We started to breed Curly horses in 2018 by buying our first American Bashkir Curly Horse, RCHR Lady Midnight Zara. Our first foal, PC El Primo, was born on 9 May 2019.

The breeding programme was expanded in 2019 with Curly mare Vanda and her mare foal Jaliska and the first Curly pony in Belgium: Dakota Dream. We did this in order to offer children the opportunity to work with ponies and horses.

The American Bashkir Curly horses come, as the name implies, mainly from North America. Wild mustangs were found around 1800 that had a curly coat. The curls occurred because of a genetic abnormality/mutation. In North America, they continued to breed with these horses in the 1930s.

Most Curly horses are found in the United States and Canada. On a global level, only 4,000 horses and ponies have been included in the American Bashkir Curly breed registry (i.e., studbook). A few hundred of these can be found in Europe of which only ten or so in Belgium.

In addition to the Curlies’ nature and performance in all disciplines, they are mainly special because of their hypoallergenic properties.

Allergic reactions to animals and horses in particular are caused by proteins in the dander, saliva and urine. There are about twenty proteins that may cause an allergic reaction in people. Every person reacts differently to allergens and the concentration of allergens can also be different per Curly horse.

So whether you came and ride or work with a Curly without sneezing will only be determined by trial and error, but everyone will find their horse to ride free from complaints.

Use these links to access more scientific information about the hypoallergenic qualities of Curly horses.