British Spotted Pony
Conservation status
Country of originUnited Kingdom
StandardBritish Spotted Pony Society
Traits
Height
  • not over 147 cm[4]: 447 

The British Spotted Pony is a British breed of pony characterised by a spotted coat.[4]: 447 [5]: 46  The height at the withers does not exceed 147 cm.

History

The presence of spotted horses across Europe from Iberia to Turkey is documented in manuscripts and tapestries as far back as the Middle Ages.[6]: 57  Among the many European breeds that can have a spotted coat is a strain of the Welsh Pony.[6]: 57  A document from 1298 mentions that Edward I of England had a spotted Welsh horse.

The British Spotted Pony descends from indigenous Celtic ponies, particularly from south-west England and from Wales.[4]: 447  A breed society, the British Spotted Horse and Pony Society, was formed in 1946. In 1976 the British Spotted Horse – though unconnected to the Appaloosa breed of the United States – was renamed to British Appaloosa, and the breed society split. The British Spotted Pony Society was formed in that year.[5]: 46 

It may be a rare breed: one source gives a total number of 800 for it.[5]: 46  It is reported to DAD-IS, but no population data has ever been entered;[2] it is not on the watchlist of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.[3]

Characteristics

The pony carries the genes for the spotted colouring, which may produce coats of varying patterns; other characteristics associated with the pattern, such as mottled pink skin on the muzzle and at the natural openings, white sclera of the eyes, and striped hooves, are also seen.[7] Solid-coloured animals with demonstrable Spotted Pony ancestry are registered in a separate section of the stud-book; ponies with piebald or skewbald coat patterns are disqualified from registration.[7]

It is robust and hardy, with typical pony conformation. The eyes are large, the ears small, and the mane and tail usually abundant.[5]: 46  The height at the withers may not exceed 147 cm (14.2 h).[4]: 447 

References

  1. ↑ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. 1 2 Breed data sheet: British Spotted Pony, Spotted Pony / United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed October 2022.
  3. 1 2 Watchlist overview: Watchlist 2022–23. Kenilworth, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Accessed October 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017). Horses of the World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691167206.
  6. 1 2 Elwyn Hartley Edwards (1994). The Encyclopedia of the Horse. London; New York; Stuttgart; Moscow: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0751301159.
  7. 1 2 Breed Characteristics. British Spotted Pony Society. Accessed October 2022.
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