A couple Appaloosa horses pause during their breakfast to look up at me as I stop to photograph them and the red barn they are standing against for shelter from the wind. These two beautiful horses are on a small farm near the eastern Washington town of Pullman on Whelan Road. Appaloosa horses as a breed were found among the Nez Perce (a Native American Indian Tribe) in the area of the Palouse by the Lewis and Clark Expedition and Lewis noted in his diary on February 15, 1806: …’their horses appear to be of an excellent race; they are lofty eligantly formed active and durable; in Short maney of them look like the fine English coursers and would make a figure in any country. Some of those horses in pided with large spots of white irrigularly scattered and intermixed with black, brown, Bey or Some other dark colour, but much the larger portion are of a uniform Colour…’ It is thought that the name was derived from ‘a palouse,’ which became ‘appaloosa.’ Today the Appaloosa is a sought after breed for pleasure riding, dressage, and working cow horses. They are prized for their gentle dispositions and reliability.
As a girl, from the time I could walk until age 13, I rode a horse almost every day of my life. The sheer pleasure of the feeling of movement beyond your own two feet and the warmth and companionship of the mare stand out very strong in my memory. Over the years I had several horses, but my favorite was a quarter horse named Lady. She was a beautiful dappled chestnut bay, an ex-cutting horse she worked all her life until she became mine. Over time, I discovered if I made a motion with my arm (like twirling a rope overhead) she would stop and stand still until I walked up to her. One day while goofing around I told her ‘Kiss Me,’ and she nuzzled my face, after that discovery we shared ‘kisses’ often! Lady and I spent many, many hours together riding all over our area, even as far away as downtown Kent and Auburn which were about a fifteen mile ride round trip, rain shine or bitter cold, we were inseparable. During the summers when huckleberries were ripe, she would let me stand on her back to pick the berries from bushes growing on top of tall (6′) tree stumps left in the clearings from days gone by when the land was cleared for pasture. Sweet memories… what about you, did you have a horse or animal companion growing up that you cherished?
oh, they’re pretty and wooly!
They are pretty aren’t they? And wooly, yes, it actually was early spring when I shot this… cold and they still had their winter coats!
I have only ever seen one Appaloosa horse in Haninge. Beautiful horses they are.
The are beautiful! Appaloosas are not uncommon here in the U.S., but I’m not sure how prevalent they are around the world.
Beautiful horses. Wonderful memories of Lady.
Yes… I think Appaloosas are some of the most beautiful horses, their coloring is outstanding! And my childhood memories are sweet… the grand feeling of such freedom and never being alone.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen horses like that, that one on the right looks like the dalmation of the horse world.
How cool it would be to see them in person.
Love a horse, any horse… but Appaloosas are some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen… these were heavily spotted, some have the white rump only with spots… Google ‘Appaloosas,’ and look at some images you’ll see what I mean!
I have a soft spot for horses, my sister kept then when we were growing up. These really are very pretty horses. Not thought about it till now but there is or was one about a mile or so from here and he could be an appaloosa, similar lovely colouring and as Shannon said just like a dalmatian.
Sounds like you have some wonderful memories about horses too! If the horse looks like a dalmatian (small spots) it probably is an Appaloosa.