Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Equine/Horse breeds

message: I know a lot about horse breeds, and I probably have at least 3-5 books only on horse breeds. I dont have a ton of time to spend on this project but I do have a lot of information. Can somebody message me back?? --Runningcupcake03 03:06, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: There are a lot of horse breed articles here already, many written by people who actually work with a given breed.  The problem is that they are uneven in quality.  My suggestion is to start with the smaller articles and fact-check them, adding citations from your books to verify some of the information or to correct things that are not accurate.  Also, some of them have a lot of "POV-pushing" and need work on neutrality. (For example, I am frequently going through various articles and removing things like "this breed is the most wonderful in the world," or "these horses suck"!)
However, do proceed with caution and check the discussion pages before diving in head first and making major edits.  Sometimes there are land mines out there that have to be handled carefully.  Many of the articles were created by people who are very knowledgable about the breed, just not real good writers.
Another thing that is needed are more public domain images uploaded to wikipedia.  Any time you can find a good horse photo or diagram that is free to use, it sure helps to upload it and put it into category "horses" so we can access it.  We have a real need right now for an image with the parts of the saddle...the one we had wasn't a free license and it got deleted!
Last but not least, we constantly need to remove links to "my horse farm" pages and chat forum pages per wikipedia guidelines.
Hope this gives you some ideas. Montanabw 00:09, 2 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  How do I join? 

message: * Country of origin is not always the same as 'The german horse' it can be from austria, there are some strange leagal reasons for this ( germany & austria are random examples, but this is true in at least one case )
* I dont know what it's called in english but different horse breeds have different 'walking' that is there are usually four modes which they can walk in, there are a total of five and only one has all five ( icelanic ) the other ones differ amongst what four they have. Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason 21:59, 2004 May 13 (UTC)
I think adding a small section about the temperament of the breeds would be an interesting addition!  While many horses can't be "typified" or generalized, there does seem to be a relative pattern for certain breeds to be more aggressive, passive, curious, spooky, etc!  Sandere0 (talk) 18:25, 20 May 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I think in horse there is a discussion of overall temperament types.  We sometimes note if a breed is particularly notable for a good disposition or some real weird quirk even the aficionados agree on. I personally hesitate to recommend it in general in breed articles though, because such things start edit wars, and are often unverifiable, or at least not backed by empirical evidence, particularly if we call a particular breed aggressive or spooky; there is so much variation amongst individual animals that only general comments are of any use.  And of course, almost all breed registries like to claim that their breed is the nicest, calmest, best for tiny children and grandma horses in the world... :-P  I wonder what the dog breed articles do with Dobermans, Rottweilers, etc...  Montanabw(talk) 22:31, 20 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Some advice 

message: To whom it may concern: Please feel free to visit Wikipedia:WikiProject Dog breeds/Categories because I think that structuring horse articles and Dog articles could take a similar tack--would be nice to use same subcategories for consistency. Elf | Talk 04:15, 10 Sep 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Category stratgy

message: I need your help if you know something about horses.  I've create a new template for adding a standardized infobox to each horse listed in List of horse breeds.  The template is shown here: Wikipedia:WikiProject Horse breeds and there's a sample with minimal information in American Paint Horse.  The problem is that I don't really know what should or could go in the box. For example, for the  Dog breeds template, we can identify specific major breed registry organizations. But for horses, is that true? And what else makes sense to go in the table--e.g., "type"? (Draft, pony,...what else?)  Please respond at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Horse breeds. Thanks!  Elf | Talk 23:21, 17 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: New horse breed template--need your help

message: Hi my name is laura and I know more than I need to about horse breeds. I just stumbled upon this site today (I have never been on here befor but WOW) and was very dissapointed to see there is no information on the BASHKIR CURLY which is a PONY BREED (not a horse). There is always limited information about them because they are a fairly old but unpopular/rarer breed. I was also surprised to see the PALOMINO listed as a "breed" which is very false. A horse cannot merly be a palomino; it must be a palomino QH etc. Palomino is merly a color as chestnut, dun, paint, roan, bay, etc... Anyways. if any info is needed about whatever the site you are working on is (I had trouble understanding what is was exactly was needed) let me know. spring_cutie@hotmail.com LAURA
Profiles should be created for breeds that can or must be double-registered.  In the profiles any criteria required for registry as the particular breed should be identified.  For example, the Palomino entry should not that the term can either identify any horse of a certain coloration or specificly refer to horses registered with the Palomino Horse Breeders of America. Similarly, entries should be made for each warmblood breed (eg., Oldenburg, Dutch Warmblood, etc.) despite the fact that the pedigrees for these horses often include horses from multiple breeds. Postscriptpct 22:21, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Good tip on the capitalization thing, though probably unenforcable.  Many an edit war around here over what's a color, what's a color "breed," and what's a breed with a color preference or standard. (Just check out the edit history of the Friesian horse article...sigh)  And its obviously impracticable to create two different wikipedia articles on a color versus a color breed... And this is complicated by the fact that wikipedia is worldwide...so people with Palominos - or palominos - in, say, Australia, don't give a flying whoop about the American registries, and I have to admit, they don't have to... Montanabw 04:05, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  HORSE BREEDS HELP 

message: Are we going to list breeders here? They are not part of the stucture of info for cats or dogs and think this wouldn't be suitable for here either if we are to follow the same logical order. LdyDragonfly 16:30, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Breeders 

message: I think the templates are good, but I had trouble using them--especially the breed standards, which always came out with a weird formatting. I think including breed standard in the template is worthwhile, but I didn't fill out any for the above reason.
Laura--I know the palomino is a color not a breed, but apparently there are some (seems like a lot of QH folks) that are convinced it is. However, I believe there is a registration for it, which may be the cause of some of the confusion. Eventer
Palomino is a color. Any breed can have palomino as long as the presence of the Cream (Cr) gene is there. Palominos are created by breeding chestnuts to a horse with the cream gene. The result is a palomino. If you breed the palomino to another palomino you get a cremello. Cremellos, usually blue-eyed, very light-toned horses, were orginally thought to be Albinos. The cream gene changes various coat colors to lighter versions; Chestnut becomes palomino, black becomes smokey black, bay becomes buckskin, red dun becomes dunalino, yellow dun becomes dunskin. Add two cream genes and palomino becomes cremello, buckskin become perlino. The American Palomino Breeders Association is a color breed regsitry, just like the Pinto Horse Association. Color is what counts, not bloodlines.Apphistorian 20:53, 2 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: On an unrelated issue – I used the  template as advised when creating my one (and only) breed article, but it didn't seem appropriate; the  template works much better but I'm too chicken to edit the article just yet. Wi2g 22:43, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Whoops, we have the wrong one in the guidelines!  It should be "Equine".  (Long story, the Equine one was originally named equidae and has since been spun off.)  I'll fix that.  Montanabw(talk) 21:05, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Templates

message: Hello. The WikiProject Council has recently updated the Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Directory.  This new directory includes a variety of categories and subcategories which will, with luck, potentially draw new members to the projects who are interested in those specific subjects. Please review the directory and make any changes to the entries for your project that you see fit. There is also a directory of portals, at User:B2T2/Portal, listing all the existing portals. Feel free to add any of them to the portals or comments section of your entries in the directory. The three columns regarding assessment, peer review, and collaboration are included in the directory for both the use of the projects themselves and for that of others. Having such departments will allow a project to more quickly and easily identify its most important articles and its articles in greatest need of improvement. If you have not already done so, please consider whether your project would benefit from having departments which deal in these matters. It is my hope that all the changes to the directory can be finished by the first of next month. Please feel free to make any changes you see fit to the entries for your project before then. If you should have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you.  B2T2 23:51, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Project directory 

message: There is currently a barnstar proposal at :Wikipedia:Barnstar and award proposals/New Proposals#Wildlife Barnstar for a barnstar which would be available for use for this project. Please feel free to visit the page and make any comments you see fit. Badbilltucker 15:32, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wildlife Barnstar 

message: There is now a proposed project at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Veterinary Medicine to deal with matters of veterinary medicine, a subject which currently has disproportionately low content in wikipedia. Any wikipedia editors who have an interest in working on content related to the subject are encouraged to indicate as much there. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 22:14, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: IMHO, Badbill, one of the tasks that would be useful is to just straighten out the categories and find the articles already out there, wikilink them to others and place them in proper categories so they can be located--there are actually a lot of articles on various horse ailments, but try finding them.... Montanabw 03:21, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposed Veterinary medicine project 

message: Hello, all. It was initially my hope to try to have this done as part of Esperanza's proposal for an appreciation week to end on Wikipedia Day, January 15. However, several people have once again proposed the entirety of Esperanza for deletion, so that might not work. It was the intention of the Appreciation Week proposal to set aside a given time when the various individuals who have made significant, valuable contributions to the encyclopedia would be recognized and honored. I believe that, with some effort, this could still be done. My proposal is to, with luck, try to organize the various WikiProjects and other entities of wikipedia to take part in a larger celebrartion of its contributors to take place in January, probably beginning January 15, 2007. I have created yet another new subpage for myself (a weakness of mine, I'm afraid) at User talk:Badbilltucker/Appreciation Week where I would greatly appreciate any indications from the members of this project as to whether and how they might be willing and/or able to assist in recognizing the contributions of our editors. Thank you for your attention.  Badbilltucker 17:34, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wikipedia Day Awards 

message: There are currently a number of active discussions for deletion regarding some little known breeds of dogs. It occurs to me that there might occasionally also arise situations where the same thing is faced in horse breeds. It has been proposed that perhaps a guideline for Notability (breeds) be established. Personally, I have no acquaintance with writing such guidelines, and certainly am completely unqualified to write regarding horse breeds. If anyone who has some experience regarding this sort of thing would care to do so, I and I think several others would be immensely appreciative. Thank you. Badbilltucker 00:26, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: If it is a recognized breed, it is notable — no matter how widely known the breed is.  If someone chooses to take the time to write about an obscure horse breed, there is no harm in it.  The only harm might come when someone else wants to learn about that breed and can't find it in Wikipedia.  Wikipedia is not paper! --Jpbrenna 17:03, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Breeds notability guidelines 

message: I would like to write another article about a breed of horse.  I came across the American Curly on the list of breeds that need to have an article created for.  I looked up the breed in my horse encyclopedia, but I found the American Bashkir Curly.  Is this the same breed? Can I write the article on the American Curly using information from this article? I would like to know this before I start writing. Thank you. Swannie 22:37, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Wait a second... I just searched "American Bashkir Curly" on Wikipedia.  On the search results it showed Curly Horse as one of the results.  This is the same as the Am. Bashkir Curly and the Am. Curly.  Can I delete the "American Curly" from the list that need to have articles written for? Thanks again. Swannie 22:42, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

text: That list is a disaster, I'd say anyone who wants to clean it up is on my good side already! If there isn't a redirect, create a redirect on "American Curly" too, that way no matter which name people search for, all paths will lead to American Bashkin Curly Montanabw 04:37, 7 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  American Curly Article 

message: Hi. I just edited various problems on the "To Do" template. (on project page).  There were many things that needed to be changed. Here is what I did.
* I deleted all of the articles that have been written from the "Create" list.
* I alphabetized all of the articles.
* I changed wording and capitalization problems.
* I deleted sections that were extraneous.
* I changed the alignment of sections and lists.
* I made things easier to understand. (levels of articles)
* I added sections that I felt needed to be added.
* I added articles to sections when appropriate.
If you add an article to a list, please make sure it is in alphabetical order. This way, it makes it much easier for people to find the article.
Thank you, Swannie 19:07, 7 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: You GO!  I'll just dive in and make a big mess of things whenever I can.  Looks good to me.  My life is being spent reverting vandalism these days, I think...beware, such can become the fate of any wikipedian!  Arrgh!  Montanabw 03:58, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks! Swannie 18:57, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Changes to the "To Do" Template 

message: Hello everyone!  On Wikia I requested that there be a Horses Wiki. Guess what...it got approved! The new wiki is called Wikihorses, and it is an encyclopedia that aims to provide a better understanding of horses and horse-related topics.  I am looking for people that would like to participate in this wonderful new wiki, because the more people we have contributing, the better the encyclopedia will be.  If you would like to join, please go to http://horses.wikia.com/ (Wikihorses site) and start editing, or go to my talk page on Wikihorses, and tell me you would like to participate (optional). Thank you all for contributing so much to this encyclopedia with your knowledge on horses, but now let's go and create an encyclopedia specifically for horse articles!! Thank you!!! :) ɸSwannieɸ 02:50, 20 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Explain Wikia? It looks like another wikipedia. Why should we care?  Montanabw 02:55, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Wikia is a MediaWiki webhosting site.  It allows you to request a new wiki, and start one (if it gets approved). You should care, because Wikihorses is an online encyclopedia, but its main goal is to provide a better understanding of horse breeds and horse-related topics. It is specifically about horses, unlike Wikipedia. ɸSwannieɸ 18:57, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm still not sure how working on a separate horses wiki is a better idea than improving Wikipedia's horse articles, though. Zetawoof(ζ) 20:42, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Okay-I think that if someone wants to find info on a breed of horse, they would go to an encyclopedia specifically about horses. That is why you should contribute to this; to make it easier for people to find what they want.  It is...in a way...a sub-encyclopedia of Wikipedia...this is my last try...Please help! Thank you :) Swannie 19:44, 19 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  If the Wikipedia articles on breeds of horses are missing or inadequate, make them better! There's no reason that this sort of content needs to be split off. Zetawoof(ζ) 21:09, 19 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  [http://horses.wikia.com/ Wikihorses] 

message: I think it's both a pity and somewhat illogical that we have no animal WikiProject despite the fact that there are over 20 projects that are basically its daughters. There are also other projects that could emerge from it in the future, such as one on animal behavior. The project would provide a central place for people from all animal projects to talk, a central set of guidelines for articles on animals and zoology, and an assessment system for articles related to animals. If you are interested in creating such a project please visit Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Tree of life#Animals project to discuss. Richard001 09:03, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Animals project proposal

message: * 18 September 2007 - expires 23 September
** Arched legs (PROD by User:Montanabw ; Created in Jan 2006.  PROD nominator states: "Article is an orphaned stub of an archaic term, describing--inaccurately--a condition of horse conformation now known as "buck-kneed"") --User:Ceyockey (talk to me) 21:00, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposed deletions ([[WP:PROD]]) 

message: I want to let everyone know that the WikiProject Agriculture exists (soon to move from my user space to wikispace) and also we are discussing infoboxes for domestic animals in general.  Looking to yours as a model but would like thoughts from anyone who might be interested in the broader topic OR have a better understanding of templates. Please join us on the project's talk page (and Sign Up!)--Doug.(talk • contribs) 15:33, 13 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: One thing to keep in mind is that we also have a relationship with Wikiproject Mammals, Wikiproject Horse training, WikiProject Horse Racing, Wikiproject Veterinary medicine, etc.  There is also a wikiproject Dog breeds, and I think one on cats.  There are EXTENSIVE wikiboxes on Thoroughbred race horses, they are the people to look to if you are looking for a project that actually is somewhat organized.  As for what's happening with dogs, Ask User:VanTucky, he may be more up on this stuff.  I guess my take is that there seem to be a lot of wikiprojects that are either at cross-purposes or at least wholly unaware of one another.  I know that I have tended to ignore them totally and just focus on improving articles instead of talking about improving articles...but if you can herd us wikicats, go for it! Montanabw(talk) 21:41, 13 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[User:Doug/WikiProject Agriculture|WikiProject Agriculture]] and discussion of infoboxes 

message: :: --User:Ceyockey (talk to me) 22:30, 20 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposed deletion: List of equine topics 

message: I was wondering whether the members of this project would be interested in expanding the scope of their project to include all the articles in the :Category:Horses. This project would probably be the most logical one to deal with the slightly greater number of articles in that category, doing so would give those additional articles an oversight body which they generally don't have right now, and might well draw more members to the project. John Carter 19:11, 27 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: There has been talk of creating a SEPARATE WikiProject:Horse, like the ones for cats and dogs.  Note also that there is already also Wikipedia:WikiProject Thoroughbred racing  and WIkipedia:WikiProject horse training.  And, for that matter, to say there is a "slightly greater" number of articles under Category:Horses clearly suggests that you haven't dug into all the sub-categories there, especially the equestrianism disciplines, :Category:Horse coat colors, and :Category:Horse tack (there are probably a THOUSAND horse articles in wiki--or god's sake, we have one on the curb chain!)  So my take is that THIS project should not be expanded (there are already a couple hundred articles listed at List of horse breeds and :Category:Horse breeds as it is and we aren't able to keep up with those.  (Some of the articles on obscure breeds are stubs, others read like ad copy...).  But  if someone wants to go to the dicussion page for horse and propose the notion, what the heck. Montanabw(talk) 20:18, 27 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Lordy, if someone wants to take on a life's work, just organizing the subcategories within Category Horses a little more logically would be a daunting task! Montanabw(talk) 20:18, 27 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I like to understake things a little once in a while, having a rather sick sense of humor. This is partially because there's been talk at the new Wikipedia:WikiProject Agriculture about maybe including horses in the scope of that project, and then thinking myself that an entirely separate horse project might be called for. And, for what it's worth, I do think that the horse racing/training projects should probably remain separate, as those are in effect "sport" projects rather than "biology" projects. But there is now a proposal at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Horses for a new "parent" horse project. If anyone who looks at this page is interested, they are more than welcome to indicate their support there. John Carter 20:46, 27 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I support up-scoping this project and renaming to the name of the proposed project.  I agree with John that the sports type horse projects should remain independent subprojects, but breeds just doesn't make sense as a project by itself.  People can always focus and we could even make "breeds" a working group/task force within the larger project.  I agree also that Horses deserves an independent project from Agriculture.--Doug.(talk • contribs) 13:49, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I am guessing that we have 1,000 assorted horse articles, when you include all the disciplines, equipment, medical conditions, care and management, etc... The sport projects are the tip of the iceberg. I honestly think all these "projects" are rather a total waste of time because mostly people just jaw about things and don't actually do much, but if we must have one, then an umbrella "Horse" project" with some sister projects or shared parentage projects definitely makes sense.Montanabw(talk) 16:46, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: For what it's worth, though, a few thousand articles is generally thought to be fairly standard for any project. John Carter 17:20, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

text: WikiProject Agriculture has only been in existence a couple weeks and yet I find that the coordination there is already improving articles.  Editors who have time to cruise several dozen pages a day but may not have time to fix major issues, or may not be sure how, can post the issues and other editors can either take up the cudgel or discuss possible solutions, it works, believe me.  I just can't see two separate projects, I am on the list for this project because it's the most logical to be on right now for coordination with Ag and my interest in Horses generally.  I have an interest in many breeds, particularly draft breeds, but also in horse anatomy (particularly the feet - I trained as a farrier).  I doubt that there are many editors who are actually interested in editing all horse breeds but only the breed articles.  Much more likely the average editor has a few breeds, or maybe even only one breed, that he or she has an interest in, but a general interest in horses may still be within his or her scope.  If someone has no interest in the general horse articles but only in one or a few breeds, that's fine, but a project for the breeds just seems strange (even more strange than an entire project for a single breed, even with the very limited scope that would leave).  I would be more than happy to assist as much as I can in upscoping this project, if editors are willing to go that route.  See my further comments at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject Agriculture.  Thinking of volume of articles, consider all the articles under Agriculture!--Doug.(talk • contribs) 04:43, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

text: No one was even considering proposing the project for deletion. If anything, it was going to be moved to the page Wikipedia:WikiProject Horses with the scope section expanded a little to include all the articles in the :Category:Horses which are not already covered by the other extant projects. There was never any thought given to deleting the project. John Carter 19:42, 30 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This project might also consider that part of the reason it "can't keep up" with all the articles is a lack of scope.  There may be a lot of articles in this category, but the range of articles within the scope of this project is really rather limited.  I am trained as a farrier and have a deep love of horses, but I almost didn't join this project initially because it focuses on breeds not on horses.  I finally joined because you have the model breed box and coordination between this project and Wikipedia:WikiProject Agriculture is very important, especially for historical issues.  You have twelve members including me.  The Project has been around since early 2004.  I suspect that some of those members are no longer active in this Project.  If WikiProject Horse is created, I would immediately withdraw from this project because it's scope really has no interest for me, and join the new Project.--Doug.(talk • contribs) 04:48, 1 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Most of these things have people who are real active at first, then fade, just like clubs in the real world.  Bottom line is that the various horse breed articles get a fair amount of attention (though the more obscure ones less so, obviously).  No one ever bothers much to update this project page, though.  Truth is, list of horse breeds is where the action is, not here.  I honestly think these things are all just a big waste of time, but I feel a need to keep an eye on the horse ones just to head off trouble before it starts.  A this point, I could not care less what happens here as long as the actual content of the articles is improved, not harmed.  Truth is, what is needed big time is some organization of the horse categories, they are disorganized and possibly there are too many without a logical hierarchy.   Montanabw(talk) 21:16, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

text: I don't even think there's the level of interest to create Wikiproject Horse, but whatever. Montanabw(talk) 18:52, 2 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Doug, let's hold the phone on any kind of move or merge.  Thinking on this for a couple of days, I really do think that it is probably best to keep this as a spin-off from any Horse wikiproject.  First off, as long as we are the only two discussing the issue, the old Robert's Rule of Order is that "if it ties, it dies."  Second, two new people have just come on board over on the warmblood breed articles, one of whom is already nosing around in Category:Horses and I tipped him/her off to this page, I suspect he/she will be here in a day or two and this is someone with a definite focus on breed articles.  Third, neither User:Eventer (who has probably started more horse articles than anyone here) and User:Culnacreann have weighed in (If you want to invite them to do so, go for it), and they are major contributors to these articles.   So let's keep the status quo for now. Montanabw(talk) 04:44, 4 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Sure, I wasn't trying to force it, I thought you'd basically abandoned your opposition, so I thought I'd use the WP:BRD method of figuring out what consensus is.  Part of my point though is that the interest in breeds IS interest in the WikiProject Horse.  But we can wait a while and see if anything happens.  I'd love for someone else to comment.--Doug.(talk • contribs) 20:15, 5 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: More that I just felt beat up from edit wars and don't want to start any new ones.  Basically I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, there are some things here that need to be kept even if the project is folded into another.  Like I say, there are some new folks getting into the horse breeding articles, so far they aren't here yet, but wikiprojects sort of are an "intermediate" user thing, the newbies don't always find them right off.  I say let's just let this one sit for a bit, proceed with wikiproject Horse on its own merits, and if it works later to fold this project into, it, we'll have a better sense of things.  Two things here I don't want to lose are the breed infobox template, which works quite well and is "official," in whatever way the wikigods make such things into templates; and the banner (which needs to go into more of the breed articles, but haven't had the time to focus on that.)  There was also a bit of work done on a recommended layout for the breed articles (a layout recommendation widely ignored, but...) that reflects consensus of the people working on it at the time (I was peripherally involved) that is useful when people apply it.   Montanabw(talk) 05:23, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I would just hold off on the whole thing, the idea was to rename this as WikiProject Horse not "fold it in to" WikiProject Horse.  That's much harder to do once you create Horse and I think the two would become redundant.  If you renamed, nothing would be lost, the entire project would just have a new name.  We're working on adopting breedboxes based on this project's breedboxes for all livestock, so don't worry about those going anywhere.  As for the banner, there are a couple options if this project widened its scope: 1) just change the banner to say "WikiProject Horse", 2) continue to use this project's banner for breeds but have a WikiProject Horse banner for other articles in the topic, or 3) as with WP:MILHIST show the applicable working group "Breeds" as part of an overall banner.  The banner doesn't do much on it's own.  If you changed the template to say "WikiProject Horse", all banners everywhere would change because they are all transclusions of the template; but it wouldn't be "lost", in any case.  I keep getting the idea that you think John and I are suggesting deprecating this project in favor of Horse, we are not!  We are merely proposing that this project become WikiProject Horse.  Nothing would happen except the main project page would change slightly to indicate the new title and broader scope.--Doug.(talk • contribs) 19:07, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Or, potentially, that the only change made be the name of the page, to Wikipedia:WikiProject Horses/Horse breed work group, and that the banner of the horses project, when made, be adjusted to include individual assessment for the horse breeds group. The same thing is being done currently for several work groups, and I set up Wikipedia:WikiProject Mammals/Mustelids work group for such separate assessments recently. Feel free to look at that page if you want to see what some of the results are. John Carter 19:19, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Possible expansion of project? 

message: Is the official position of this group that brown = liver chestnut? Say it ain't so! (Well, it's not.) Brown, including seal brown or black-bay (in German, schwarzbraun), is looking like it will turn out to be a distinct allelic "option" on (or near) the agouti locus. It appears to be analogous to black-and-tan in dogs and mice, but the gene hasn't been pinned down yet.
I've heard some horse people speak anecdotally of a brown horse being brown all-over. However, no black-based horse has non-black points unless affected by some other gene. Smoky blacks and very dark liver chestnuts may appear "brown" but brown is brown...meaning black with tan on the muzzle, armpits and groin.
The research is being conducted by Michal Prochazka of Pet DNA Services AZ. I'm sure he'd be willing to answer questions.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Countercanter (talk • contribs) 14:19, 29 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, I guess I disagree there.  According to the page about color tests at  UC Davis lab, it appears they can detect the dominant A allele.  If they could not, then there would be no possible way to affirmatively confirm by testing that a horse is genetically black and not just dark bay (As an Aa horse would be a bay, yet carry one copy of the recessive allele).  I own a black horse that has had this test run and has been determined to be a homozygous black (EEaa).  I would also like to actually see a cite for actual evidence for "at this time they [brown and bay] are two separate things."  I have not seen anything to verify that.  I keep hearing theories bandied about, the "sooty" gene theory making the most sense, but not one cite to a university research project or peer reviewed literature (ditto for the alleged "flaxen" gene that people who breed chestnuts are so fascinated about.  No one has figured out that mechanism, either) Montanabw(talk) 08:42, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I'll send UC Davis an email. My university's database doesn't carry Mammalian Genome, but if you have access to it, you'd be looking for:
Rieder, S., et al. "Mutations in the agouti (ASIP), the extension (MC1R), and the brown (TYRP1) loci and their association to coat color phenotypes in horses (Equus caballus)" 2001 Mammalian Genome 12:6. 450-455.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Countercanter (talk • contribs) 16:36, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: New research on brown

message: Should breed registries and breed associations, such as American Quarter Horse Association or Jockey Club fall under this project or under Wikipedia:WikiProject Equine? Ealdgyth | Talk 21:36, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I think if they are a breed registry, they go into wikiproject horse breeds, if a discipline organization like the USEF or USDF or NRHA, etc., those would be wikiproject Equine.  If in doubt, like AQHA, which  sanctions shows AND registers horses, we could tag for both.  Will that work? Montanabw(talk) 04:26, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

text: I think they should go under the breeds project if they are a breed registry, but if they are a club or organization they could go under Project Equine. Hjhunt (talk) 01:34, 15 September 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Associations 

message: This is a Russian breed that has state studs to maintain the purity of the breed. Should there be an article?Cgoodwin (talk) 06:40, 29 November 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I think we already have it, just different spelling. Vyatka (horse), which, for some reason is in the pony section.  (Must be pony sized?)  Anyway, if it IS the same breed, may want to create a redirect if there are alternative spellings. Maybe a rename, not sure.  Calling little horses "ponies" insults some aficionados...sigh   Montanabw(talk) 02:03, 30 November 2009 (UTC)
replies: text:  Same breed, with my old source calling it a pony! Thanks.Cgoodwin (talk) 02:17, 30 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Viataka Pony

message: Can any of you experts on this wikiproject help? On Exmoor Pony an editor has placed an "Expand" banner on the "Breed history" section which makes it show up on Wikipedia:WikiProject Somerset/Cleanup listing. I don't have the knowledge/expertise or reliable sources to do this and would appreciate any help you can offer.— Rod talk 16:23, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for the alert.  We sort of plug away at all the horse breed articles as we can (there are only 300 or 400 of them), and they also pop up on our cleanup listings.  We don't really have a timetable, but we will note that these UK Pony breed articles do need some good housekeeping. Montanabw(talk) 20:22, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Exmoor Pony 

message: The horse infobox template would do well with a quick reminder about what the "main" picture used in the template is supposed to show: should it be...
*a nice, pleasing shot with artistic value and maybe some "action" value (showing the breed in a typical activity, a thoroughbred at full gallop for example)
*a clear picture that shows a typical animal of the breed, preferably so that the conformation can be clearly seen, even if the picture is not that pretty
*or what is the standard here? I'm confused.
—Pitke (talk) 07:27, 29 January 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, theoretically the lead shot on every article should be a well-set-up conformation shot, showing all of the primary attributes of the individual breed, in a high resolution, high quality photo, facing into the article (see for example Arabian horse and Ardennes (horse)). However, that's probably never going to happen, although it's nice to dream. The second best would be a nice action shot, for example the ones in Icelandic horse and Haflinger (horse). The lead image in the Fell pony article is also not bad, although it would be nice if the horse was facing the other direction. Basically, when we're trying to improve an article we sort through Commons to see if there's anything remotely nice, check Flickr and government websites to see if there's anything we can upload, and then choose the best of what's generally a bad lot. See, for example, the Lusitano article that I just re-wrote, which doesn't have a good shot in the bunch on Commons, yet I can't find anything else with the proper licensing. Also Suffolk Punch which is a Featured Article, but which still doesn't have a decent conformation shot, although it's better than it was since Montanabw found a bunch of stuff on Flickr. So, what we need is multiple people to go to large shows, breed expos, Equine Affair events, etc and get lots of good pictures of breeds, especially the rare ones. But until that happens, we just have to make do with what we've got :) I hope this helps, and didn't go into way more detail than you wanted! Dana boomer (talk) 12:42, 29 January 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I pretty much agree with Dana, the lead photo in a perfect world would be a conformation shot of an excellent quality specimen of the breed, in full color, well-composed, and the horse facing "into" the article (i.e. facing left).  That rarely happens, unfortunately!  (It does in Finnhorse, luckily!) But, the main point in my humble opinion is to first, make the best of a bad lot, but then when possible to show a GOOD example of the breed as opposed to a great photo of a crappy horse.  The Friesian horse article addressed that question a while back.  There were some rather nicely photographed shots, I think of the same horse, but the animal was posed in such a way that it looked like it was put together backwards!  Consensus finally seemed to agree on an action shot of a horse facing the "correct" direction.  (There were several very good conformation shots of other horses, but all facing the "wrong" way.  I actually am OK with the "wrong way," but I lost that round and can live with what's there.)  Sometimes, all we have are really terrible shots, though something that is not great is probably better than nothing at all.  By the way, Pitke, thanks for your additions to the collection for Finnhorse, you can see what the challenges we face are! Montanabw(talk) 00:41, 30 January 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Add some quick advise please 

message: Hiyah folks, I'd appreciate if people other than Montanabw could go and have a look at Finnhorse. Montanabw is brilliant as always, but I'm concerned we two might be developing a serious case of home blindness. Any comments on the article are appreciated. Pitke (talk) 10:18, 16 July 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  It's massive! And it needs your help! 

message: Hi guys, I saw your standing on naming real horses above, but I was wondering if the same applies to fictional horses too, eg. The Lone Rangers "Silver", Black Beauty or Mr Ed? I actually went looking into the horse articles to find out which breeds these three are but couldn't find any, also some breeds are mentioned in the game "Red Dead Redemption" which I was looking for to see if they were fake names or real breeds, the list of those breeds is here with pictures http://reddead.wikia.com/wiki/Horse_Breeds , if you cant add any of this to the article could any of you give me these answers? Cheers.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.255.156.126 (talk) 09:11, 18 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't think that's within the scope here, but I suppose lists on fictional horses could expand to mention fictional breeds, there's a fair bit of it in fantasy fiction.  Most mainstream fiction seems to use real breeds.  (Though not stated, it is considered implicit that Black Beauty was probably a Thoroughbred)  However, with nearly 400 real breeds here, we don't, figuratively, have the horses to pull a bigger wagon.  So I guess while it's best not to house such a project here, if someone was into doing this, they could leave a message for anyone in WPEQ who wanted to help elsewhere.  (Side thought:  Maybe we need an equine fiction wikiproject.  I for one, would love to discuss errors in the same!  For example, why to all movie horse have to utter a greeting neigh when they rear?  LOL!)  Montanabw(talk) 15:27, 19 August 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fictional Famous horse breeds 

message: After all the fun with the Spooky Species Contest last month, there's a new contest for the (Northern hemisphere's) Winter holidays at Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of Life/Contest.    It's not just Christmas, but anything festive from December-ish.  Feel free to add some ideas to the Festive taxa list and enter early and often. --Nessie (talk) 18:46, 12 November 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  First annual Tree of Life Decemberween contest 

message: You are invited to join the discussion at Talk:Knabstrupper § Reference format.     ▶ I am Grorp ◀  17:57, 7 March 2024 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion at [[:Talk:Knabstrupper#Reference format|Talk:Knabstrupper §&nbsp;Reference format]]

message: I have only recently encountered the undefined term "dry" used in such context as "dry head" or "dry legs" and it is not referring to moisture. It is not defined in Glossary of equestrian terms, Wiktionary:dry, Dry (a disambig page), or in any online dictionary (I checked many). Searching for a definition has turned up bupkis! Though online AI search tools give an explanation, they will not cough up any actual source or citation for the meaning of the word—just proving the word is actually used, but not defined anywhere.
It is used in many horse breed articles, such as:
* Equine conformation
* North American Sportpony
* Zweibrücker
* Nonius horse
* Neapolitan horse
* Dutch Harness Horse
* Black Forest Horse
* Noriker
* Finnhorse
* Auvergne horse
* Oldenburger
* and many others
I even tried some of the horse breed encyclopedias through Open Library, and found only one which even mentioned it  but the others didn't use the term at all. I do not know if it is a new slang term that has caught hold in equine circles or a regional thing (American?), or what, but at minimum it needs defining in the glossary, properly cited. Failing that (or even with a definition source found), it should perhaps not be used at all.    ▶ I am Grorp ◀  17:18, 27 March 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: I don’t know why it doesn’t turn up, as it’s extremely common when referring to a certain quality of refined heads such as in Arabians. It’s been used for a century at least.  Let’s leave it be for now.  I’ve got other fish to fry than to dig up its etymology, but if I find something, I’ll let you know.  Montanabw(talk) 05:23, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

text: Your examples show it was in use, but doesn't explain what it means. Maybe it was an Arabian-specific descriptive term from way back that has caught on in modern times. Your post gave me the idea to check Horace Hayes' Points of the Horse (1904), and I found nothing for "dry". If it was a commonly used term to describe morphology (of heads and legs) in 1900's England, it would be in there. Sadly, no.    ▶ I am Grorp ◀  06:52, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  The term "dry" as used for horse morphology