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As I mentioned in my earlier post there is the International Buckskin Horse Association, but many horseman argue the validity of this "breed". As it is essentially horses bred for color.
It really is hard to describe what is a breed and what is not. After all the Paint horse "breed" started out by breeding horses with the "paint" color together. I think many Paints look very similar to other breeds, but it is because they come from other breeds and are "usually" bred just for color. If I remember correctly(and I may be wrong) many of those registered Paints were Quarter Horses with too much white.
Palomino goes through the same thing and I'm sure there are other breed/color arguments. LOL
If the Buckskins used by Canadian police are registered and have a standard, why wouldn't they be a breed?
-Kim
This does bring up thoughts of the paint horse association doesn't it? I know some old horseman who still won't acknowledge paint horses. They consider them mutt horses. Most folks these days would say that they are a wonderful breed that does well both in show and performance. The APHA was created from horses that were kicked out of the AQHA due to the old "white rule". Now of course the white rule has changed, but it isn't such an issue anymore. Rarely is a reg. qh born with any unacceptable white, but it was a huge issue for many years when the breed was being established. The APHA was opened up and pintos (mustangs) were allowed in, if their markings met the requirements...hence the "mutt horse" attitude during the early days. The truth is that the foundation q/h were probably as much mustang as anything else, noone knows. They called inspectors out to look at the horses and the inspectors decided if they were good enough to register. There was no lineage, no pedigrees. Look at the old pictures of King's Peppy, Poco Bueno, Three Bars and Hancock. They weren't the lean, small headed breed that is so picturesque today. They were pretty stocky and, even mule headed in some cases, but bred down to a beautiful breed.