Your complete guide to horse breeds, care, and riding from around the world
Raven SiJohn

Raven SiJohn

  • Joined: 02/11/2013
  • Articles: 215

Aegidienberger horse breed

The Aegidienberger horse breed is a cross between the Peruvian Paso and the Icelandic horse, created to produce a horse that was larger than the Icelandic, but still small and hardy enough to navigate difficult terrain. It has been a recognized breed on it's own since 1994.








Priore, a famous Aegidienberger stallion
Priore, a famous Aegidienberger stallion


The Aegidienberger is a small gaited riding horse originally from Germany. This cross was originally bred by a man named Walter Feldmann.


Like the Icelandic horse, the aegidienberger can naturally perform a gait known as the tölt.


The goal of the breed is: "A natural tölting horse who is elegant and easy to ride with a flawless character, energy and nerve. The horses should tölt naturally at the hand in every intersection step - if not, they are excluded from the breeding." Tact postponements, for example, such as the Sobreandando are not accepted. 








Aegidienberger foal with natural Tolt gait
Aegidienberger foal exhibiting natural tölt gait
The Aegidienberger horse must also have a good temperament and be horses with "...a beautiful mane, good presentation, proud and noble appearance, and be pleasing to the eye" in order to be eligible for enrollment in the breed.


Aegidienberger horses can be any color, but are most often bays and chestnuts.


This is considred a light breed horse by some, a large pony by others. The Aegidenberger is on average about 13 to 14 hands. The breed guidelines require them to be over 13 hands.


If you have more information on this breed, please tell us about it.







Aegidienberger stallion Rappscheck
Rappscheck, an aegidienberger stallion

A horse with a short neck may not be as agile at directional changes

The typical horse neck is about 1/3 horse’s length, measured from poll to withers, with a length comparable to the length of the legs. A short neck neck is one that is less than 1/3 the length of the horse.

Short necks are common, and seen in any breed.

A short neck is often quite flexible despite appearing thick and muscular, and the function and range is rarely altered. May be slightly less flexible at the poll, but the horse's maneuverability and agility are generally not affected. It does not shorten stride length, which has more to do with shoulder slope.

The horse may not excel at jumping high obstacles or galloping at high speeds, and may not be as handy at quick directional changes.

Small Nostrils

When a horse has small nostrils, the opening of the nostrils (the nares) is narrow and somewhat restricted, limiting ability to expand the nostrils for breathing while working hard.

This may occur in any breed. It especially affects horses in high-speed activities (polo, racing, eventing, steeplechase) or those that need to sustain effort over long duration (endurance, competitive trial, combined driving). These horses are therefore best for pleasure-riding or non-speed sports.

Small nostrils are often seen in horses that also have narrow jaws and a narrow muzzle.

Abyssinian horse breed

The Abyssinian horse, also known as the Gala, is a light horse breed that originated in Ethiopia.


Despite its small size, the Abyssinian has been bred for strength and for the ability to live and work in mountainous areas.  This breed is used both as a riding horse and a pack horse.


They generally stand around 13.3 hands high and show a wide variability in coloration, size and conformation.


abyssinian


The bloodlines of this breed have been diluted with many other breeds, so the animals come in a variety of different shapes and colors. Although all horses require a great deal of upkeep, the Abyssinian is one of the most high maintenance as far as grooming needs. Those who choose to keep this breed of horse might find that they have less time to spend socialising or playing online games at cheekybingo.com, as Abyssinian's require more grooming care than some other horse breeds. This is largely due to their uncommon genetic make up, which means they have swirly hair which requires greater care in grooming.


 The breed's coat is generally short and harsh, but unique in that it displays many swirled 'rosettes' and ridges, and also generally grows a moustache around its nose. Because the hair grows in so many directions, it can be hard to brush, and great care must be taken to keep the coat clean and free of dirt. Many breeders, especially those in England, have worked to improve this rosette pattern.


Most Abyssinians are green eyed, due to an uncommon gene not often found in horses.


The Abyssinian has spread from Ethiopia along the coastline of the Red Sea, where it is a common breed. The breed was first exported to England, where they are a popular horse breed,  in 1861.

Colonial Spanish Horse

The Colonial Spanish Horse is a foundation type of horse descended from the original Iberian horse stock brought from Spain to the Americas. The ancient form of the breed was once called the Jennet or Spanish Barb. The term encompasses many strains or breeds now found primarily in North America. Its extinction status is considered critical and the horses are registered by several authorities.

Warm Blood Breeding Selection and Stud Books

Open studbook policies separate most warmbloods from true "breeds" such as Thoroughbreds, Arabians, Percherons, Morgans, which have a closed stud book and require two purebred parents. Instead, most warmblood registries accept breeding stock from other similar populations to continuously improve their own horses, and do not consider their own horses to be a discrete "breed".

Recommendations for a quality saddle

Here are our recommendations for a quality saddle. These saddle makers and merchants have been in business for years and have a reputation you can trust.


FREE SHIPPING on saddles to the continental US!


If you are looking for a dependable family owned business with a reputation and desire to provide a well fitting, quality saddle at a low price, then you'll find it at the HorseSaddleShop.com. They are not just an internet site ordering stock from a middleman when you order it.


Dan has a real brick and morter store in Bremen, Indiana, where he has been fitting saddles since the early 80s. His store often has more saddles in stock than the manufacturers who make them.


With his extensive experience, Dan is able to gather important information on your horse for the perfect fit, and will take the time to learn about your specific riding needs, and is qualified to recommend the right saddle for the job you need it to do.


We all know shipping a heavy saddle can be expensive, but you don't have to worry about that at The Saddle Shop, because they pay the shipping for you to anywhere in the continental United States.


They carry a wide variety of saddle styles and sizes, too many to mention here. But just a few of them include: Western Saddles, Big Horn Saddles, Billy Cook Saddles, Circle Y Saddles, Crates Saddles, Dakota Saddles, Fabtron Saddles, High Horse Saddles, Reinsman Saddles, Saddlesmith Saddles, Tex Tan Saddles, Tucker Saddles, Youth or Child Saddles, and Australian Saddles. They even have some used saddles, too, as well as a variety of other horse tack.


If you are in the market for a new or used saddle, check these guys out!


If you decide to purchase from our link, we receive a small commission which goes toward the upkeep of this website, but you don't pay any more than if you had gone to their site directly.


Longest Manes and Tails ever recorded on the same horse

Linus II, a horse from Oregon with a tail 19 ft long, a Mane on each side13ft, and a Forelock of 5ft 6 inches. Photos circa 1890s by W.B. Pickett, taken in Salem Oregon.


 



 


Linus II  at 7 years old, 16.2 hands, 1435 lbs., Mane 9' 9", Tail 12' 8"


Linus II - world's longest horse mane and tail


Linus II at eight years old. His mane is now 14 feet and his tail is 10 feet 3 inches.


Linus II at 8 years old with 14ft mane and 10ft 3in tail


Linus II at 11 years old. His main is 11 1/2 feet long and his tail is 17 1/2 feet long!


longest horse mane and tail


Linus II, circa 1890 with a tail 19 ft long, a Mane on each side13ft, and a Forelock of 5ft 6 inches.


Linus II, circa 1890 with 19 foot tail and 13 foot mane on one horse

Akhal-Teke Horse Breed

The Akhal-Teke is a horse breed from Turkmenistan, where they are a national emblem. They are noted for their speed and for endurance on long marches. These "golden-horses" are adapted to severe climatic conditions and are thought to be one of the oldest surviving horse breeds. There are currently about 3,500 Akhal-Tekes in the world, mostly in Turkmenistan and Russia, although they are also found throughout Europe, Australia and North America.


The Akhal-Teke breed became popular with the Russians, who established a breeding population at their state stud farms. Many Akhal-Tekes were bred at the Tersk Stud in the northern Caucasus Mountains, and later moved with the head breeder Vladimir Petrovich Shamborant to the Dagestan Studfarm.


The Akhal-Teke coat has a distinct metallic sheen.


Akhal-Teke showing natural coat sheenThe Akhal-Teke horse breed typically stands between 14.3 and 16.3 hands. This breed is famous for those individuals who have a golden buckskin or palomino color with an unusual distinct metallic sheen. However, a number of other colors are recognized, including bay, black, chestnut, palomino, cremello, perlino and grey.


The Akhal-Teke's most notable and defining characteristic is the natural metallic bloom of its coat. This is especially seen in the palominos and buckskins, as well as the lighter bays, although some horses "shimmer" more than others. The color pattern is thought to have been used as camouflage in the desert.


The cream gene that produces buckskin and palomino is a dilution gene that also produces the occasional cremello and perlino. Akhal-Tekes are not thought to carry the dun gene or roan gene.


The Akhal-Teke has a fine head with a straight or slightly convex profile, and long ears. It also has almond-shaped eyes. The mane and tail are usually sparse. The long back is lightly muscled, and is coupled to a flat croup and long, upright neck. The Akhal-Teke possess sloping shoulders and thin skin. These horses have strong, tough, but fine limbs. They have a rather slim body and ribcage (like an equine version of the greyhound), with a deep chest. The conformation is typical of horses bred for endurance over distance. The Akhal-Tekes are lively and alert, with a reputation for bonding to only one person.

The breed is tough and resilient, having adapted to the harshness of Turkmenistan lands, where horses must live without much food or water. This has also made the horses good for sport. The breed has great endurance, as shown in 1935 when a group of Turkmen riders rode the 2500 miles from Ashgabat to Moscow in 84 days, including a three-day crossing of 235 miles of desert without water. The Akhal-Teke is also known for its form and grace as a show jumper.


History of the Akhal-Teke Horse Breed


Buckskins and palominos are the dominant colors in the Akhal-TekeThe ancestors of the Akhal-Teke breed may date back to a horse breed living 3,000 years ago, known by a number of names, but most often as the Nisean horse.  However, the precise ancestry is difficult to trace, because prior to about 1600 AD, horse breeds in the modern sense did not exist; rather, horses were identified by local strain or type.

According to some, the Akhal-Teke were kept hidden by their tribesmen. The area where the breed first appeared, the Turkmenistan desert Kara Kum, is a rocky, flat desert surrounded by mountains. However, others claim that the horses are descendants of the mounts of Mongol raiders of the 13th and 14th century.


The breed is very similar to the now-extinct Turkoman Horse, once bred in neighboring Iran. Some historians believe that the two are different strains of the same breed. It is a disputed "chicken or egg" question whether the influential Arabian was either the ancestor of the breed or was developed out of this breed.


It is also probable that the so-called "hot blooded" breeds, the Arabian, Turkoman, Akhal-Teke and the Barb all developed from a single "oriental horse" predecessor (see Domestication of the horse, Four foundations theory).


Tribesmen of Turkmenistan first used the horses for raiding. They selectively bred the horses, keeping records of the pedigrees via an oral tradition. The horses were called "Argamaks" by the Russians, and were cherished by the nomads.


Pinto Akhal-TekeIn 1881, Turkmenistan became part of the Russian Empire. The tribes fought with the tsar, eventually losing. A Russian general, Kuropatkin, developed a fondness for horses he had seen while fighting the tribesmen, founded a breeding farm after the war and renamed the horses "Akhal-Tekes," after the Teke Turkmen tribe that lived near the Akhal oasis. The Russians printed the first studbook in 1941, which included 287 stallions and 468 mares.


The Byerly Turk, one of the Thoroughbred founding studs, may have been an Akhal-Teke


The Akhal-Teke has had influence on many breeds, possibly including the Thoroughbred through the Byerly Turk (which may have been Akhal-Teke, an Arabian or a Turkoman Horse), one of the three foundation stallions of the breed.


Three other stallions, known as the "Lister Turk", the "White Turk" and the "Yellow Turk" also contributed to the foundation of the Thoroughbred breed. The Trakehner has also been influenced by the Akhal-Teke, most notably by the stallion Turkmen-Atti, as have the Russian breeds Don, Budyonny, Karabair, and Karabakh.


The breed suffered greatly when the Soviet Union required horses to be slaughtered for meat, even though local Turkmen refused to eat it. At one point only 1,250 horses remained and export from the Soviet Union was banned. The government of Turkmenistan now uses the horses as diplomatic presents as well as auctioning a few to raise money for improved horse breeding programs. Male horses are not gelded in Central Asia.


Yet crossbreeding modern Akhal-Tekes with Thoroughbreds proved to be a mistake.


In the early 20th century, crossbreeding between the Thoroughbred and the Akhal-Teke took place, aiming to create a faster long-distance racehorse. However, the Anglo Akhal-Tekes were not as resilient as their Akhal-Teke ancestors, and many died due to the harsh conditions of Central Asia.


After the 2,600 mile endurance race from Ashkabad to Moscow in 1935, when the pure-breds finished in much better condition than the part-breds, the studbook management decided to consider all crossbred horses born after 1936 as not purebred. Horses with English Thoroughbred ancestors born prior to that date were allowed to remain inside the studbook.


Since 1973, all foals must be blood-typed to be accepted in the stud book in order to protect the purity. A stallion not producing the right type of horse can be removed. The stud book was closed in 1975.


Akhal-Tekes used as foundation stock for other new horse breeds







The Nez Perce Horse is a cross-breeding between the Akhal-Teke and the Appaloosa horse.
The Nez Perce Horse is a crossbreeding between the Akhal-Teke and the Appaloosa horse.

Because of the genetic prepotency of the ancient breed, the Akhal-Teke has been used for developing new breeds, most recently the Nez Perce Horse (Appaloosa x Akhal-Teke). The Akhal-Teke, due to its natural athleticism, makes a great sport horse, good at dressage, show jumping, eventing, racing, and endurance riding.


One such great sport horse was the Akhal-Teke stallion, Absent. He was eight years old when he won the Prix de Dressage at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, ridden by Sergei Filatov. He went again with Filatov to win the bronze individual medal in Tokyo in the 1964 Summer Olympics, and won the Soviet team gold medal under Ivan Kalita at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Cob horse

Cob is a term used to describe a type of horse that is small, usually of a stout build, with strong bones, large joints, and steady disposition. The term refers to a body type of horse rather than a specific breed. Historically, in the United Kingdom and, to a lesser extent, the eastern United States, it was also a word used to describe a common horse used for everyday riding.

Agouti, the “bay” gene

Our first and most common color modifier in horse genetics is Agouti, also known as the "bay" gene.


bay horse pictureBay and Brown are actually a modification of Black. In other words, bays and browns are black horses with a dominant modifying gene called AGOUTI added.


Agouti acts to restrict the black of the black horse to just specific points, which are the mane, tail and lower legs. This allows the red that is "uncovered" by agouti to show through on the body of the horse in varying degrees, depending on the type of Agouti present.


Chestnuts can carry agouti, but it won't show on them as they have no black hair to restrict to the points. bay horse pictureThey can, of course, pass it on to their offspring.


Black horses cannot have agouti, because if they did, they'd be bay, not black.


A black and  chestnut cross might produce a bay foal. This happened because the agouti, or bay gene, actually came from the chestnut parent, and the black base color came from the black parent.


It is theorized that there are three different types of agouti. The Agouti which causes "regular" bay is written as an "A." The "wild type" Agouti, which results in a light bay horse with very little black on the legs, (usually just around the fetlocks) is written as "A+."

bay horse pictureBrown, or what is sometimes called "seal brown," (a nearly black horse with reddish areas on the muzzle and flanks) is written "At."


A horse will have some combination of the three types, one of the three types plus one non-agouti gene (one non-agouti gene is written as "a"), or have no agouti at all (written as "aa").

Tölt Gait

The Tölt (also, less correctly, Tolt) is a gait that is often described as being unique to the Icelandic Horse. In its pure form, the footfalls are the same as in rack, but the gait in the Icelandic horse has a different style with more freedom and liquidity of movement. The most prized horses have a very long stride and considerable lift with their forelegs. Icelandic Riders will demonstrate the smoothness of a tölt by going at the speed of a gallop without spilling a drink they hold. However, some horses have a tölt that is considered imperfect, and may be described as a "trotty tölt" or a "pacey tölt".The Tölt differs from the rack as the horse is not supposed to hollow its back.


The majority of Icelandic horses can also perform a type of pace called flugskeið or a "flying pace," and are thus called "five-gaited". (Walk, trot, canter, tölt, pace.) Good pacers are held in high regard in this breed, but for a pacer to stand out the horse has to be able to perform the pace at a high speed.Slow pacing in Icelandic horses is considered a major flaw. A horse that goes at a slow pace, or "piggy-pace," is referred to as lullari.


The Faroese Horse and the Nordlandshest/Lyngshest of Norway share common ancestry with the Icelandic horse and some individuals of these breeds have the capacity to tölt, although it is not as commonly used.

Cayuse horse

Cayuse is an archaic term used in the American west, usually referring to a feral or low-quality horse or pony.

In British Columbia, the variant word cayoosh refers to a particular breed of mountain pony with shorter legs and large hindquarters, typically also of Indian husbandry.

The origin of the word is a Native American adaptation of the Spanish caballo, with the -s ending a noun form in Salishan languages. A variant adaptation, kiuatan, with a Sahaptian -tan ending, is the main word for "horse" or "pony" in the Chinook Jargon, although cayuse or cayoosh was also used in some areas. For this reason, some horses owned by Native American people were dubbed "cayuse," often with derogatory intent.

Although the settlers called most horses raised by the American Indians "cayuse ponies", the Cayuse Indian Pony of the Northwest is a distinct breed which originated in the 1800's. Its conformation and its background set it apart from the mustang, Spanish Barb or other wild horses.

Small and stocky, the Cayuse Indian Pony has high withers and an unusually long canon bone. In addition, its distinctly sloped pastern gives it a broken walking gait. Any rider, especially younger children, will find this an extremely pleasant and easy seat. 

Frederic Remington, who is famous for his artistic representations of the Old West, sketched many of the wild horses he found in the late 1800s. He described the Cayuse Indian Pony as "generally roan in color, with always a tendency this way, no matter how slight." Remington wrote that his subject was heavily muscled, and while only about fourteen hands high, was still very powerful.

 The Cayuse breed's history is obscure and difficult to trace.

It has been generally accepted that the Cayuse Indian Pony descended from the French-Norman horses imported into Canada in the 1600s. Most of these French horses were Percherons, which the Canadians used to improve their domestic breeds. The Percheron was a good choice -- it continues to be one of the only work horses which can easily trot for extended periods of time.

Years later, the French Canadians brought their horses into what is now American territory. It was recorded that they bartered their horses in St. Louis with the Pawnee Indians, who then took them further west. Eventually, the Indians crossed their sturdy French horses with the lighter Spanish Barbs to produce a horse which had not only speed, but endurance.

By the 1800s, the Cayuse Indian Pony had become a separate breed. The Cayuse Indians, known throughout the Northwest for their expert horsemanship, continued to develop this French-Spanish Barb strain through selective breeding.

Because the French horse had the ability to pass on its tendency for spots or a profusion of white markings, the Cayuse Indians were able to produce some very colorful horses. In fact, the Appaloosa, Paint and Pinto breeds have all been influenced by the blood of the Cayuse Indian Pony.

 Today, the Cayuse Indian Pony breed is seldom seen outside California.

Only a handful are even still in existence. Jeff Edwards, co-founder of the Wild Horse Research Center in Porterville, California has gradually been trying to rebuild a herd and protect it from extinction. Over 100 head of Cayuse Indian Ponies were lost several years ago when their pasture land was sprayed with a toxic herbicide.

 But the Wild Horse Research Center is optimistic about the breed's recovery. Recently, they donated a Cayuse Indian Pony to the Kentucky Horse Park near Lexington with the hope that more people could discover the saga if this unique horse. They are also working with one small stud bunch at the farm and anxiously await the spring foals each year.

The Center has also established a registry for wild horses and ponies possessing barb blood. The Cayuse Indian Pony can now be officially registered as one of the "Horse of the Americas" breeds. Edwards determined the purity of each horse based on its physical characteristics and charts researched by the Wild Horse Research Center.

 For additional information contact Jeff Edwards, Wild Horse Research Center, 248 N. Main Street, Porterville, California 93257

Inheritance of Curly Hair in Horses

Dominent curly horse gene

This is a theoretic genetic formula for how the dominant curly gene, the straight haired gene, and the recessive curly gene appear to interact. At the moment this is the best explanation we have that fits all the information we have. We do not yet have a DNA test for any "curly gene."





First, for a basic explanation of genetics, adapted from the UC Davis website:




In every living being, millions of instructions called 


Every cell contains two copies of each gene, one contributed at conception by the mother and one by the father. The gene sets contain similar, but not necessarily identical, information in each gene. For example, both genes in a set may contain instructions that determine hair structure, but one gene may contain the instructions for straight hair and the other for curly hair.


The alternative forms of each gene are called alleles.
If both alleles are identical, then the individual is Homozygous at that gene locus (location). If the alleles are dissimilar, then the individual is said to be Heterozygous for that gene set. Information about the homozygosity or heterozygosity for various genes can be inferred from information about parents and/or progeny and can be used for predicting the outcome of matings.


Often when the gene pair is heterozygous, one allele may be visibly expressed but the other is not. The expressed allele in a heterozygous pair is known as the Dominant allele and the unexpressed one as the Recessive allele. The term dominant is given an allele only to describe its relationship to related alleles, and is not to be taken as an indication of any kind of physical or temperamental strength of the allele or the individual possessing it. Likewise, possession of a recessive allele does not connote weakness.


In any individual expressing the dominant allele of a gene, it cannot be determined by looking at the individual whether the second allele is a dominant or recessive. The presence of a recessive allele may be masked by a dominant allele, which leads to the expression Hidden Recessive. A dominant alleles is never hidden by it.s recessive allele.


For simplicity in constructing models, geneticists symbolize genes by letters such as A, B, C and so on. A dominant allele of a gene can be symbolized by an italicized capital letter, e.g., A, and the recessive by an italicized lower case letter, e.g. a...



A workable genetic formula for equine hair structure:



  • C = dominant Curly gene

  • c = recessive straight allele in same location as dominant Curly gene


  • R = dominant Straight gene unrelated to straight gene at the C locus

  • r = recessive curly allele at same location as the dominant Straight gene

Options:


CC RR - Homozygous dominant curly, looks curly, always throws dominant curly foals. Has normal straight genes at recessive loci.


Cc RR - Heterozygous dominant curly, looks curly, has normal straight genes at recessive loci. Throws curly gene 50% of time.


CC Rr - Homozygous dominant, heterozygous recessive. Looks like a curly, can throw recessive curly if bred to another recessive carrier or recessive curly 50% of the time. Won't be able to tell when since all foals will be curly due to 100% transmission of a dominant curly gene.


Cc Rr - Heterozygous dominant and heterozygous recessive. Is dominant curly visibly, and can produce dominant curly foals off straight mares 50% of the time and can transmit recessive gene 50% of the time.


CC rr - Homozygous dominant & homozygous recessive. Curly coat. Will always throw curly foals and will always transmit one recessive curly gene.


Cc rr - Heterozygous dominant curly and homozygous recessive curly. Always curly coated, and always transmits a recessive gene, but only throws dominant gene 50% of the time, so can throw straights off non recessive curlies, or straight horses.


cc RR - Normal straight horse. No curly signs visible. Don't know about hypoallergenicity. Can't throw any curly gene.


cc Rr - Straight coated horse. Carries one recessive gene. If paired with a recessive curly or recessive curly carrier can throw a curly.


cc rr - Recessive curly. No dominant Curly gene, but two recessive curly ones. Will always throw a recessive curly gene, but will only parent a curly if the other parent also throws in a recessive curly gene.

Horse Trivia #15

Horses can see in two directions at once. Most of the time, a horse has monocular vision. This means a different image is seen by each eye so that a horse is seeing two different pictures at the same time.

Your horse can also have binocular vision. Binocular vision is when both eyes work together to see one picture (humans have binocular vision). A horse only has binocular vision when it is looking down its nose.

Your horse has a wide visual range. Your horse can see completely around its entire body except for two small blind spots. One directly in front of its face, underneath its head, and the other directly behind itself. This is why it's very important not to walk up, directly behind a horse - you are in its blind spot and if you startle it you can get kicked.

Horse Trivia #9

A newborn foals legs are already 80 to 90% of the length they will be when full grown. A foal is able to stand just one hour after birth. A foal can walk, trot, and run just two hours after birth.

Long Necks in Horses

A long neck for a horse is a neck that is much more than 1/3 the length of the horse.

Long necks are common, especially in Thoroughbreds, Saddlebreds, and Gaited Horses.

A long neck  may make it hard to balance the horse, and the horse may fatigue more quickly as a result of carrying too much weight on its front end.

Lengthy neck muscles are difficult to develop in size and strength. A long-necked horse needs broad withers to support the weight of head and neck.

It is easier for the horse to fall into the bend of an S-curve than to come through the bridle, which causes the horse to fall onto his inside shoulder. This makes him difficult for the rider to straighten.

The horse with a long neck  is best for jumping and speed sports (without quick changes of direction), or for straight line riding, like trail riding.