Breed guide
Eleven real breeds fill the valley, each with its own build, temperament, upkeep cost and coat genetics. Every foal inherits its abilities and colours from its sire and dam — choose your foundation horse with care.
Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred mare · Snip, front socks, hind socks — coat drawn from recorded alleles; drawn to its recorded height.
Lean, long-striding and hot-blooded. Prized for sprint and middle-distance speed, but sensitive, costly to keep and prone to soundness trouble when pushed young.
- Average height
- 16.1 hands
- Yearly upkeep
- $4,800
- Best at
- Flat racing and speed classes
Bay is the classic Thoroughbred look; grey appears occasionally.
Mustang
Mustang mare · Star, front socks — coat drawn from recorded alleles; drawn to its recorded height.
Compact Spanish-type horse with dense bone and hard feet. Thrives on rough forage, carries a wide spread of coat colours and passes on hardiness reliably.
- Average height
- 14.2 hands
- Yearly upkeep
- $2,600
- Best at
- Endurance-minded all-round classes
Mustangs carry the widest colour spread — duns, roans and more.
Percheron
Percheron mare · front pasterns, hind coronets — coat drawn from recorded alleles; drawn to its recorded height.
Heavy draft with a willing, steady mind. Enormous pulling power and feed bill to match. Grey and black dominate the population.
- Average height
- 16.3 hands
- Yearly upkeep
- $5,600
- Best at
- Strength and in-hand classes
Grey and black dominate the Percheron population.
Shetland Pony
Shetland Pony mare · Star — coat drawn from recorded alleles; drawn to its recorded height.
Small, thick-coated and very strong for its size. Cheap to keep and long-lived, but easily overfed, and a high-risk dam for any larger stallion.
- Average height
- 10.0 hands
- Yearly upkeep
- $1,400
- Best at
- Pony and in-hand classes
Shetlands come in nearly every colour, chestnut among the most common.
Stock Horse
Stock Horse mare · Star, hind stockings — coat drawn from recorded alleles; drawn to its recorded height.
Compact, muscular ranch horse with a low centre of gravity and explosive acceleration over a quarter mile. Quick-footed and cow-smart, built for barrels, reining and short sprints rather than long distances.
- Average height
- 15.1 hands
- Yearly upkeep
- $3,200
- Best at
- Barrel racing and western reining
Sorrel, bay and roan are ranch-horse staples.
Appaloosa
Appaloosa mare · Star, front coronets, leopard complex, pattern-1 — coat drawn from recorded alleles; drawn to its recorded height.
Sure-footed, hardy stock-type horse best known for its spotted coats. Mottled skin, striped hooves and a white-ringed eye mark the leopard-complex gene, and two spotted parents can still throw a near-solid foal.
- Average height
- 15.1 hands
- Yearly upkeep
- $3,000
- Best at
- Endurance, ranch work and western reining
Leopard spotting comes from the leopard-complex gene together with Pattern-1.
Hanoverian
Hanoverian mare · Blaze, hind stockings — coat drawn from recorded alleles; drawn to its recorded height.
Tall, powerful sport horse with an elastic, ground-covering stride and scope over fences. Bred hard for movement and rideability, so mostly solid bay, chestnut and black with modest white.
- Average height
- 16.2 hands
- Yearly upkeep
- $5,400
- Best at
- Dressage and show jumping
Bay, chestnut and black, usually with modest white.
American Warmblood
American Warmblood mare · Star and snip, hind coronets, white spotting modifier w20 — coat drawn from recorded alleles; drawn to its recorded height.
Athletic, even-tempered sport horse judged on performance rather than strict bloodlines, so it carries more coat variety than other warmbloods. A sensible amateur's partner in the dressage arena and the jumping ring.
- Average height
- 16.1 hands
- Yearly upkeep
- $4,800
- Best at
- Dressage, show jumping and all-round sport
Chestnut and bay lead, with more colour variety than other warmbloods.
Clydesdale
Clydesdale mare · Wide blaze, front socks, hind stockings, white spotting modifier w20 — coat drawn from recorded alleles; drawn to its recorded height.
Massive, high-stepping draft with silky feathered legs and a famously gentle mind. Bay with bold white on the face, legs and belly is the classic look; roan runs in many lines. The feed bill is the largest in the valley.
- Average height
- 17.1 hands
- Yearly upkeep
- $6,000
- Best at
- Draft pulling and in-hand classes
Bold white is characteristic; sabino appearance alone does not identify SB1.
Paint
Paint mare · Wide blaze, front stockings, hind stockings, tobiano — coat drawn from recorded alleles; drawn to its recorded height.
Stock-horse build with bold white patterns — tobiano, overo and splashed white. Quick and cow-smart like its ranch cousins. Two frame-overo carriers must never be mated: a double dose is lethal to the foal.
- Average height
- 15.1 hands
- Yearly upkeep
- $3,200
- Best at
- Barrel racing, reining and ranch work
Tobiano is the most common Paint pattern; overo and splashed white appear too.
Connemara
Connemara mare · Blaze, front socks, hind pasterns — coat drawn from recorded alleles; drawn to its recorded height.
Large, athletic pony from rugged coastal hills, able to jump well beyond its size and live on thin grazing. Grey dominates; the traditional colour called dun is usually cream-derived buckskin, not genetic dun.
- Average height
- 14.0 hands
- Yearly upkeep
- $2,200
- Best at
- Pony jumping, driving and endurance
Grey is common; traditional ‘dun’ usually means cream-derived buckskin.
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