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A North American Curly Horse, aka an American Bashkir Curly Horse, or American Curly Horse is a relatively rare type of horse, whose winter coat is curly; anything from a super tight microcurl, to a marcelle or sand dune wave, or a ringlet, or a minimally expressed curl just in certain areas of their bodies. Manes and forelocks can be corkscrew, ringlet or dreadlock; ear hair, whiskers, eyelashes and fetlock hairs are wavy to curly. In spring, Curlies shed out to straight or wavy short coats. A few will also shed mane and tail hairs, to grow them back again in the fall.

Curly Horses were orignally discovered by white men in the mustang herds of eastern Nevada, in the late 1800s. These Curlies were rounded up, along with other mustangs, and trained to be ranch horses. They proved in many cases to be easier and faster to train than the other mustangs - also hardier, able to survive even the fiercest winters that would kill many of the other wild and domestic horses. The ranchers began breeding from the Curlies to improve their ranch stock. From these Western Curlies come many of today's Curlies, bred in different directions for different uses. There are still Curly horses in the wild mustang herds; they are occasionally rounded up and offered for adoption, though some are turned back loose into the wild in order to help perpetuate the curly gene there.

Research has shown that there have also been curly haired horses in other parts of the country, and the world. The Crow and Sioux Indians kept curly horses, considering them sacred; there are descendants of these Native Curlies in some Curly lines today. Charles Darwin reported seeing curly haired horses in South America when he was doing research there, and there is evidence showing curly horses in China and Russia; and a curly herd in South Africa has recently been reported. Whether these curly horses are genetically related to our North American Curly Horses, or whether there were separate mutations causing the curly coats in these different populations of horses is unknown; scientific research is currently being planned to discover more about the curly gene.

So why curly horses? Why are they perpetuated today? Many reasons. Curlies are often hypoallergenic for people who are allergic to straight haired horses. Research to discover why this is is ongoing, but it has been a dream come true for many horse-allergic people to finally be able to be around a horse without suffering. The Curly generally has a very calm tractable disposition, easy to control and train, so they are useful for beginners who haven't been able to be around horses because of allergies.

Curlies have also shown their mettle in a variety of horse disciplines, at the higher levels - two Curlies have been U.S. Dressage Federation Horses of the Year, and are currently doing Intermediare and Grand Prix work. Other Curlies have excelled in Western and English sports, driving, sidesaddle, competitive trail, etc. The only two disciplines Curlies haven't been bred for so far are racing, and the high stepping Park horses.

Because the curly gene is dominant (except in the case of the recessive curly gene discussed below), outcrossing often produces a curly coated foal, with the desirable curly traits of good bone and hooves, nice forward movement, hardy constitutions, and tractable dispositions. Arabian, Morgan, Quarter Horse, Missouri Fox Trotter, and Appaloosa blood have been added over the years to different lines, and Warmblood, Thoroughbred, and Shagya blood are occasionally added now to produce a good, sound, level-headed sporthorse Curly. Pony, miniature horse, and draft breeds have been occasionally added as well, so Curlies can be found from mini to Warmblood or draft size, though their normal size is around 15HH. They come in all colors. About 10 percent of Curlies have a smooth intermediate gait, the Missouri Fox Trot being the most common, but the running walk and stepping pace are seen as well in the gaited Curlies, who make wonderful riding horses for people who must or prefer to avoid the jar of the trot.

Curlies require normal care. They generally do very well living outside, and are usually easy keepers. They can often do without shoes, and don't need blanketing in the winter. Winter curls are their trademark, so Curlies aren't usually clipped in the winter, except perhaps for a trace clip for hardworking horses, to allow them faster cooling. Curlies are usually left their ear hairs, whiskers, and fetlock hairs; again, these curly areas are a trademark of the breed. For people who prefer natural horsekeeping, the Curlies are ideal - they look wonderful in the winter in their natural coats, and do well with good basic natural care, but not pampering.

There is a recessive curly gene seen in some breeds as well. Missouri Fox Trotters, Quarter Horses, Appaloosas, Arabians, Morgans, Pasos, Standardbreds, and some others, occasionally will throw a "sport" curly from two straight haired parents. In the past, some breeders culled these curly foals, thinking they were somehow defective, and not realizing that this was simply a coat variation in the breed. These days, more and more breeders are realizing that curly foals in their breed are normal healthy animals, and are treating them the same as their other foals. We hope this trend will continue.

Our dominant Curly horses can also occasionally throw straight haired foals. It is believed the gene for the curly coat is a simple dominant, with perhaps a variety of genes that affect the expression of the curly traits. A homozygous curly, one that carries curly genes on both alleles of the coat gene, will always throw a curly, whether the other parent is curly or straight haired. Heterozygous Curlies (those with a curly gene and a straight haired gene on their coat gene alleles) can sometimes throw straight foals. These straights do often carry the desireable curly traits, just without the curls. Some people who want the curly traits but don't need or care for the curls, especially treasure the straight Curlies.

There are two Registries for Curly Horses in the United States. The recently developed International Curly Horse Organization (ICHO) registers all North American Curly horses, placing them in dominant, recessive, straight, dominant/recessive combined, or unknown Divisions. They are also offering registrations for curly horses around the world, both for any native curly horses found anywhere, and for the numerous North American Curlies that have been exported - they are gaining a real foothold in Europe at the moment, for instance. Various Associations within the Registry are being planned, these to include Sporthorse, Western, Mustang/BLM, Gaited, Pony, and Draft; horses can be submitted for inspection and evaluation, for inclusion in these Associations, whose goal is to help breeders improve their Curly horses for these various disciplines and types. Association membership is entirely voluntary for the owner of any Curly Horse- as stated before, the ICHO will register all curly haired horses of any type, and their first generation straight haired offspring, in the General Registry. Association status can follow from there if the owner desires, and the horse qualifies.

For further information, the ICHO website address is http://www.curlyhorses.org/.

The American Bashkir Curly Registry (ABCR) was the original registry, founded in the early 1970s to help preserve and protect curlies. The ABCR has recently added restrictions on the registering of Curly Horses with them. The website address for the ABCR is http://www.abcregistry.org/.

"Ride the Wave" is the slogan of many Curly Horse afficianados. And we do!