As breeders of American Bashkir Curly horses, we get many requests for information about our unusual and gentle animals. We hope the following information proves helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to call or Email. We frequently introduce people to our horses. If you'd like to visit us, please call in advance to make sure we'll be here.

Basic Information

Curly horses are an average size, approximately 15 hands and close to 1,000 pounds. They are good for riding, packing, harness work, and have a very smooth gait. Many Curlies have an extended walk. They are sure-footed on the trail like a mule and love to go places with their humans. Their gentle temperament makes them wonderful companions for young people. Because of their smooth gait, some people with hip replacements have switched to Curlies and have been able to ride in comfort once again.

At this time (2001), Celtic Curlies has seven Curly horses -- one stallion and six adult mares. We offer stud service in the spring and sell foals in the fall, usually around October. Our stallion is JC's Jubilee, (ABC P-1002F), a buckskin with four white socks born in 1989. Our mares are Mae Anne, (ABC P-356F), a dapple gray born in 1986; Ebony Zarina, (ABC S-582), a black born in 1982; Epona, (ABC P-1544F), a palomino pinto born in 1992; Arwen, (ABC P-1595F), a buckskin born in 1993; Cerridwen, (ABC P-1938F), a chestnut born in 1995: and ND Sassy, (ABC P-974), a flaxen sorrel born in 1987.

We firmly believe in socializing our horses together and letting them be horses. Jubilee lives with the mares and foals and would never think of hurting them. He's so calm that we can be in the pasture with him when he's breeding, and, if necessary, halter him and take him away from the mare without a fuss. We've met several other Curly stallions and have found them all to be like that. Unless a Curly is abused, it will remain a gentle, loving animal that wants to be with people. The mares are just as mellow as the stallions.

We breed for disposition and temperament, not for conformation, although all our horses have the typical Curly physique of short, thick neck and thickset chest and legs.

Curlies in America were discovered in 1898 by Peter Damele and his father while riding in the Peter Hanson mountain range in the high country of central Nevada, but the Damele family didn't start breeding them seriously until after the severe winters of 1936 and '48. Although the harsh weather killed most of the wild horses living in the mountains, those with stocky builds and long, curly coats seemed unaffected. The Dameles started breeding these curly-coated horses to their own stock to see what would happen. Many Curlies in America can be traced to the Damele herd. No satisfactory answer has been found for how such horses appeared in America. The mystery remains to this day.

Physical Differences From Other Breeds

A CURLY COAT -- In the winter, Curly horses grow a thick curly coat to keep warm. It sheds out in the spring, including some or all of the mane and tail. The colder the weather, the longer the curls will get. Curlies raised in Alaska get curls up to six inches long, sometimes more, while our horses, raised in the Pacific Northwest, only grow an inch or two.

The length and tightness of the curl is variable. In our herd, we have one horse that looks like crushed velvet even in the summer, while the others have coats that look almost like that of a normal horse -- except for the short mane and tail. Curly tails can sometimes be long. Some Curly breeders say that a very short tail indicates that the horse is more "pure" and closer to the original Curly stock.

In the summer, the only way to tell a Curly is by curls in the ears and behind the fetlocks. Curly foals are born with curls inside the ears and with curly eyelashes. The fetlocks grow out later.

In order to help identify the breed at shows during the summer, the registry requests you don't clip a Curly's fetlocks or the hair inside its ears.

MOHAIR, NOT HORSE HAIR -- Curly hair isn't the same as other horse hair. It's oval in cross-section, whereas most other curly hair (on people or animals) is flat. Also, Curly hair is hypoallergenic, which means that many people who are allergic to horses aren't allergic to Curlies. We've had direct experience with several people who were allergic to horses and came to meet our Curlies. They showed no reaction whatsoever and were ecstatic that they found a breed they could someday own and ride without sneezing all the way down the trail.

Texas A&M University did a study on Curly hair and found that it was closer to mohair than horse hair. It spins and felts nicely, too, and some people have made vests and hats out of it.

A DOUBLE MANE -- Curlies and even straight-haired offspring from Curly parents frequently have double manes. The more pure ones will shed it in the spring, along with their body hair and some or all of their tail.

AN EXTRA LAYER OF FAT -- Curly horses have an extra layer of fat to keep them warm in the winter. This doesn't affect them adversely in the heat of the summer.

NO BLANKETS OR SHELTER NEEDED -- Because of all their adaptations to cold climates, Curlies don't need to be kept in stalls at night or taken indoors even during the coldest part of the winter. People have raised Curlies in Alaska and left them outside in winter with nothing more than a wind break, and the horses were just fine. With their long curly coats and extra layer of fat, there's no need to add a blanket. In extremely cold climates, the snow and ice forms a crust on the Curly's back and provides added insulation. If you live in such areas, don't remove the snow and ice unless necessary for riding or harness work. We've never put our horses in stalls at night. They live outdoors year 'round and do fine in all seasons.

WIDE-SET EYES -- The eyes of a Curly are set farther apart in the skull than other breeds, giving them more peripheral vision and a slightly sleepy expression. This enables them to see more of what's going on around them, and we've noticed that they're happier when they can look around. Because of this, we never use blinders when working our horses in harness.

A HIGHER RED AND WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT -- The University of California at Davis did a blood study of Curlies in the 1980s and found they possess a higher red and white blood cell count than other breeds. This explains why Curlies heal so quickly from cuts and scrapes. They also have a strong immune system that enables them to ward off most diseases as long as they're well fed and happy.

STRONG HOOVES -- Curlies generally have strong hooves even if they're white, and they rarely get hoof problems. You won't need to shoe a Curly unless you're riding constantly over rocky terrain or on concrete. Under normal conditions, Curlies do just fine with bare feet.

HIGHER RESPIRATION -- Curlies breathe a little faster when they're working than other breeds. If you're showing a Curly horse in endurance competition, you must tell the judges about this, or you'll lose points for making your horse look winded. In reality, the Curly is breathing normally. The registry will furnish a note about this for the judge if you ask.

A SHORTER BACK -- Curlies have only 5 lumbar vertebrae in their backs, making them slightly shorter in length than other breeds. This doesn't impede their ability to carry riders, however, or do work in harness. In fact, having a shorter back gives them a smoother gait.

A STOCKY BUILD -- Curlies have a thicker chest, shorter and thicker neck, and thicker legs than other breeds. They are similar to the old-style Morgan in this regard. They are strong for their size and do well in harness.

THEY EAT LITTLE OR NO GRAIN -- Curlies evolved on sparse scrub grass in harsh climates. Their stomachs are able to extract plenty of nourishment from grass hay, even when working hard. Grain is usually too rich in protein for them and can make them sick or kill them if they are given too much. We know of people who rode in the mountains every day for 20 or 30 miles and fed their Curlies nothing but grass hay. Curlies are known to have pulled a sleigh sixty miles through the snow on nothing more than a flake of hay and water. We feed our Curlies alfalfa hay for protein and local grass hay as filler, plus a very small amount of a special nonsweeted grain and some vitamins to offset the poor quality of our local grass hay. If you have good-quality local grass in your area, you probably won't need to add any grain to your horse's diet. We never fed grain until we moved to Lakebay, which has poor soil for growing grass hay, and our horses were always healthy and happy.

If you own a Curly and feel you absolutely must feed it grain, use only a very small amount, and only do so when working the horse hard every day. Use only dry grain -- never use grain sweetened with molasses or other sugars. You would do better to work the horse without grain, see how it's doing, and then consider if it even needs any. In many cases, it won't.

VACCINATIONS -- We provide the following information in the hope that anyone considering vaccinating a Curly for the first time will be able to make an informed decision on the matter.

Vaccinations are a very tricky subject with many people. Some say you must vaccinate Curlies, and some say not. We have never vaccinated our horses, and they're as healthy and strong as can be. Curlies have an incredibly strong immune system and, if they're kept well-fed and happy, won't succumb to diseases like other horses. A vaccination is a sample of a disease injected into a horse to teach its immune system how to fight that particular disease. Unfortunately, this can backfire with Curlies. We know of several Curlies that have died within one week of being vaccinated.

Although there are many Curlies that have survived vaccinations, there is still a small chance that vaccinating a Curly for the first time, especially with a live vaccine, could kill it. Since our horses are so healthy, we don't feel it's necessary to vaccinate them.

If you wish to show an unvaccinated Curly at a fair or event, you can still do so without vaccinations. Get a clean Bill of Health from your veterinarian and also have him do a Coggins test, which is a blood sample taken from a horse and examined for diseases. With those two documents, your horse is legally considered clean and free of disease. Hopefully, the people running the event will go along with that and let you enter.

While at the event, don't let your unvaccinated Curly share water with other horses. Bring your own bucket and always take water from the faucet or hose. Don't dip the bucket into a horse trough! Horses transmit disease through their mouths, and the water in a shared trough will carry traces of the other horses' vaccinations. If you give that to your Curly, you risk giving it the disease the same as if it were vaccinated.

You can let your Curly live with vaccinated horses if you wait 90 days after the horses have been vaccinated for the vaccine to die out, and you don't vaccinate those horses again. Then you can let your Curly live with them safely. Vaccines are "live" for approximately 90 days.

If you feel you must vaccinate, make sure to use only killed vaccines. Many veterinarians are changing to killed vaccines from live ones, partly because live vaccines sometimes had adverse affects on horses. To minimize potential systemic shock to your Curly, ask the vet to give it a 3-way vaccination, not a 5- or 7-way. Giving it too much at once can be very hard on your horse. If you feel you need to give your Curly the full range of vaccinations, space them so you can see how your horse reacts. You can always give the other part later after your horse has had time to adjust.

Temperamental Differences From Other Breeds

EXTREMELY CALM -- Curlies are one of the most bomb-proof breeds in existence. When surprised, they jump a step or two, then turn to face whatever startled them. They'd rather turn and fight than run. Once they see the object, they'll sniff it and calm down. Because they're so calm, I've seen this happen only a few times, but the reaction is always the same.

Curlies make good pack animals for hunters in the mountains, because they don't freak out at the smell of blood. They're quite willing to pack out fresh kills without a fuss.

Curlies don't panic if they're trapped. If they get caught in a fence, they wait for someone to help them. They won't fight to free themselves, slicing their legs to ribbons in the process.

HIGH INTELLIGENCE -- Curlies are very smart. They learn twice as fast as other horses and don't need a heavy hand to make them attempt things. An experienced trainer can get a Curly to longe within an hour, sometimes less. Because they are so intelligent, they can also become bored with routine. We've known teenage girls who've gotten on the backs of "unbroken" Curlies and immediately ridden them around the pasture without a fuss, complete with bridle and saddle for the first time! Curlies like to be with people and are happy to do things for them. They like new experiences, too, and love to go on trails and see new places. Some people who buy foals from us take them on walks and "show them the world" while they're still too young to ride -- mailboxes, cars, paper laying on the road, etc. Such stimulation makes for a more well-balanced horse when the time comes to ride it.

Curlies also will forage in winter by pawing the ground to get at the grass under the snow or by breaking the ice in the watering trough. They don't just stand there and starve.

Breeders and Registry

Although the American Bashkir Curly Registry lists many breeders of Curlies, we have found, much to our surprise, that most aren't breeding Curly to Curly. Many breeders are outcrossing to other breeds with the idea of "improving" the breed. With the Curly's natural hardiness, strength, intelligence, and gentle disposition, we don't feel any need to change them.

As of 2000, there are approximately 2,000 Curlies in the United States, with a few dozen more living in Canada and elsewhere. Out of those, approximately 700 are considered pure Curlies, having at least four consecutive generations of Curly ancestors in their background.

Although Curlies have been crossed with many other breeds successfully, we have heard that Curlies crossed with Foxtrotters produce a horse with a weakened immune system. We recommend you check the horse's bloodlines carefully before buying. If it has Foxtrotter in the background, check the medical history of as many of its ancestors as you can.

To our knowledge, there are only a handful of people breeding Curly to Curly in an effort to preserve the breed. Check our breeders page for a current list of those breeders. There is also the Early Curly Breeder's Association, a small but growing number of breeders nationwide who are dedicated to preserving this wonderful breed of horse. The ECBA also has associate memberships available for people who wish to support this effort but who can't or don't wish to become active breeders.

If you are breeding only Curly to Curly and would like to add your name to this list, please email or write us with your name, state in which you live, and the names and ABC registration numbers of your stallion(s) and mare(s).

For more information about the registry and a current breeder's list, send $2.00 to:

You can also visit the Registry's web site at: abcregistry.org.

If you're considering buying a Curly and would like to know more about it's bloodlines, get the horse's name and ABC number, or the names and numbers of its parents, and call us. We have all the Curly stud books and will be happy to look up the lineage for you.

© 1997-2001 by Jim & Tames Alan.
All rights reserved.