Appaloosa Part 1

The Nez Perce Spotted Horses

1877 - Few Tribes Could Rival the Nez Perce Indians in the Art of Selective Breeding.

The Nez Perce inhabited the mountainous plateau region at the intersection of what are now the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Here, in the region of the Palouse River, the steep mountains and box canyons provided natural enclosures in which horses could be contained or separated for selective breeding. The trademark of the Nez Perce horses was their spots. These horses, named Appaloosas after the river near which they were bred, were renowned among western Indians for their speed and endurance.

The Peaceful Life of the Nez Perce was Ended When Settlers and Miners Intruded on Their Lands. Treaties were made and broken, until Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce led his people and 3,000 horses on a 1,600 mile evacuation to Canada in 1877. All along the way, the Indians fought off pursuing cavalry. In one battle alone, the Indians lost 900 of their spotted horses.

Just below the Canadian border, Chief Joseph surrendered to the cavalry as he heroically declared, "I will fight no more forever." His tribe was decimated, wounded, and starving. The remaining of the tribe were exiled to Oklahoma, and Chief Joseph was imprisoned in Fort Leavenworth. The remaining 1,100 horses were dispersed. The purity and survival of the Appaloosa was threatened until the breed was revived in the 1900s.

More Appaloosa History...

Prehistoric men drew spotted horses on cave walls. Three-thousand-year-old Chinese paintings show colorful spotted horses. But the Appaloosa is a spotted horse native to the American West. It is descended from the horses selectively bred by the Nez Perce Indians who lived near the Palouse River in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The Nez Perce took great pride in their horses' appearance and abilities. Any stallion which was not of superior quality was gelded. This, combined with careful breeding, led to a pure and magnificent breed. When Lewis and Clark encountered the Nez Perce, Lewis was struck by the quality of their horses. he described their horses as "an excellent race; they are lofty, elegantly formed, active, and durable...and would make a figure in any country."

In the twentieth century, attempts began to restore the Appaloosa's purity which had been diluted through crossbreeding. In 1938, the Appaloosa Horse Club was created to regulate the breed by stipulating its characteristics. The most outstanding feature is the "spotted" coloring. The varied patterns and colors are the blanket, leopard, snowflake, and marbleized roan. The average Appaloosa stands between 14.2 and 15.3 hands. Horses less than 14 hands at maturity can not be registered. The Appaloosa weighs between 800 and 1,000 pounds, and has strong legs and quarters. The Appaloosa horse is increasingly popular and is used for stock work, show, and even show jumping.


Author (unknown)

So much for the "modern era," how about taking a much longer look into the past of these amazing spotted horses-- lets say, all the way back to 18,000 B.C.
Click here to continue