TheEquine |

TheEquine : "Through the centuries spotted horses have been given names ranging from the mystical Celestial Horses in China, to the Knabstrupper in Denmark, to the Tigre in France. The name Appaloosa joins in this history around the late 1800s. It was during this time that the term Appaloosa was first used to describe the spotted horses of the Palouse region. The Palouse, or Palouse Country, is the area of Washington and Idaho drained by the Palouse River. Early white settlers referred to the spotted horse of the area as a Palouse horse. Over time the a and Palouse were slurred together to first form the name Apalousey and later Appaloosa. The word Palouse most probably has its origin in the Sehaptin language spoken by the Nez Perce and Palouse Indians. It means 'something sticking down in the water' in reference to a large rock at the confluence of the Snake and Palouse Rivers where the main village of the Palouse or Palus Indians was built. (1) "