The Corsican (also known as 'Cavallu Corsu') is a protected horse breed which originated in Corsica Island, and still roams there in small numbers.

A rough start:
Horses are not native to the Island of Corsica, and were probably brought there by the Carthaginians or Etruscans. Difficult life awaited the horses who arrived there, because Corsica is a mountainous island that lacks vegetation. They had to learn how to walk safely on steep rocky terrains while searching for food, and how to survive the cold winters with the little vegetation that the island had to offer.

During the following centuries, those horses became adapted to life on the island and gradually developed into the Corsican horse.

A fearless, little horse:
From the moment they arrived at Corsica and until the 20th century, Corsican horses served as farm and cavalry horses. Despite being the size of a pony, Corsican horses became known as excellent cavalry horses because of their fearless personality. At some point, these horses also received the nickname "u paganacciu", which means that despite being "tamed," they still had a wild and rebellious personality.

From crossbreeding to purebreeding:
Until the 19th century, Corsican horses were sometimes crossed with horses of other breeds, mainly of oriental origin. However, starting from the 20th century, Corsican breeders decided to avoid any further crossbreeding in order to keep the purity of their horses.

In 2012, the Corsican horse was officially recognized as a breed, and an official studbook was established to maintain the purity of this breed.

The Corsican today:
Today, the Corsican is a rare breed that exists in small numbers in Corsica. It is known for its energetic and rigid personality which makes it difficult to train.

Nevertheless, those horses are extremely brave, surefooted, have excellent endurance, and are well-adapted for walking on mountainous and rocky terrains. Therefore, once trained, they usually serve for trekking and endurance riding in Corsica.

Conformation:
Corsican horses have a uniform appearance in terms of conformation and color. They have short but heavy heads and necks, small-to-medium ears, narrow muzzles, short backs, sloping croups, small hooves, and an overall squarish frame.

The mane is straight and is short or medium in length, and the legs are either clean from feathering or have light feathering on the fetlocks.

Performance metrics:
The following are the: range, average, (SD), and MOE of performance metrics of ordered Corsicans in Horse Isle (not bred ones). In rare cases, horses might have metrics outside of the range. Breeders can produce horses that are beyond this range.

Speed: 14.4-16.0, 15.2 (0.4), 0.07.
Sprint: 39-54, 46 (3), 0.63.

Accel: 0.80-0.97, 0.89 (0.04), 0.01.
Decel: 0.87-1.00, 0.93 (0.03), 0.01.

Jump: 4.97-5.29, 5.11 (0.05), 0.01.
Pull: 1.70-2.40, 2.06 (0.16), 0.03.

Turning: 42.69-53.27, 48.19 (2.57), 0.5.
Reverse: 2.3-2.9, 2.6 (0.1), 0.03.

Stamina: 40.33-46.02, 43.18 (1.17), 0.23.
Reaction: 0.63-0.73, 0.68 (0.03), 0.01.

Coats & Height:
Colors: Usually dark bay in color (termed 'brown' in Horse Isle). More rarely, black or seal-brown.

Additionals: linebacked*, sooty. The coat is always solid, and white markings are highly discouraged and are restricted to the face and lower legs.
* many Corsican horses have a dorsal stripe.

Height: 12.3hh to 15hh.