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Horses of the World
Horses of the World is a comprehensive, large-format overview of 570 breeds of domestic and extant wild horses, including hybrids between the two and between domestic breeds and other equids, such as zebras. This beautifully illustrated and detailed guide covers the origins of modern horses, anatomy and physiology, variation in breeds, and modern equestrian practices. The treatment of breeds is organized by country within broader geographical regions--from Eurasia through Australasia and to the Americas. Each account provides measurements (weight and height), distribution, origins and history, character and attributes, uses, and current status. Every breed is accompanied by superb color drawings--600 in total--and color photographs can be found throughout the book.
Describing and depicting every horse breed in existence, Horses of the World will be treasured by all who are interested in these gorgeous animals.
A unique large-format, field-guide approach that provides complete coverage of the world's 570 horse breeds
600 superb color illustrations showcasing every breed
Additional color photos and maps
Accessible text offers detailed information on each breed, including measurements, distribution, origins and history, character and attributes, uses, and current status
Describing and depicting every horse breed in existence, Horses of the World will be treasured by all who are interested in these gorgeous animals.
A unique large-format, field-guide approach that provides complete coverage of the world's 570 horse breeds
600 superb color illustrations showcasing every breed
Additional color photos and maps
Accessible text offers detailed information on each breed, including measurements, distribution, origins and history, character and attributes, uses, and current status
528 pages, Hardcover
Published May 9, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 17, 2023
Well and with regard to its all round comprehensiveness, Élise Rousseau's (and translated from the French by Teresa Lavender Fagan) 2017 Horses of the World (originally titled Tous les chevaux du monde: Près de 570 races et types décrits et illustrés) is pretty amazing and even rather awe-inspiring with its detailed overview of almost 570 breeds of both domestic and some extant wild horses (organised by country and by region, from Eurasia through Australasia and to the Americas and with for each horse breed measurements, distribution, history, character/attributes, uses both historic and current and finally conservation status being provided by Rousseau, and not just for horses either, since Horses of the World also showcases donkeys, zebras and is equally including mules and zorses, which of course are infertile hybrids between horses and donkeys and horses and zebras respectively).
And yes indeed, Horses of the World is also beautifully illustrated by Yann Le Bris, with each of the presented horse breeds getting its own very detailed picture, and with many photographs also being included in Horsed of the World, not for every featured horse, mind you, but more than enough to get a nice and adequate visual feel for domestic horses in general. But while some readers might well be a bit annoyed and dismayed that instead of using photographs for Horses of the World, Èloise Rousseau has instead decided to have drawings, has decided on Yann Le Bris providing illustrations (and only makes use of photographs rather occasionally throughout Horses of the World), I for one think that these illustrations actually do a better job visually showing and focussing on each breed than photographs would and primarily so since Le Bris' pictures are much more of a general visual depiction and thus actually for and to me give a considerably better and more factual visual of the featured horse breed than photographs and only photographs would (since even with specific breeds there are lots of variations).
But all of the above notwithstanding and albeit I do think Horses of the World provides an informative, extensive and also pretty much up to date survey of domestic horses (and on a global scale), personally speaking, I do have three main textual frustrations which prevent me from rating Éloise Rosseau's text (and of course by association Teresa Lavender Fagan's translation) with more than three stars.
For one and first and foremost, I do find it rather annoying that in the introduction to Horses of the World, Rousseau only very cursively writes about equine evolution and that she also basically does not bother pointing out how closely the domestication of the horse is related and linked to human migration and also to the all encompassing spread and worldwide supremacy of the Indo-European languages (something that I definitely would want and need in any book about horses and horse breeds). For two, the history and distribution information for the featured horse breeds are (at least for me and in my opinion) often a bit informationally lacking and are sometimes even somewhat misleading, with Éloise Rousseau quite too often leaving out and ignoring rather in my opinion necessary details (such as for example, in the section of Horses of the World on Trakehners, why does Rousseau not point out how the breed originated in East Prussia and was created by deliberately crossing the Tarpan like and now extinct Lithuanian Schweiken horse with mostly Thoroughbreds, Arabians and a few Anglo-Arabians). And finally, and for three (even if this is or might be true or even only partially so), I personally and emotionally speaking tend to find it rather offensive and horrible for Éloise Rousseau to repeatedly mention and claim in Horses of the World and also as something inherently positive, acceptable that in particular for countries like Austria, Switzerland and especially France how many draft horse breeds now being used for horse meat production instead of for agricultural work supposedly is rescuing these breeds from extinction (as sorry, even though I do realise that in many countries, horse meat is regularly eaten, I for one find this quite problematic, quite personally uncomfortable and something that I would rather not have to read about in such a laudatory and accepting manner).
And yes indeed, Horses of the World is also beautifully illustrated by Yann Le Bris, with each of the presented horse breeds getting its own very detailed picture, and with many photographs also being included in Horsed of the World, not for every featured horse, mind you, but more than enough to get a nice and adequate visual feel for domestic horses in general. But while some readers might well be a bit annoyed and dismayed that instead of using photographs for Horses of the World, Èloise Rousseau has instead decided to have drawings, has decided on Yann Le Bris providing illustrations (and only makes use of photographs rather occasionally throughout Horses of the World), I for one think that these illustrations actually do a better job visually showing and focussing on each breed than photographs would and primarily so since Le Bris' pictures are much more of a general visual depiction and thus actually for and to me give a considerably better and more factual visual of the featured horse breed than photographs and only photographs would (since even with specific breeds there are lots of variations).
But all of the above notwithstanding and albeit I do think Horses of the World provides an informative, extensive and also pretty much up to date survey of domestic horses (and on a global scale), personally speaking, I do have three main textual frustrations which prevent me from rating Éloise Rosseau's text (and of course by association Teresa Lavender Fagan's translation) with more than three stars.
For one and first and foremost, I do find it rather annoying that in the introduction to Horses of the World, Rousseau only very cursively writes about equine evolution and that she also basically does not bother pointing out how closely the domestication of the horse is related and linked to human migration and also to the all encompassing spread and worldwide supremacy of the Indo-European languages (something that I definitely would want and need in any book about horses and horse breeds). For two, the history and distribution information for the featured horse breeds are (at least for me and in my opinion) often a bit informationally lacking and are sometimes even somewhat misleading, with Éloise Rousseau quite too often leaving out and ignoring rather in my opinion necessary details (such as for example, in the section of Horses of the World on Trakehners, why does Rousseau not point out how the breed originated in East Prussia and was created by deliberately crossing the Tarpan like and now extinct Lithuanian Schweiken horse with mostly Thoroughbreds, Arabians and a few Anglo-Arabians). And finally, and for three (even if this is or might be true or even only partially so), I personally and emotionally speaking tend to find it rather offensive and horrible for Éloise Rousseau to repeatedly mention and claim in Horses of the World and also as something inherently positive, acceptable that in particular for countries like Austria, Switzerland and especially France how many draft horse breeds now being used for horse meat production instead of for agricultural work supposedly is rescuing these breeds from extinction (as sorry, even though I do realise that in many countries, horse meat is regularly eaten, I for one find this quite problematic, quite personally uncomfortable and something that I would rather not have to read about in such a laudatory and accepting manner).
April 1, 2021
I'm in a pony phase again and this hit the spot.
August 29, 2025
what a fantastic look into so many horse breeds - covered so many breeds that these sort of books usually don’t cover.
in particular, i really appreciated how this book did not take a eurocentric view, recognised the inherent value of different horses across the world - the value we place on certain traits/characteristics is so subjective - different things are valued in different parts of the world and for so many different reasons - recreation, work, meat, milk etc
loved how the breeds were sorted by country/location. it was so interesting learning about so many new breeds and horses in different cultures!! appreciated that there was a bit of general context about horses in each country though i would have loved more of this general information about the culture of horses etc.
- as the author points out, there is inherent value in every breed… “i will never be prepared to give up the cleveland bay, nor any of is fellow bearers of manes”
- “every one of these 567 different kinds of horses exists only because one day humans decided they would. and setting off to discover the horses of the world is also setting off to discover the people who breed them… each breed tells us something about the region that created it… and when a breed disappears a whole part of humanity’s history is extinguished”
- “some criteria and prejudices that are well anchored in the west have little meaning elsewhere”
- “to set off to discover the horses of the world is to take off the blinders and open your mind. each horse everywhere on the planet has its purpose”
- “As I got to know them, discovering the least known among them, the small, the common, the forsaken, I became convinced that no breed is superior to any other. That, beyond economic considerations, a Quarter Horse of good lineage has no more value than a horse from Sable Island. That a priceless Thoroughbred is no more important than one of the last horses on the Faroe Islands. And that the anonymous enthusiasts who are trying to save the Losina, the horse of Auvergne, or the Marwari; or Tatiana, who in the heart of Siberia breeds Transbaikals, with their curly hair, their primitive marking on their shoulder-those people from the four corners of the globe who, over the years, have spoken to me about their horses with such passion and humility, are all as important as the equestrian stars who enthrall their audiences. After completing this guide I believe even less than before in equestrian norms. Equine diversity-and the diversity among riders, as well-is essential and precious.”
- “do we still need the horses that are disappearing?… what really matters in saving condors and their like is not so much that we need consorts, as that we need to develop the human qualities that are necessary to save them. because those are the very qualities we will need to save ourselves”.
some interesting facts
- hairs on horse nose/eyes/chin = vibrissae (sensorial hairs)
- chestnuts/ergots = vestiges of a toe
- lots of equestrian disciplines not aware of/only know a little about - buzkashi, yoseikan bajutsu, yabusame, side saddle, haute école, TREC trekking competition
- double mane is a thing
- wish i had done more horse tourism when travelling!!!
- so many countries eat horses/drink their milk
- equestrianism banned by khmer rogue in 1970s cambodia
- in the phillipines, they often dye the manes/forelocks of white horses pink for tourists
- west africa faces unique challenges for horses - tsetse fly and african horse sickness + zebra dominates
- horse disappeared around 12k years ago until brought in the 16th century by colonialists in north america
- different gear in different countries - different saddles, bridles, stirrups etc.
- sad to see how many extinct breeds there are/how many are close to extinct
my favourite breeds
- UK: eriskay pony (grey ponies, only around 420 left, island in scotland), welsh mountain pony, connemara
- europe: camargue (france), haflingers and lipizzans (austria), noriker (austria; only spotted draft horse), friesian dutch
- all the danish horses - faroe islands pony, kanbstrup (always spotted and often with striated hooves)
- tarpan
- russia has so many interesting horses: lots of curly haired ponies (transbaikal, yakutian, bashkir); altai (cool colouring - often spotted with dorsal stripe/zebra markings; orlov trotter (dappled grey)
- middle east: can’t ignore just how beautiful the arabian is!! (fun fact = some arabs have only 5 lumbar vertebrae and 17 pairs of ribs instead of 6 and 8 = short back and flanks); deliboz (have folded/forked tongues!); caspian (iran)
- lokai - also curly coat/mane/tail (tajikistan)
- the curved ears of many of the horses of the indian subcontinent!! - baluch, kathiawari, marwari
- noma - another tiny grey pony found in japan <3 face darker/lighter than hair surrounding eyes/cheeks
- nooitgedacht pony- grey pony found in south Africa
- north america: sable island horse (canada), pony of the americas (spotted), pintoarabian (coloured ararbian), tiger horse (spotted like leopard, striated hooves), north american curly house (curly hide/mane/tail), appaloosa (spotted horses <3)
- moyle horse - has two small bumps on forehead (unicorn vibes hehe - i wonder what actually from??)
- some other pretty colours: american cream and white horse, camarillo white, palomino, pinto
- falabella (argentina) - can’t get past this tiny spotted horse hehe <3
- the australian brumby - various types, complexities of causing environmental damage and how to best deal with them
in particular, i really appreciated how this book did not take a eurocentric view, recognised the inherent value of different horses across the world - the value we place on certain traits/characteristics is so subjective - different things are valued in different parts of the world and for so many different reasons - recreation, work, meat, milk etc
loved how the breeds were sorted by country/location. it was so interesting learning about so many new breeds and horses in different cultures!! appreciated that there was a bit of general context about horses in each country though i would have loved more of this general information about the culture of horses etc.
- as the author points out, there is inherent value in every breed… “i will never be prepared to give up the cleveland bay, nor any of is fellow bearers of manes”
- “every one of these 567 different kinds of horses exists only because one day humans decided they would. and setting off to discover the horses of the world is also setting off to discover the people who breed them… each breed tells us something about the region that created it… and when a breed disappears a whole part of humanity’s history is extinguished”
- “some criteria and prejudices that are well anchored in the west have little meaning elsewhere”
- “to set off to discover the horses of the world is to take off the blinders and open your mind. each horse everywhere on the planet has its purpose”
- “As I got to know them, discovering the least known among them, the small, the common, the forsaken, I became convinced that no breed is superior to any other. That, beyond economic considerations, a Quarter Horse of good lineage has no more value than a horse from Sable Island. That a priceless Thoroughbred is no more important than one of the last horses on the Faroe Islands. And that the anonymous enthusiasts who are trying to save the Losina, the horse of Auvergne, or the Marwari; or Tatiana, who in the heart of Siberia breeds Transbaikals, with their curly hair, their primitive marking on their shoulder-those people from the four corners of the globe who, over the years, have spoken to me about their horses with such passion and humility, are all as important as the equestrian stars who enthrall their audiences. After completing this guide I believe even less than before in equestrian norms. Equine diversity-and the diversity among riders, as well-is essential and precious.”
- “do we still need the horses that are disappearing?… what really matters in saving condors and their like is not so much that we need consorts, as that we need to develop the human qualities that are necessary to save them. because those are the very qualities we will need to save ourselves”.
some interesting facts
- hairs on horse nose/eyes/chin = vibrissae (sensorial hairs)
- chestnuts/ergots = vestiges of a toe
- lots of equestrian disciplines not aware of/only know a little about - buzkashi, yoseikan bajutsu, yabusame, side saddle, haute école, TREC trekking competition
- double mane is a thing
- wish i had done more horse tourism when travelling!!!
- so many countries eat horses/drink their milk
- equestrianism banned by khmer rogue in 1970s cambodia
- in the phillipines, they often dye the manes/forelocks of white horses pink for tourists
- west africa faces unique challenges for horses - tsetse fly and african horse sickness + zebra dominates
- horse disappeared around 12k years ago until brought in the 16th century by colonialists in north america
- different gear in different countries - different saddles, bridles, stirrups etc.
- sad to see how many extinct breeds there are/how many are close to extinct
my favourite breeds
- UK: eriskay pony (grey ponies, only around 420 left, island in scotland), welsh mountain pony, connemara
- europe: camargue (france), haflingers and lipizzans (austria), noriker (austria; only spotted draft horse), friesian dutch
- all the danish horses - faroe islands pony, kanbstrup (always spotted and often with striated hooves)
- tarpan
- russia has so many interesting horses: lots of curly haired ponies (transbaikal, yakutian, bashkir); altai (cool colouring - often spotted with dorsal stripe/zebra markings; orlov trotter (dappled grey)
- middle east: can’t ignore just how beautiful the arabian is!! (fun fact = some arabs have only 5 lumbar vertebrae and 17 pairs of ribs instead of 6 and 8 = short back and flanks); deliboz (have folded/forked tongues!); caspian (iran)
- lokai - also curly coat/mane/tail (tajikistan)
- the curved ears of many of the horses of the indian subcontinent!! - baluch, kathiawari, marwari
- noma - another tiny grey pony found in japan <3 face darker/lighter than hair surrounding eyes/cheeks
- nooitgedacht pony- grey pony found in south Africa
- north america: sable island horse (canada), pony of the americas (spotted), pintoarabian (coloured ararbian), tiger horse (spotted like leopard, striated hooves), north american curly house (curly hide/mane/tail), appaloosa (spotted horses <3)
- moyle horse - has two small bumps on forehead (unicorn vibes hehe - i wonder what actually from??)
- some other pretty colours: american cream and white horse, camarillo white, palomino, pinto
- falabella (argentina) - can’t get past this tiny spotted horse hehe <3
- the australian brumby - various types, complexities of causing environmental damage and how to best deal with them
May 11, 2018
Winner of the 2018 Outstanding Reference Sources Award. For a complete list of Outstanding Reference Sources Award winners, please visit http://www.rusaupdate.org/awards/outs....
December 27, 2021
This is a remarkable book, thoroughly researched, with wonderful illustrations. It is truly a pleasure to learn about so many breeds of horses unfamiliar to me. Thank you Elise, Yann, and Teresa; your efforts are appreciated.
February 4, 2025
Honestly really well written and informative, i’ve not the biggest horse lover but this was interesting to read
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews