I confess: I was born a Western stock-horse snob. Other than the pony I took my first lesson on, my mounts consisted of Quarter Horses, Paints, and a lone Appaloosa. Being a predominantly Western rider, this made sense to me—I naively felt I had no reason to consider any other breed. Sure, I could see the beauty in a Thoroughbred racing down the track at the Kentucky Derby or a warmblood traversing a cross-country course, but I never thought owning anything other than a stock horse was for me.
That’s until recently, when my friends and I started getting curious about a breed we were surprised to see in Western tack. One that’s relatively new to the United States (they were first imported in the mid 1990s), requires even more grooming than our mane-gifted reining horses, has a distinctly draft look but also does great under a Western saddle, and reminds us of the fantasy dramas we enjoy watching on TV.
So, what’s our newest obsession? The Gypsy Vanner. And it seems we’re not alone in our interest in this stocky, medieval-looking steed—according to the Gypsy Vanner Horse
