Until fairly recently, the U.K.'s Romany, commonly known as Gypsies, traveled throughout Great Britain in brightly colored, intricately carved horse-drawn living wagons. Around 60 years ago, Romany breeders began breeding what has become an extravagantly colored, heavily feathered horse which nicely complements these bright wagons. Two stallions of Irish origin are reported to have originated the breed.  One stallion, known as Sonny Mays, was reportedly sired by a colored Irish stallion on a mare owned by a Romany. The second, called The Coal Horse, was reportedly born in Limerick, Ireland. These two stallions sired most of the foundation stallions of the breed.             

In theory, the Gypsy Horse was bred from horses of three British draft breeds—the Shire, Clydesdale, and Dales Pony; in actuality, a Gypsy Horse’s ancestry may include other breeds, even nondrafts.  The Romany Grai, another, more lightly framed Gypsy-bred horse, is reputed to have some Fells Pony ancestors.  The Fells Pony is very closely related to the Dales Pony but is smaller and less heavily built. 

Because of the breed’s ancestry, Gypsy Horses possess characteristics from the Shire, Clydesdale, and Dales Pony, which is the heaviest pony breed in Great Britain.  It is responsible for the Gypsy Horse’s small size and possibly for the dainty head seen on some Gypsy Horses.  Typically, a Dales Pony stands between 14.0 and 14.2 hands but weighs around 1,000 pounds.  Since the Shire, Clydesdale, and Dales Pony all have feathers, the profuse hair which begins at the knee and hock and grows down the leg to cover the hooves, the Gypsy Horse does also. The source of the Gypsy Horse's extravagant coloring may be the Shire. Color was fairly common among Shires until around the 1900s, when solid coat patterns became fashionable.

What were the reasons for breeding a small draft horse such as the Gypsy Horse?  One such reason, to have a horse showy enough to complement the brightly colored wagons driven by the Gypsy Horse’s breeders, was given above.  But the Gypsy Horse was not just for show; he performed a vital task —pulling his family’s wagon.  For this type of work, a heavy draught horse such as the Shire, which typically stands between 16.2 and 17.2 hands and weighs between 2,240 and 2,688 lbs., was overkill.  Even the smaller Clydesdale was too much horse for this task.  A smaller draft horse such as the Gypsy Horse was capable of performing the work needed but required only a fraction of the feed needed to maintain the massive Shire.   Noted Romany breeder Michael Vine, Silver Belle’s British exporter, states that creating a draft horse capable of performing the relatively light work of pulling a Romany living wagon and needing minimal feed was the primary reason for the creation of the horse we call the Gypsy Horse. 

While the Gypsy Horse was bred for the road, the nomadic life of the road further shaped him, both physically and mentally.   By necessity, he was hardy, thriving on uncertain forage found at campsites as the Gypsy living wagons traveled from place to place. These campsites most likely provided no shelter for the horses; his profuse mane, tail, and feathers provided protection from the cold and wet. He was an integral part of his family, much as the Arabian was, and so had to be tolerant and kind.  He had to able to be handled and managed even by the family’s children. Any horse which behaved aggressively was immediately banished.    

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423.538.7966
317 Sharps Hollow Road | Bluff City TN 37618

The Gypsy Vanner

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Breed History