Beauty comes in all sorts of different shapes and sizes — for every thoroughbred or warmblood lover, there are those of us who are totally addicted to cobs. Here’s just a few reasons why…
1. There’s something particularly heart-warming about a cob doing dressage — what’s not to love about a big, hairy beast dancing as elegantly as a ballerina? Cobs can be completely ace at dressage, if trained correctly. After all, cobs can do anything.
2. Ditto jumping. Cobs might look like they have four feet so firmly on the ground that they’d have to defy gravity to get over a small cross-pole, but some of them have jumping skills to rival many of their less robust equine friends.
3. With their calm natures (well most of them, most of the time), they’re perfect hunters — a lovely armchair ride for crossing country, soaring over fences, and standing sipping port at the meet. Good times!
4. Who doesn’t love a horse in leg warmers? If only hairy legs were so desirable in human beings — it would save a whole load of money on hair removal cream or razors. Mind you, all that lovely long feather does need maintenance, otherwise they can look more like those found on a dead crow than an elegant peacock.
5. Cobs are actually the hipsters of the horse world — they can pull off wearing beards and moustaches, not to mention bright colours and funky patterns, in a way that thoroughbreds and other taller, more elegant, horses just can’t. A thoroughbred in a sheep-patterned fleece rug looks like the Queen in fluffy slippers — just a bit wrong, somehow, while a cob can totally style it out.
6. Cobs are easy — well, relatively, they’re still equines after all. In most cases, you can leave them out all-year round — they probably won’t even need a rug – and it’s unlikely any fancy feeds will be required. A handful of chaff plus a balancer and away you go.
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7. They might not take you around Badminton five-star, but cobs have certainly held their own at the grassroots version, and they’ll sure as hell give you a great ride out round your local bridleways.
8. It is said that a good show cob should have “the face of a lady and the backside of a cook”. We can all relate to that!
Are you a fan of the cob or had any wonderful cobs in your life? Let us know your stories by writing to hhletters@futurenet.com including your name, nearest town and county for the chance to be published in H&H magazine
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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Amanda Vlietstra is a freelance writer and editor who’s worked for a number of national magazines and websites. Having thrown herself back rural living with gusto since moving from London to Buckinghamshire in 2012, she juggles her horsey life with work and two small children. She claims to do dressage, but really just potters about having fun on her 14.2hh Belgian Warmblood mare, Roxy. She also enjoys a good gossip over a coffee in the tackroom!
