Breed Standards
Body Conformation
A medium size head with well-defined jaw and throatlatch. Wide set eyes with eyelashes that curl up. Ears that are short to medium in length with curls inside. The ears do not totally shed out in the summer. A medium length neck, deep at the base of the neck where it joins the base of the shoulder. Noticeably short back, deep through the girth. An appearance of a long under line and belly cut high in the flank. They have heavy boned legs and short cannon bone as compared to the forearm. Forequarters and hindquarters should be supple yet well muscled. They should have medium withers. The croup should be flat or with a shallow slope to the base of the tail. They should travel easily and smoothly.
Curly Charateristics
BODY: (Fine, soft hari)
- Ringlet (can be several inches long
- Marcel Wave (deep soft wave in the body coat)
- Crushed Velvet (soft dense pile of curls in body coat)
- Kinky - preferable
- Wavy
- Should shed all or partial in the summer
- Split mane (hangs on both sides of neck)
TAIL:
- Ringlets
- Wavy
- Should shed partial at the head of the tail in the summer. Some may shed tail completely
FETLOCKS:
- Curly - preferable
- Wavy
- Should shed in summer but still retain some long hairs
HOOVES:
- Almost perfectly round in shape
- Very hard and dense
- Proportioned to the size of the horse
SIZE AND WEIGHT:
- Average - 15 hands; there are some exceptions from 13.3 hands to 16 hands
- Average weight - 800 to 1000 lbs. Some Curlies may weigh up to 1200 lbs
UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS:
- Even-tempered disposition
- Quick pulse and respiration recovery
- Very dense bone in the legs
- Curly coat can be hypoallergenic. The hairs are round instead of flat. They are barbed or feathered underneath a microscope; they can be spun and woven. Testing proved the hair to be closely related to mohair, instead of horsehair.
- Can completely shed the mane and tail in the summer, only to grow back in the fall with the winter coat
- Noticeably short, strong back, indicating a five lumbar vertebrae
Due to the years of out crossing, you will find Curly Horses with different conformation, size and weight. This influence will probably continue for the next five to ten generations of Curly--to-Curly breeding.
* Information From ABC Registry website.