breed standard

Breed standard

General Appearance

The Gypsy Cob is powerful and compact with an overall impression of intelligence, kindness, strength and agility. They are medium to heavy boned, well proportioned and balanced with ample muscle and abundant feathering.

Head

The head should be in proportion to the body with a broad forehead and generous jaw. Ears should be well set on, in proportion and not too small. The eyes should be large, kind and set well apart. The mouth should have a level bite.

Neck

The neck should be slightly arched and compact, without being too short, generously muscled and tie in well at the shoulder.

Chest

The chest should be broad and powerful with ample muscle.

Shoulders

The shoulders should be deep, powerful and well sloped.

Withers

The withers should be of medium height and well muscled.

Back

The back should be short with ample muscle sloping slightly upwards towards the croup.

Body

The barrel should be short and compact with well sprung ribs and ample muscle.

Legs

The legs should be set well under the body, generously boned and muscled with well shaped hooves capable of carrying the frame without stress

Hindquarters

The hindquarters should be very generous, smooth, broad and rounded across the croup with a long hip well coupled to powerful, straight hocks.

Hair

The mane and tail should be thick and luxuriant. Leg feathering should start at the knee and hock and run down the front and back of the leg. Abundance of feathering may vary with the medium weight cobs.

Colour

Any colour is permissible, solid or colored.

Action

High front action with a slight outward flick, the general movement should be level with a good length of stride.

Disposition

The disposition should be one of quiet intelligence and docile temperament.

Section A - under 14.2 hands

Is powerful and compact with an overall impression of intelligence, kindness, strength and agility. They are thickset, medium to heavy boned, well proportioned and balanced with ample muscle and abundant feathering, obvious draft horse influence. A mini-Cob with pony characteristics.

Section B - over 14.2 hands

Section C - 14.2 - 15.2hh

The Gypsy Cob Cross may be sport horse to draft type, but still powerful with an overall impression of intelligence, kindness, strength and agility. They are light-medium to very heavy boned, well proportioned and balanced with ample muscle, with little to heavy feathering depending on the cross breeding. One parent must be a full bred Gypsy Cob.

Facial & Leg Markings


star	star & snip	star, strip & snip	strip	blaze	bald	apron

front coronet	front fetlock	front sock	front stocking	rear coronet	rear fetlock	rear sock	rear stocking

Body Colour Chart

Bay - Chestnut body colour with black mane, tail & points

Black - Black hairs, no brown , red or tan hairs.

Brown - A very dark brown, almost black coat with lighter brown highlights on muzzle, flanks and inside legs.

Chestnut - Red with red or flaxen mane & tail.

Roan - Maybe red, black or bay with approximately 50% white hair intermingled. Points usually darker.

Grey - Born any dark colour, gradually turning white with age.

Piebald - Black and White

Skewbald - Any other Colour than black, and White

Colour Pattern Guide

Tobiano (toe-bee - ahh - no) - the most common type of white spotting seen on horses. The white areas usually have a distinct edge to them. The back is usually crossed at some point by white. All four lower legs are usually white the head is usually coloured with markings common on unspotted horses and the eyes as a rule are not blue. A tobiano can range from very little white, (usually the head is colored and the body is white with very little coloured areas).

Tovero (toe - ver - roh) - This is not a common pattern, but is a combination of the spotting of both the tobiano and overo white areas. (Usually the head has a lot of white while the body has the more distinct tobiano patches.)

Overo (oh - ver- roh) - The overo pattern is less common than the tobiano. The white areas usually display more ragged edges than the tobiano spots. It is rare for white to extend onto the back. The head is usually marked extensively with white and blue eyes are more common. The white areas commonly occur on the sides, neck and /or belly. The white pattern is usually horizontal as opposed to the tobiano patter, which is more vertically arranged. Overos often have one or more coloured feet. Overos are rarely all white most of the white foals die a few days after birth, due to a condition called "lethal white".

email to: carol@gypsycobsociety.co.uk