers.

Peruvian Pasos, Percherons, and Andalusians are heavier-set horses and would probably not do well with jumping or barrels.

Trakehners, Ahkals, Walkers, and Arabians are used more often for English sports than western, I'm not sure how they'd do with barrels.  And of course, riding a Walker is a whole different ballgame, it's not really English OR Western, but an entirely different style altogether.

I would probably say to try a Quarter Horse or Appaloosa.

Answer 3

Just as not all arabians have hot heads the same goes with each breed.  But in general

Mustangs

Mustangs tend to be easy keepers and a few are very good horses.  (by very good I mean can place high in national level competitive events) but the average mustang is simply not athletic enough.  They are rugged though.  The other disadvantage withthe breed is that they tend to have a very high keyed fight or flight response.  Startle one and you can get your head kicked off.  Beat one and you will wind up dead.  They tend to be unforgiving of a bad temper.  If you are that type of handler leave them alone.

Missouri Fox Trotters.  

After being raised around quarter horses we got into fox trotters when I got a job in central Missouri (I used to live in the southeast region around Cape Girardeau).  We found that we loved the gentleness and verstility of the breed and the gait was so smooth we never considered another quarter horse.  We were flat out amazed.  The gentleness and dependability of the quarter plus a smoother faster ride.  No more plodding along at a walk or being jarred to death at the trot.  The fox trot and running walk are so different that we never wanted to go back.  Though admittedly the first time my wife got her horse to running walk she was scared stiff and thought the horse was running away from her.  That lasted for about 50 feet before she decided she loved it.  This was a couple years after an accident that left her unconcious for three days and in a hospital for 6 so it is understandable.   Surprisingly I was told by a roping horse trainer that at present the fastest roping and cutting horse in this part of the country is actually a fox trotter.  He said that currently there are no local quarter horses that can touch this one.  I might add that he seemed a little envious when he said it. he trains both quarterhorses and fox trotters as ropers to sell.

One more thing.  The breed is reknowned for its endurance.

Quarter horses

Fine horses if you want to work cattle...  good, strong, dependable, but most are like riding a jack hammer at the trot so not so hot if you want to ride trails.  Unless you want to walk all the way and cover only short distances.

(Our trail riding group's standing jokes are that it takes 4 of them to make a real horse, and that I guess that the horse is worth a quarter. LOL!  But really they are good horses)

Arabians

Arabians are sometimes a little flighty.  I have an excellant one though that is not flighty at all.  Their endurance is phenomenal.  They love to run and the only bad thing I see in the breed is that they love to run so much that they can get really excited and want to keep going.  I had to put a correction bit in my horses mouth to solve that problem.

I ride my twenty year old arab once a year on a small cattle drive and last fall she ran the quarterhorses into the ground and still had energy to go.

Pintos

The real pinto is an indian pony which is very similiar to the mustang only with a finer frame.  They were also always paints.  They are extrememly hardy and very strong.  Keep in mind that the current pinto registry allows any painted horse to be registered so it is not a pinto.

Paints from the paint registry are simply a quarter horse with more white that the quarterhorse association used to allow.  This is a little redundant now that the quarterhorse association allows horses marked with white on the body.  It is unfortunate that they chose a color for the name of the registry because they now expect every other breed with paints to call their horses 'pintos' instead of paints to distinguish them from their horses, but the real pinto was the horse I described above.

EDIT

Since you wanted to know about pleasure riding (Not the same as western pleasure which is an event).  You really need to look into fox trotters.  I promise that if you do you will not regret it!  I am quite willing to let anyone who comes visits me for the day to ride one of our fox trotters.  I will even take them on a trail ride.

And to the people who misunderstood.  She did not say she did not want generalizations..She was trying to say that she understood that they are generalizations and that there will be exceptions.

I tried to stick witht he breeds I have had enough experience with to give an accurate personal presentation.  I guess I should have thrown walkers in but did not see them earlier when I skimmed the list so here goes:

Walking horses

The Tennessee Walking Horse (Walker) was bred as a plantation horse.  Origianally there were two lines.  One line was bred as a riding horse.  Great calm temperament.  The other line was used by slave owners to ride out and visit the slaves in the field.  They were used to intimidate the slaves.  To intimidate the slaves the horses were bred to be big and aggressive.  Not much says INTIMIDATION like a 17 hand stallion that is quite willing to snake out and grab you with his mouth and shake you like a rag doll.  Many of those horses were quite mean.  Luckily that line and the need for it has died out and left the calmer better tempered ones in the breed.  The pro is an extremely smooth ride that is faster and smoother than the Missouri Fox Trotter (or faster than most of them anyway)  BUT the disadvantage is that they excel on smooth ground but often trip over rough terrain.  This is because with the running walk both feet on the same side are often lifted at the smae time.  Actually the  hind leg comes up and then front leg but the front leg comes up before the hind is put down.  This means that no foot is on the ground on that side for a split second.  It is here that the horse trips if something catches the front toe slightly.  The fox trot ont he other hand the rhythym is left hind right front  Right hind after right front is down left front then repeat when left front is down.  Thus at all times at least one foot is on the ground on each side of the horse.  This gait is the most stable of all gaits.

Peruvian Pasos

I missed this breed to.  This is a horse that has an arabs intelligence and spirit.  Couple that with what is probably the smoothest ride of any horse and you have a dream horse.  

The cons with the breed are these.  First they can be spirited like the arabs.  Like the mustangs they can be hard to train until you get thier trust.  Second they are a little too small for a lot of people.  many are in the 14.0 hand range.  Third their gait was much slower than the MFT's and TWH's.  Fourth and this was the clincher for me...  DSLD is relatively abundant in the breed.  To many unscrupulous breeders and not a large enough gene pool.  3 out of the 5 horses I looked at had long flat pasterns which contribute to the disease and 2 of those had limps.  The other two horses had long somewhat soft pasterns that I feel would have lowered to the point to cause problems.  On the other hand I did find a few with good enough feet and a gaurantee of soundness but I never got there to look.

Those who don't think quarterhorses ride like jack hammers at a trot have never ridden gaited horses while they are properly gaiting.  Sorry but once you do you will know what I mean.

Answer 4

The pros and cons of the Tennessee Walkers.

Hmm.. Well. The pros would be that TWH's are very relaxed animals. They tend to be sure footed and good pleasure horses. They have a wonderful gait that is extremely smooth! They aren't too shy and are very willing animals.

Cons:

They can jump and barrel race, but it will mess up their gait and they probably won't be too good at it. It would take a lot of training because their gaits are so different.

Answer 5

I just answered this question. Then you removed it.

***edit*****

Why should I put a nice answer up when your going to delete it?? Other people had nice great info answers that take time to answer & then you remove it..... What is the point to helping you?????!!!!!!

********edit********

Morgans are NOT a gaited breed!!!!! There are a few that are gaited, but they are not a gaited breed!!!!! People should know their breeds be for they try to tell other people about them!!!!! If you don't know just say you don't know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 6

Ok, i have to agree that if you're looking to seriously train a horse in a discipline, it might be tough to combine jumping and barrel racing.  Now, if you were more into one than the other, say you compete in barrel racing and may just occassionally jump once in a while on a trail ride or at home, that's not such a big deal, but just be careful that you and your horse know what you're doing - pointing an inexperienced horse at a jump can get dangerous if you don't know what your doing; work with a trainer through new obstacles like that.  I don't have personal experience with all these breeds but will share what I know and have heard:

Mustangs can make great little riding horses, I knew one that evented for several years with small children.  Since they tend to have a wild streak, make sure it's well broke with a good mind, and work under a trainer with it.  Trakehners are often used as sport horses; I've usually found them in the dressage ring, and at upper level events.  I'm sure they're around in the hunter/jumper circuits as well, but I don't know about western with them.  The trotters, pasos, and walkers are really just gaited horses, and unless you want to get into breed shows, you usually don't see them anywhere else. However, if you're looking for a good trail horse, they're all very smooth gaited and sane.  A QH is a great all-arounder usually, and you see them everywhere, from low-level dressage and eventing, to just about anything western.  There are a lot of cool headed qhs, and they're basically great for anything, i assume they can go top level in western stuff (not a western person), but usually hang around the lower levels in english.  Percherons are usuallu just big heavy horses not seen a whole lot.  I knew a TB/Percheron cross that was a good mare, and made a good lower level event horse for some younger kids.  As far as a pleasure horse i'd say they're pretty cool headed and might be fun if you want to deal with something bulky.  Dunno much about tekes, they're probably pretty high spirited and athletic.  Palomino is a color.  Morgans are another gaited horse but can make nice trail horses and are usually fun to ride.  Appys are good all-around horses, too.  I've known them to be talented little jumpers and are seen around western rings a lot.  Arabians are high spirited and can be a lot of fun.  They're pretty talented and have great endurance.  They're good horses for long trail rides, can make good lower level dressage horses and jumpers as well. Paints are pretty level headed and good horses for just about anything, as far as I've seen.  Andalusians are another breed you could show in breed shows (you technically can with any breed, but some breeds basically only have that as their only show option), but they can make good dressage horses and I haven't really seen them anywhere else in the show ring. As far as a pleasure horse I'm not really sure.  Hope this was helpful!

Answer 7

Dreamer-since you are going to correct her on paint and pinto I want to point out that Palomino is a color not a breed.

Here is a web site listing 100's of breeds. That will give you a description of the breed with no bias.

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horse...

I barrel race and the common breed for the sport is a QH, Paint or thoroughbred. Or crosses of these. Many people like the appendix QH which could excel im sure in jumping and really any horse can be used for pleasure riding with proper training. These two sports are pretty different but if you have a good minded horse with proper training then you could do both, it may just be better at one or the other. I like to cross train mine to keep them interested. I train my horses dressage also

I don't believe the statement of all Qh are like riding jack hammers at the trot. I have owned many and have ridden many, along with many other horses and I believe that each breed have some better trotters and some worse. I have only had one that was real bad and she was 1/2 QH. I have a 16 hand Qh now and he has a big smooth strong trot and a 15 hand and he has a nice smooth short strided trot. Usually if a horse has been binded up and not shown how lengthen its stride and fully extend they will be choppy and quick. With correct collection horses are much better to sit at the trot and can go for miles. I had a QH mare that could easily hang with endurence arabs. My friends wanted her for endurence because of her stride and endurence. These were serious endurence riders also. I have done many long rides with my Qh's also out in the mountains and hills whether they were trotting/loping or walking they did great.

They are known sprinters hence the name. they are the generally the fastest breed for a quarter of a mile. But with selective breeding and training they can also become long distance runners.

Answer 8

Underneath all they are just horses. My favorite breed is the Quarter Horse and I also have Arabians. I love Morgans,as  they tend to  have a sweet nature. The Quarter Horse is the best breed IMO, for all around pleasure riding and of course "barrel" racing! Paso Finos are nice but I can't stand the gait, on the other hand Walkers are fine horses. That's a lot of horses to be asking about. To each his own, how much experience do you have?

Answer 9

Arabians are very intelligent and proud. They demand respect and if you respect them and give them what they deserve then I prefer them over any other breed. They are exceptional to any level rider and make all different kinds of show ponies. I like Connemeras

Answer 10

American is right on and I second that !  AMEN

Answer 11

These discriptions may differ horse to horse...but this is ON MOST OCCASIONS the pros and cons of each horse.

Mustang:

Pro: VERY surefooted and tend to form a great bond with ther handler.

Cons: Have more flight instinct since they are the closest to being truely wild. Can be very shy...but if you gain there trust it will be there for a lifetime.

Riding: Pretty much can be trained for anything, but trail riding/pleasure is probley the best.

Trakehners:

Pros: Great movers...very high class (and high maintance lol)

Cons: Don't know enough about them to thinof any

Riding: Never seen one in the western riding or trails. Usually owned by the richer english riders (I am not saying ALL english riders are richy...I AM ONE hehe but I am not rich)

MFT: DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THEM TO TELL YOU ANYTHING.

Quarter Horse:

Pros: AWESOME horses in genral. Sweet, kind, full of personality, very trainable, all around most popular and well known breed in the WORLD.

Cons: If you want a unique breed they are not for you. They are also built kinda downhill so training them to get off there forehand can sometimes be difficult.

Riding: ANYTHING...except gaited xP

Peruvian Paso:

Pros:__

Cons:__

Riding:__

Percherons:

Pros:Cross really well with TB's or TB crosses.

Cons: Need more feed being so large, and tack is hard to find.

Riding: Pulling carts, or crossing with other breeds

Akhal - Teke:

Pros:___

Cons:___

Riding:___

TWH:

Pros: Gaited.

Cons: I PERSONALLY think they are kinda ugly :P just me though

Riding: Trails and Gaited shows...never seen any but one in English and he was a lesson horse.

Palominos:

Pros: Stand out with there color. They can be so diffrent that you really can't point out anything

Cons: Again to diffrent to point out anyhting

Riding: ANYTHING

Morgan Horses:

Pros: Never met one but seem to be all around great horses

Cons: Can't think of any

Riding: Pretty much anything

Appy:

Pros: Very unique and smart

Cons: Stubborn and moody

Riding: anything

Arabians:

Pros: Wonderful horses can do anything you want them too and very brave. Live longer than most horses

Cons: CAN BE high strung

Riding: Anything, especially Endurance and Dressage...some have alot of cow sense :)

Paint:

Pros: Differ widely but do stand out :)

Cons: the ones I know are moody xD

Riding: Whatever you want them to be trained in.

Andies:

Pros: Kinda rare and very intelligent

Cons: Rare...harder to find

Riding: I have seen them in many diffrent thing...but mainly more of the "specialty" shows

Hope that helped you some :)