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Re: [RC] [RC] appys - heidiThe story that I heard was that they came to the Nez Pierce by way of Canada. Supposedly, when the low countries (Belgium, and Holland) were owned by the Spanish, there was a fad for spotted horses from Spain. Later the fad passed and the spotted horses were sold cheap for export to Canada. (I have to assume French Canada or the timeline gets all messed up.) I'm not sure how true this story is. The time line seems to put them in ID well after the Nez Pierce were noted horsebreeders. Also why aren't there spotted horses in eastern Canada today that are descended from the same importations etc. It is pretty well documented that the Indians were ALL afoot until they got hold of some of the horses that the Spaniards had brought with them. The horse basically started its spread onto this continent in the late 1500s to early 1600s, and didn't make its way into the NW until the early 1700s. The Nez Perce got their horses from the Blackfoots, via Montana. There were likely a few spotted horses that cropped up from time to time, although as you state, the Spanish had not especially selected for those coat patterns until a later time frame. But the traits existed. The Nez Perce likely got hold of a few that HAD the trait, and they apparently liked it, as they were one of the few Indian tribes that practiced selective breeding and that actually gelded colts that they did not wish to breed on. So basically, they had close to 100 years in which to build a "breed" from their original horses before even Lewis and Clark came on the scene, and another several decades to keep on with the program before the Chief Joseph era. Plenty of time to develop a distinct group of horses, given their breeding and castration protocols. Keep in mind, though, that after Chief Joseph surrendered, the Nez Perce horses were considered to be one of the tribe's instruments of war, and the Army very systematically disbanded them, gelding the colts and selling off the horses in general every which way. There are pretty detailed Army records about doing this. Then there was a gap of 60 years in which there was a concerted effort NOT to maintain the Nez Perce program in any way, shape, or form. So any horses gathered up as foundation stock were a MINIMUM of three generations away from the Nez Perce program, and more likely somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 to 8 generations away. The original breeders who made an effort to found a registry and get the breed started again gathered up what horses they could, and did their best to weed out horses who might have the color patterns but who also had draft traits, etc. Keep in mind that many of these horses were gathered up in an area where there had been active use of Remount stallions, most of which were TB, Morgan, Arab, or draft. So if one eliminates most of the draft influence, you can figure that the other three breeds named are likely represented in "foundation" pedigrees. Nonetheless, the Remount stallions used were still by and large riding-type horses, unlike the show horses of today, so there was still some integrity to the concept of the Appaloosa as a riding breed. Early breeders such as Claude Thompson realized that the Nez Perce were breeding for tough, hardy horses with much in common with the Arabian, so they used a considerable amount of Arabian breeding crossed with "foundation" Appaloosas. All in all, if memory serves, there are something like 30+ early Arabians well-represented in early Appaloosa pedigrees (more added over the years as well). Many of these were Kellogg horses such as Ferras, or other Remount horses. In later years, the Appaloosa went the way of too many breeds in the show ring--as Merry has so eloquently stated, they were liberally crossed with QHs and TBs to the point that the "norm" in the breed all too often looks like a spotted (or even minimally colored) QH or TB. Kudos to the folks who still stick to more traditional lines, and who try to breed functional Appaloosas that might actually be able to carry a Nez Perce warrior into battle or a Nez Perce family on the move. Such horses do indeed have the traits necessary to be at minimum good riding horses and in the better end to be top-notch endurance horses. Heidi ============================================================ If you treat an Arab like a Thoroughbred, it will behave like a Quarter horse. ~ Libby Llop ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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