.<a href='http://www.gypsycobs.fsnet.co.uk/' target='_blank'>http://www.gypsycobs.fsnet.co.uk/</a>
The breed I'm talking about is what is called in England the 'Traditional Colored Cob', also sometimes referred to as 'Gypsy Cobs' or 'Gypsy Horses'. It is *not* the same as what is marketed in America as the 'Gypsy Vanner', American breeders are buying mostly Irish stock and stock sold off for being too large and drafty and breeding to a different standard, producing a small draft horse or vanner that bears only slightly more resemblance to its island original than the American 'Shetland' (Don't get me wrong, American Shetlands are pretty, but...come on...so not the same breed
)Although these horses are not a stud bred breed (There are multiple registry associations, but all are still 'open' books, there's technically no such thing as a 'purebred'), they are *very* popular in England and definitely bred to a standard type. The horse should stand between 14 and 15.1 and be of a cob, not draft type, that is to say, a short coupled body, thick arched neck and short legs with strong bone, short cannons, and any kind of leg fault being considered bad. Hooves should be small and tight, suitable for crossing rough country or navigating narrow roads and paths. The head should be a cob or pony head, a 'draft' head is considered a fault in England (Although not in Ireland, where a slightly larger head is normal), that more resembles the head of the Welsh Cob than anything, a slight dish to the face is considered highly desirable. The mane and tail should be long and full, although occasionally a thin mane and a rat tail show up courtesy of the existance of the Lp gene in the breed, although Lp spotting itself is rare, perhaps because the 'standard' does require a very full mane and tail, neither of which should be trimmed. Full feathering should be present (And should also not be trimmed). The 'standard' also requires a quiet temperament, and a good breeder will not use any horse that cannot be handled and ridden by a young child...even stallions. The ideal color is black tobiano, bay tobiano is also common. Grey is considered undesirable in England, but acceptable in Ireland, and roan is *very* common in Irish cobs. Overo tends to be culled out, the only 'overo' cob I ever saw was gelded. Lp does exist in the breed, and is fairly common due to the English superstition that striped hooves are sounder, but the PATN genes that make appaloosa spotting visible are rare...I have seen one actual appaloosa spotted cob and a picture of one other...and unfortunately, the one I saw IRL was a gelding (Even more unfortunately, I turned down the opportunity to buy him. Sigh.). They are easy keepers and seldom need shoeing or supplemental feed.
These horses were created by the traveling people (mostly *not* gypsies, but actually predominately Irish in ethnicity) from a mixture of Irish cobs with Welsh Cobs and strongly influenced by the rejection by the WPCS of appaloosa and strong pinto patterns that were once common in the Welsh hill horses. Nowadays, their most common uses are as pleasure horses and for pony trekking and lessons...they are particularly valued as lesson horses as they tend to be cheap to feed, cheap to vet, even-tempered, and capable of carrying a lot of weight while still being easy to get on
. They are generally shown in their own classes both under saddle and in harness, and also do well in 'family horse' classes where a horse is ridden by an adult and a child from the same family. Most of them are light enough to be capable of low level jumping.And I will admit. The reason I love these horses? Because I have seen them work five hour days barefoot, from pasture, with no supplementary feeding, never going lame, never throwing a rider or giving trouble (Except occasional laziness), never spooking at anything...and all of that as four year olds with 30 days training on them.
Sorry for the long post. And sorry if I come over as assuming everyone is clueless, but I've been involved in the Vanner/Cob debate with SO many people :-/.
the Marwaris are beautiful! Are they all colored like that (sort of like Gypsy Vanners)?
