American Saddlebred Horse

American Saddlebred Horse is also known as the American Saddle Horse. This is a horse breed that was developed by owners of plantations in Kentucky. At present, this horse breed is most commonly seen in Saddle seat style riding, several kinds of driving like pleasure driving, and many fine harness competitions. This horse is also famous for parade mounts and its calm gait and sound temperament make it good for trail riding. Explore the following piece of writing to know more about this horse.

History of American Saddlebred Horse

In the 18th century, the American horse came to be known as Kentucky Saddler. This horse was developed into an extremely modish, fancy horse, handsome for harness, physically powerful enough for farm work, and swift enough for match races. To give more substance and action; in the third decade of the 19th century, there was selective breeding of Morgan, Canadian, Narragansett Pacers, and thoroughbred blood. In the fourth decade of the 19th century, this horse gained name and fame.

The physique of American Saddlebred Horse

American Saddlebred Horses have a small head with a straight face, watchful eyes, open nostrils, prick ears, and gaily carried on an arched neck. Its shoulders are strong, its body short, muscled, and well ribbed up, and its strong and flexible hindquarters. Its legs are hard with supple joints and flexible pasterns. Its feet are neat and round. It has a full mane and tail. The tail is carried exaggeratedly high – usually, an artificial tail carriage, created by nicking the muscles of the dock and setting in a crupper. Its actions are extravagant, collected and precise, and tremendously showy.

The five gaits of the American Saddle Horse are the walk, trot, canter, slow gait, and rack. The rack is an even four-beat gait in which each foot pause in mid-air before coming down separately – a spectacular, prancing gait that can occur at speeds up to 30mph. The slow gait is a slow and graceful version of the rack.

Even at the walk, trot, and canter, these horses have the grace of ballet dancers. They were developed, like the slightly heavier Tennessee Walker, from a mixture of Thoroughbred, Morgan, and Narragansett Pacer stock. Like the Tennessee Walker, their original purpose was to provide plantation owners with a luxury ride. Nowadays they are usually bred for the show ring, where they compete in separate classes for three-gaited (walk, trot, and canter only) and five-gaited horses according to their level of education.

Height of American Saddlebred Horse

Generally, this horse is around 15-16 hh.

Color of American Saddlebred Horse

This horse possesses mostly bay, brown, black, grey, and chestnut colors. Usually, white markings are also visible.

The character of American Saddlebred Horse

This horse is a superb riding horse with great presence and gentle and charming nature.

The American Saddlebred is known for its ostentatious appearance and five beautiful high-stepping gaits. These horses are still known at present as being a crucial show horses. With a luxurious history and development in both Canada and the United States, the American Saddlebred horse could be considered one of the resident American horses.

See more: Alter Horse