Horse Types – Warmbloods, Cold Bloods and Hot Bloods

The three general categories of horses are warm blood, cold blood and hot blood. Each of the hundreds of different horse breeds fits into one of these categories.

Cold Blood. In Europe, horses were originally bred for farm work and as working horses. Their main function was to pull things (e.g. plow, cart, barges, forest logs). They were bred for strength and endurance, able to pull heavy objects and to work many hours each day. This resulted in breeds with big muscles, on heavy frames, with large joints. Such horses also needed to be calm an obedient; the last thing you wanted was a horse running off with a cart or farm equipment. Their coats, manes and tail hair were thick and long to protect them from the European winters. Such horses are not fast, but are very solid working horses. Sample breeds are the Shire and the Clydesdale.

Hot bloods originated mainly from the middle-east and other warm climates, where they were used for racing and riding. Instead of the cold breed qualities of power and docility, the hot bloods were bred for speed or distance riding, so had lighter legs and bodies. Due to the warmth of their native climates, they had shorter hair in their coats, manes and tails. Likewise, their blood vessels are nearer the skin surface to allow heat to be dissipated better. In temperament they are energetic and spirited, with a desire to run. Perhaps the best known breeds in this category are the Arabian (ancestor of many modern hot blood breeds) and the Thoroughbred (also used as part of the breeding program for many other breeds).

Warm Blood (also known as warmblood). These breeds fall between hot and cold bloods in terms of both build and temperament. In some cases, the breeds have originated by crossing a cold blood breed with a hot blood breed. They have an athletic build and performance similar to a hot blood, but a calmer disposition and easy trainability which one associates with a cold blood. Due to their physical characteristics and solid temperament, they are used mainly for riding and sports (e.g. show jumping, dressage). Example warm blood breeds are the Friesian and Hanoverian.

These three terms (cold, hot, warm) of course refer to their climate of origin and their temperament, not to the temperature of their blood. All horses have approximately the same body and blood temperatures (about 38C or 100.5F) and as mammals they are all ‘warm blooded’ from a biological classification perspective.

Over time, the requirements for horses changes. As farm work has been taken over by tractors and transport by cars, the breeding objectives have been more towards sports and pleasure riding. In this environment, the warmbloods (and perhaps to a lesser extent the hot bloods) have been somewhat more successful that the cold bloods. Fortunately, a number of cart pulling and other heavy sports have been created to support these breeds. In addition, the calm and stable nature of the cold bloods has made them particularly popular with many children and less confident horse riders.

The above article Warmblood and Cold Blood Horses was written by Duber Stewart