Equestrian Life September 2017 Issue

horses registered worldwide and
approximately 500 Caspians in the
United States. The pre-potency of the
breed shines through when Caspians
are crossed with larger horses to
produce sport ponies of exceptional
quality.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BREED
The Caspian Horse holds the
distinction of being both one of the
oldest and one of the newest of horse
breeds. Current archeo-zoological
evidence dates the Caspian back to
at least 3,000 BC, pre-dating other
recognized breeds of horses. When the
Persian Empire collapsed in 644 AD,
its royal horse was apparently ‘lost’
for more than a thousand years until
its re-discovery in 1965. The Caspian
is strongly believed to represent
Horse Type 4 in the development
of the modern horse, making it the
only foundation type that exists as a
modern breed. During its 5,000 year
saga, the Caspian has experienced
life as both a royal treasure and a
peasant’s cart horse. It has served as a
source of national pride and a source
During its 5,000
year saga, the
Caspian has
experienced life
as both a royal
treasure and a
peasant’s cart horse.
of meat. While research on the breed’s
origins continues, the current story of
the Caspian horse is nothing short of
amazing.
CASPIANS IN THE UK
The love of Caspians in this country
started as far back as 1971 when
Elizabeth Webster and her mother
imported the first two to the UK.
Louise Firouz, who lived in Tehran,
was running a Riding School at
Norouzabad, where the children were
struggling to ride the large horses
available to them. Having heard about
some ‘small horses’ in the hills above
the Caspian Sea in Iran, Louise Firouz
mounted a horseback expedition to
the area and found a few of these
small horses working in the mountain
villages of Gilan province. She
managed to buy them and took them
back with her to Norouzabad.
The kids in the Riding School found
them incredibly easy and versatile.
They could ride and jump them with
ease and they were able to carry a fair
degree of weight without tiring. Their
appearance, intelligence and agility
fascinated Louise, who resolved to
find out more about them
After breeding from them to test that
they bred true, she selected those
which would form the nucleus of
her herd and started to establish the
Caspian as a breed.
Whether they remained in Iran or
were exported to the UK in the late
‘60s and early ‘70s, Louise Firouz’s
foundation stock is of immense
importance to breeders of the
modern-day Caspian. These animals
are the bedrock from which their
descendants now flourish across the
world and they appear throughout the
early pedigrees of existing stock. It
is on these first Caspians that Louise
based her Breed Standard, to which all
breeders are now required to conform.
HRH Prince Philip had become
fascinated by the story of the Caspian,
which he saw for the first time during
his visit to Iran for the Celebration
of 2,500 years of the Peacock Throne
under the Pahlavi family. When he
was presented with a stallion and
mare, they and their progeny were
generously loaned to British breeders
so that their bloodlines could be
used in the breeding programme. He
maintains his interest to this day.
After buying the first Caspian colt
and filly imported into the UK in
1971, ‘Liz’ Webster and her mother,
Stephanie (‘Jaffa’) Jenvey, imported
more breeding stock from Iran. The
‘Caspian Stud (UK)’ was formed, using
the family’s nearest village, Hopstone,
as its prefix. All the imported
foundation stallions, mares and
youngstock produced offspring and a
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