What are the main horse breeds?

There are hundreds of horse breeds worldwide, but most fall into three broad groups. Hot-bloods, Arabians and Thoroughbreds among them, are light, quick and highly strung, bred originally for speed and endurance. Cold-bloods are the heavy draught breeds: Shires, Clydesdales, and their kin, built for pulling weight rather than covering ground fast. Warmbloods sit between the two, developed by crossing hot- and cold-blood stock to produce the athletic, level-tempered horses that dominate modern dressage and showjumping.

Then there are ponies, which aren't simply small horses: they're their own category, typically stockier and hardier for their size. Within each group sit dozens of individual breeds, each shaped by the region and job it was bred for. If you're buying for someone with a specific breed in mind, our gifts for equestrians collection covers every one of them, and it's worth reading what makes a Thoroughbred different from the rest.

Height and cost are the other two basics. British yards give a height in hands rather than centimetres, which is its own small puzzle: see how tall a horse is in hands. And what a horse costs turns almost entirely on where the horse lives.

Written by Craig Fearn, Stable & Hoof. Last updated 2 September 2026.