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May 2007 • VOLUME 21 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine
Caspian Horse – Ancient Persian Treasure
By Victoria Tollman Back from the Brink In 1965, Louise Firouz, an American woman living in Iran was searching for more suitable mounts for her children than the full sized stallions Iranian children normally rode. Her quest would take her to remote villages along the shores of the Caspian Sea in Northern Iran where she would make the incredible rediscovery of an ancient breed lost to the rest of the world since the time of Alexander the Great – the Caspian horse! "… there exists a breed of small pony which I have never seen described in books, and which is practically unknown outside its own territory" -- Louise Firouz, 1965
 Louise was convinced these horses were the same ancient breed she had seen carved on the walls of ancient Persian ruins. After painstaking analysis, scholars and scientists concluded the little horses of modern Iran were the same breed as those depicted some 2500 years ago on ancient artifacts and the walls of the Persian palace of Persepolis. The researchers also concluded the horses likely dated back to around 4000 BC. Between 1965 and 1968, Louise undertook a careful census of the purebred Caspians in the region. The grim reality was she could find no more than 50 horses. She knew their best hope of survival as a breed was to collect and breed them herself. Modern History The first Caspian to reach American shores was in 1966, a single stallion named Jehan*. (Asterisk denotes Iranian foundation stock.) There were no purebred mares for him, but he left a legacy of talented hunter/jumper partbreds through the diligent efforts of his owner Kathleen McCormack of Virginia, who to this day remains a Caspian enthusiast, friend and supporter of Louise. The Caspian became known to a wider audience in 1971 during the Peacock celebration for the Shah of Iran. HRH Prince Philip attended as an invited dignitary, and when he showed interest in the Caspians he saw there, he was presented with a stallion and mare. The gift opened a door to the outside world. Soon another stallion was exported to Bermuda accompanied by two mares; but when feed became scarce, the pair and their offspring traveled to the United Kingdom. It was a blessing as eventually these few, coupled with the Caspians of Prince Philip, became the foundation stock of the Caspian in the UK. As a result, a stud book was newly organized to help protect and perpetuate the breed - The Caspian Stud UK. The Stud imported three further shipments, with a precious few going on to Australia and New Zealand. Collectively, these would become the lifeblood and foundation stock for the Caspian gene pool outside Iran. Inside Iran, however, the Iran-Iraq wars and the years of political unrest leading up to it were taking their toll; by 1974, the herd Louise had worked so hard to procure and nurture was systematically confiscated and scattered.
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