The Tibetan is a small horse native to Tibet, and one of the few breeds in the world capable of traversing with ease in altitudes higher than 3,000 meters above sea level. There are four subtypes of this breed, all of which are found in Horse Isle.

A horse for the course:
Tibet is famous for being the home to the highest mountains in the world. Crossing valleys, plateaus, and mountains up to 5,000 meters is nothing unusual for the people who live in these regions, nor for their horses which are collectively known as 'Tibetan horses.'

The Tibetan was developed in the Tibetan plateaus thousands of years ago out of Chinese and possibly Mongolian stock. It remained pure because crossbreeding with other breeds always resulted in offspring that cannot handle the height and climate.

However, the breed is not completely homogenous, because by carefully breeding individual Tibetan horses, breeders created four different subtypes (see below.) Each has a slightly different conformation, and while some excel as mounts others excel at pack work.

The Tibetan today:
Tibetan horses are still popular in Tibet, and are known for their exceptional endurance and surefootedness in high altitudes. They are used for trekking, pack work, and racing, depending on the exact subtype.

Breeding and subtypes:
There are four subtypes of Tibetan horses: Ganzi, Nungchen, Yushu, and Zhongdian. In China, they are all regarded as different breeds and are bred separately, while outside of China they are seen as different types within the Tibetan breed.

Therefore, in Horse Isle, these four 'breeds' are regarded as subtypes of the Tibetan horse, but cannot be crossed with each other if one desires a pure foal.

Gait:
Most Tibetan horses are not gaited and exhibit the normal walk-trot-canter gaits. However, Tibetan horses of the Nungchen type are gaited and are capable of pacing.

In Horse Isle, crossing gaited Tibetans with non-gaited ones will result in foals who are partially gaited, and who will be penalized for it. This is because it requires crossing different subtypes of Tibetan horses.

Conformation:
Tibetan horses have a small head with a square muzzle, a straight profile, large eyes, and small ears. The neck is short and thick, the withers are unobtrusive, and the overall conformation is small and compact.

That said, in Horse Isle, the generic Tibetan can have any of the conformation characteristics that can be found in its subtypes. This means that some Tibetans can combine characteristics from different subtypes, and as such their overall conformation will seem off.

Coats & Height:

Colors: bay, black, brown, chestnut, grey, and more rarely, dun and cream-dilutes*.
* There are no official records for double-diluted Tibetans, but since there are no official color restrictions in this breed, then homozygous cream is allowed in Tibetans in Horse Isle.

Additionals: sooty, flaxen, linebacked, mealy, dark mane & tail.

Height: 11.3hh to 13.1hh.