Introducing an article by Jeanne Walsh
Most of our members will know the history of our club, the Appaloosa Horse Club UK (ApHC UK) which was formed in early 2000 by a small group of enthusiasts led by our late founder member Joyce Nutland, owner of the Amazing Appaloosa Stud in the UK. The main objective being to set up an international club, affiliated to the mother-breed, The Appaloosa Horse Club of America (ApHC). The aim being to preserve and promote the Appaloosa horse in the UK, in accordance with the rules and principles of the ApHC which was established in the USA in 1938. The ApHC UK is a charity and limited company registered in the UK and is a separate organisation to the ApHC USA.
The history of the Appaloosa breed is an interesting one and today we continue to learn about the development of the breed and its early influences including the spotted horses brought over by early Spanish settlers to the Americas. “More recent genetic research suggests that early predecessors of the Appaloosa may have travelled from Asia over the land bridge. Regardless of the direction of the migration, the Appaloosa eventually found its home among the plains of the Palouse region in the west of the United States” (Reference the 2026 ApHC Handbook’). You can read more interesting facts about the fascinating history of the breed in the ApHC’s current published Handbook on their website www.appaloosa.com. You don’t have to be a USA member to access it.
The following is an extract from our own published book which is part of the J Allen Guide – The Appaloosa, published in the UK in 2009.
“The Appaloosa has a bold and colourful ancestry, which can be traced back to earliest recorded time. Spotted horses were depicted in cave paintings of prehistoric man, and many colourfully marked horses appear in art throughout the centuries, but it is in the American ‘melting pot’ that the spotted horse established itself as a true breed.”
The ApHC USA established a breed register to rebuild the dangerously low numbers of horses before the Appaloosa horse in America was lost forever. In doing so they allowed breeding to main register horses on three permitted outcross registers: Quarter horses, Thoroughbreds and Arabs in order to re-establish the breed which are still permitted today.
In the UK we follow the rules of the ApHC USA and any Appaloosa registered with a USA American certificate is automatically eligible to be registered with us on our USA (A) register. As the Appaloosa breed has grown and increased in popularity around the world including here in the UK, it has become the norm for our UK breeders to breed Appy x Appy with some specialising specifically in breeding FPD (Foundation Pedigree Designation) Appaloosas. The ApHC USA runs approved FPD classes which we affiliate to and include in our UK national show schedule. This is to specifically recognise and also show-case these FPD Foundation Appaloosas with their own UK Supreme Championship. If you are interested in finding out more about the FPD scheme and would like to know if your own USA registered Appy is eligible, you will find an FPD calculator on the ApHC USA website.
At the time the ApHC UK was established in 2000, it was acknowledged by our founding members that many of the Appaloosa horses in the UK were not derived from American bloodlines but owe their origins more to the spotted horses and ponies of Europe, many of which had also been out-crossed with Thoroughbreds, Arabs and some other imported breeds. The founders also recognised that many of these horses had been acknowledged as Appaloosas for many years in the UK. Consequently, the ApHC UK established a second register, the B (British) register, now known as our UK register, for Appaloosas of proven Appaloosa pedigree (or approved out-crossing) but which are not registered with the ApHC USA.
These registers have served the club very well over the past 25 years and have allowed the two main strands of our bloodlines to develop alongside each other in harmony, with many horses over the years being dual registered with shared pedigrees. It makes for an inclusive and versatile club offering activities and disciplines across all our registers. We strive hard to cater for everyone at our national show and within our club. We hold inhand/halter breed classes for all registers with ridden classes taking place in both English and Western disciplines that are open to all registers, both USA and UK. Many of our Appaloosas have demonstrated their true versality by taking part in both English & Western disciplines. This approach applies equally to our annual Performance Schemes, Registers of Merit, Most Versatile Awards and the Saddle Log Programme.
With this history in mind, it is extremely interesting to read the following article written by recent ApHC UK member, Jeanne Walsh about her experiences being part of the British Appaloosa Society in the early years and the development of the ‘melting pot’ of the British Appaloosa horses in the UK.
We hope you enjoy Jeanne’s article. Jean has kindly provided her email address. If you would like the opportunity to learn more about these early bloodlines in the UK please do contact Jean directly. Please note that for legal privacy reasons neither Jean or any breed society will be able to provide you with any individual’s personal data including breeders, owners, past owners or any other person subject to GDPR Regulations.
We would like to be able to publish more articles in the newsletter from our members about themselves, their experiences and their Appaloosas. If you would like to submit an article please email our Marketing Director, Lil Duncombe on marketing@aphcuk.org.
The ApHC UK Celebrating: The Appaloosa, The breed of choice.
Introductory Article by Jeanne Walsh:-
Hi everyone! I’m Jeanne Walsh,
I am a long-time Appy supporter. I joined the ApHC UK as a member a couple of years ago, but historically, most of my support has been with BApS. I wasn’t quite a founder member of that Society (membership number 460), but I was instrumental with Michael Howkins in introducing their grading system in the 1980’s. Up until early 2000, there was one Society in the UK and my interest focuses on those early years, which are a shared heritage of both organisations.
I have my own database of registered horses, compiled not just of BApS registrations but also the previous Society called The British Spotted Horse and Pony Society, inaugurated in 1943!
I am therefore able to conduct pedigree research on those early horses which many of you will have in the pedigrees of your current horses.
Sadly, the source material for my studies dried up when stock registers stopped being published. There was a time when I could look at a horse in the showring, check its sire and dam from the show programme and then be able to run its entire pedigree in my head!
I can’t do that now, which means for me at least, I don’t know what I’m looking at in the showring anymore!
However, I have thousands of photographs from those early days, and a wealth of information compiled from visiting breeders from Inverness to Penzance, and I welcome the opportunity to share some of that with you in this Newsletter. I am also very happy to take requests for pedigree information that predate the earliest horses stated in your horses’ passports. (My email address is below).
For now, what I would like to do is to profile some of the earliest horses and I will start next time with the fascinating story of Spangled Prince, who was foaled in 1961. He was registered with the British Spotted Horse and Pony Society in 1962 following his arrival from Denmark. He was one of the colourful Knabstruppers that helped establish the British bloodlines in those early years.
Until next time…….
Jeanne Walsh. Email: jeanneyvonne.tss@btinternet.com
