A number of years ago, my daughters Meraiah and Jezreel took our first Caspian colt to the Illinois State Horse Fair for a breed demonstration. They were ages 8 and 10 at the time. They worked very hard to select the music, (heard on our home page), and write the script themselves. We thought it fitting to present their script as a brief history of our breed. We have also included links to a number of other sites for more in depth information. Caspian Horse - An Endangered Breed By Meraiah Taylor and Jezreel Taylor Caspian horses are the most ancient breed of domestic horse. Standing about 11 hands high, they have all the beautiful features of the Arabian horse, only more refined and elegant. Carvings of these horses have been found in the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis and on the 550 B.C. seal of King Darius. Writings and carvings disappeared from history about 627 A.D. and the breed was thought to be extinct for more than 1300 years. In 1965, an American named Louise Firouz opened a riding school for children in Tehran, Iran. She had heard rumors of small, gentle, wild horses that lived in the remote mountainous area of northern Iran. Louise set out on horseback to try and locate some of these horses for her school. A small herd of horses was located in a 40 by 40 square mile area beneath a volcano. Louise immediately recognized these horses as the lost breed she had seen pictured on the ancient walls of Persepolis. Thirteen horses were brought back to the riding school and named "Caspian" because they had been located close to the Caspian Sea. Extensive genetic testing showed that these were the ancestral form of the Near Eastern Horse - forerunner to most hot blood breeds in existence today. Louise found Caspian horses to be excellent with children. They are gentle, intelligent, and obedient. They are great jumpers and superior show horses. HRH Prince Phillip became interested in Caspian horses after a visit to Louise's riding school in 1971. Concerned over dwindling numbers, Prince Phillip assisted in the exportation of a number of Caspians from 1971 through 1976. Political unrest and the Iran - Iraq war put remaining Caspian horses in danger. They were used for meat and to clear paths through mine fields. In 1992 there were 38 registered Iranian Caspian horses. In 1993, seven of these were smuggled from Iran through the Armenian war zone, Russia, Belarus, and finally to the U.K. These may well be the last Caspian horses to leave Iran due to the current political climate. Today there are fewer than 1300 Caspians worldwide, making them a critically endangered breed. |
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Caspian Horses
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| CHSA |
| Horse Illustrated |
| The International Caspian Horse Society |
