Anyone watching the documentary on now about the appalosas?

Yes, 2nd time I've seen it. Fascinating story and thought-provoking that the link is there.
Mainly watched it for the horseriding over the high altitudepass, the camping, the little horses, as it brought back nostalgic memories of a horseback camping trek in western Mongolia in 2008. Very similar scenery, gers, horses, landscapes. Magic!
 
Very interesting and I am sure the horses have many useful characteristics -- but I wonder how long it will take for another domestic breed to be ruined by selective breeding by 'the Fancy' for 'fancy points'? Stallions sold for $150,000? Shouldn't take too long.

Size and spacing of the spots, variations in the colour patterns, etc., etc. and not much interest in the fact that they are a tough, hardy, useful breed, that can live on air and is ideally suited to the harsh conditions where they are! Popularity never did any breed any favours.
 
I thought it was a very interesting programme, and my goodness Scott stuck to her guns! I noticed that amongst the herd they finally came across in the valley, one looked very Mongolian, definitely showing signs of the ancient breed. It still doesn't answer the question of absolutely where they started though I suppose, nor what triggered the spots in the first place. It was interesting what she was saying about cross-breeding, and I could see her point of view, but sometimes a good cross makes a more versatile animal. Dry Rot makes a very good point though. When I was a youngster, a palomino was the ultimate choice, never mind the quality, its the colour that counts, then it was appies which had a price range according to how many spots they had! and now of course it is coloureds, which is ironic really since they were considered a lesser form of life when I was young - who wanted a pi4ey pony? Fashion has a lot to answer for where animal breeding is concerned, unfortunately.
 
I watched it when it was first broadcast and thought it it was bad science, lazy history, but good TV.

Lewis and Clark probably did encounter herds of horses when they hiked into what is now Oregon. This is not surprising. The Spanish had brought lots of horses when they arrived in western North America in the 1500s. By the time the United States existed as a country, these animals had been breeding for two centuries, and the Native American tribes had learned to use them. The Nez Perce, in the Pacific Northwest, were well into breeding Appaloosas by the time the Lewis and Clark expedition arrived, selecting certain animals out of the descendants of Spanish escapees.

There is no evidence that horses lived in the Americas before the Spanish brought them.

Surely, in order to determine how much genetic material the Kyrgy horses share with Appalaoosas, you would have to compare it to other breeds. Most horses descended from the animals on the Central Asian steppes, after all. And then, how do you know it's the Appalaoosa genes, and not Arab or TB or Turk or whatever else has gone into all these animals over the years. While the Kyrgy horses might be an isolated population NOW, you can bet that was major trade route a few hundred years ago.

The 'pure' Appy horse... using the striped hooves, white sclera, and gait as signs you are looking at one. BS. The breed was just about wiped out when the US government drove the Nez Perce off their land in the 19th century, and killed all their stallions. They were redeveloped in the 1930s, using TB, Arab, QH, and whatever else to re-establish a genetically diverse population. I doubt there are any horses who are direct descendants of the Nez Perce horses, without any influence from the breeding program that was started in the 30s. In any case, the spotted coloring usually has striped hooves and white sclera. I knew a warmblood-appy cross, who looked like a warmblood but with leopard app coloring. She had white sclera and striped hooves.
 
Caol Ila said:
I watched it when it was first broadcast and thought it it was bad science, lazy history, but good TV.

Lewis and Clark probably did encounter herds of horses when they hiked into what is now Oregon. This is not surprising. The Spanish had brought lots of horses when they arrived in western North America in the 1500s. By the time the United States existed as a country, these animals had been breeding for two centuries, and the Native American tribes had learned to use them. The Nez Perce, in the Pacific Northwest, were well into breeding Appaloosas by the time the Lewis and Clark expedition arrived, selecting certain animals out of the descendants of Spanish escapees.

There is no evidence that horses lived in the Americas before the Spanish brought them.

Surely, in order to determine how much genetic material the Kyrgy horses share with Appalaoosas, you would have to compare it to other breeds. Most horses descended from the animals on the Central Asian steppes, after all. And then, how do you know it's the Appalaoosa genes, and not Arab or TB or Turk or whatever else has gone into all these animals over the years. While the Kyrgy horses might be an isolated population NOW, you can bet that was major trade route a few hundred years ago.

The 'pure' Appy horse... using the striped hooves, white sclera, and gait as signs you are looking at one. BS. The breed was just about wiped out when the US government drove the Nez Perce off their land in the 19th century, and killed all their stallions. They were redeveloped in the 1930s, using TB, Arab, QH, and whatever else to re-establish a genetically diverse population. I doubt there are any horses who are direct descendants of the Nez Perce horses, without any influence from the breeding program that was started in the 30s. In any case, the spotted coloring usually has striped hooves and white sclera. I knew a warmblood-appy cross, who looked like a warmblood but with leopard app coloring. She had white sclera and striped hooves.
Click to expand...

Agree completely with this. I have two appy's currently, one pure bred who was solid coloured when we got her, though with striped hooves and the sclera and one part bred with lots of spots, striped hooves sclera etc. They do have lots of the other Appy characteristics, good doers, odd manes and tails and HUGE personalities and senses of humour and are very, very clever :D
 
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