Horses On Stamps

Comores 1983 Horse Postage Stamps showing the following breeds:

Arabian (Pur-Sang Arabe) – Anglo-Arabian (Anglo-Arabe) – Lipizzan – Tennessee – Appaloosa – Thoroughbred (Pur-Sang Anglais) – Clysdale – Andalou

Horse Stamps From Around The World

The modern horse (Equus ferus caballus) belongs to the family Equidae. In addition to the horse, there are seven other species of genus Equus in the Equidae family, including the ass or donkey (Equus asinus), also known as the African wild ass, the mountain zebra (Equus zebra), plains zebra (Equus quagga), Grévy’s zebra (Equus grevyi), the kiang (Equus kiang), also known as the Tibetan wild ass, and the onager (Equus hemionus), also commonly known as the Asiatic wild ass.

About 5 million years ago, the modern Equus evolved. About 15,000 years ago, the horse (Equus ferus) was found throughout the northern continents of the world. Fossil horse bones from the late Pleistocene, have been found in Europe, Asia, and North America. However, around 10,000 years ago, the horse became extinct in North America. The reasons for this extinction are not fully known. One theory suggests that extinction of the horse in North America paralleled human arrival on the continent. Another theory notes that climate changes caused vegetation changes, approximately 12,500 years ago, that left the plains covered with unpalatable plant species.

Archaeological evidence dating to approximately 3500–4000 BC has been found in Ukraine and Kazakhstan suggesting that human domestication of the horse first took place in central Asia prior to 3500 BC. However, the DNA of domestic horses suggests that domestication may have occurred in more than one place and from several different wild horse populations. Today there are more than 300 horse breeds in the world.

Only two non-domesticated horse subspecies, the Przewalski’s Horse and the Tarpan are known to have existed and only the former still survives. A small wild population of Przewalski’s Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), also known as the Mongolian Wild Horse, exists today in Mongolia, as a result of the wildlife conservation efforts of the world’s zoos in the early 1990s. The Tarpan or European Wild Horse (Equus ferus ferus) at one time was found in Europe and Asia, but became extinct in 1909, when the last Tarpan died in a Russian zoo.

Below are several examples of some of the first horses presented on postage stamps:

Jumping Horse Embossed Cut-square – 1852 Brunswick Germany

United States Scott 1LB8 1857 Government City Dispatch 1 cent black local stamp – Baltimore Horse and Rider

Jumping Horse – 1887 Stuttgart Baden-Wurttemberg Germany 1.5 pf Local Postage Stamp

Some modern stamps featuring the horse are shown below:

Azerbaijan 1993 Horse Souvenir Sheet

Bulgaria 1981 Set of Six Horse Stamps

CENTRAL AFRICA 1999 HORSE STAMP

Great Britain (United Kingdom): British Horses Postage Stamps – 1978 First Day Cover

Shire Horse
Sheltland Pony
Merlyn Cymreig Welsh Pony
Thoroughbred

United States Scott #2155-2158 Set of Four Horse Stamps 1985

Portugal 1986 set of Horse Stamps