| The term 'thoroughbred' is often misunderstood, and you sometimes hear people refer to any animal or even person as being 'a thoroughbred', meaning that they are a pure-bred or pedigree or of high class breeding. Thoroughbred does, to some extent, mean purely bred. Not just for the fact that both parents are of the same breed. The thoroughbred was specifically bred to do a job, by selecting some of the finest horses of other breeds to create another for racing. The early horses used to create such a fast, courages, agile horse, were the arab horses, barbs, turks and spanish horses that were bred to the racehorses of the day. These were a more robust heavier horse, mostly used for hunting. |
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| Pictured above is a Turkoman horse in it's native homeland of Turkmeinstan, a former state of the old USSR. They are still raced there, as they are renowned for they speed and stamina. |
| Above is the world famous Arabian horse in it's native homeland of Egypt. The arab is one, if not, the oldest pure bred breed in the world. Originally desert horses, they are famous for their courage and stamina, often used in Endurance races all over the world. |
| Above pictures are the Barb horse, originally from the Barbary coast of North Africa. They are quite rare outside of their native homeland. The US has, and breeds these horses also. They are arab-like in stature and are known for their difficult temperaments. The other Barb is the Spanish-barb, a decendant of the North African Barb, and was used to create the famous Spanish 'Andalusian' Horses. |
| THE BREED |
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