23 American Saddlebred Facts: One Of The Best Horse Breeds!

The American Saddlebred Horse is a type of horse that originated in the United States of America.

Today, the breed is employed in dressage. This is a sport in which the horse is taught to perform numerous maneuvers while the rider displays his mastery of the animal.

The American Saddle horse is the oldest American horse breed. In 1891, the American Saddlebred Horse Association was formed, and hence, it is the oldest registry of breeds in the United States.

This breed is exceptionally well manned and energetic and is judged on their willingness, liveliness, and good nature. These horses are very excited about life.

They are quick, curious, intelligent, and respond to commands quickly. They are used in many disciplines, like jumping, cutting, farm work, dressage, roping, pulling a carriage: they can perform in all of them!

Saddlebreds are available in many colors. Because of this property, they are sometimes referred to as ‘peacocks’ of the equine world. They are very beautiful. The most common colors you can see are black, chestnut, and brown. All these colors are accepted in the registry of ASHA.

The American Saddlebred Horse can perform very well in their teens, twenties, and beyond if given very proper care. They are very fit horses and provide the owners or the family with many wonderful years.

People used American saddlebreds for pleasure riding and horse shows as it was a comfortable riding horse with a slow gait. They used to exhibit horses in international horse markets as a show horse.

Their average lifespan is around 30 years, and it can even exceed sometimes if they are under excellent care. The American Saddlebred horse is a living memorial to the country’s equestrian heritage.

The pleasant nature and flamboyant movement of an American Saddlebred Horse will attract, captivate, and delight individuals who find themselves in the company of one of the oldest and most cherished breeds. They’re also a lot of fun to ride on!

Traits Of American Saddlebred Horses

The American Saddlebreds are very noble and lively. They are friendly and gentle and can adapt according to the trainer, the American saddlebred farm, or their family.

• They were suitable family horses. They are very willing by nature, making them the right choice to showcase on events and shows. This show horse has a very strong body, deep girth, and a neat chiseled head.
• They are large, robust, and have lean jawlines with expressive eyes. The ears of saddlebreds are very beautifully shaped, the neck is arched, and they have a short back.
• Their legs are beautiful and straight, with strong feet and a flowing tail. The hip build of these horses is very strong. The American Saddlebred’ Triple Crown’ is the breed’s most coveted honor today in the breed industry.
• The Narragansett Pacer gave the Saddlebred its easy gait, while Trotters gave it agility and speed. It is thought that the Morgans and Canadian horses gave it its athleticism and endurance. The outcome is an American Saddlebred Horse capable, functional, and beautiful.
• When these gaited horses are in action, they are either five-gaited or three-gaited, and they are a lot of fun to watch. Trot, lively walk, canter, rack, and slow gait are performed by five-gaited horses, while trot, walk, and three-gaited horses perform canter. With proper training, they can be extraordinary riding horses.
• The full manes of the five-gaited horses contrast with the roached manes of the three-gaited saddlers. Various registries worldwide with separate breed registries have these American Saddlebred horses registered.

History Of American Saddlebred Horses

The American Saddlebred Horse is not an old breed in the horse world, and they are relatively new compared to other ancient horses like the Barb or Arabian.

• The first time this breed was developed was in Kentucky, the USA, to drive or ride on them.
• The two horse breeds used to develop the cross of this breed were the Narragansett Pacer and the Canadian Pacer. These two are now extinct breeds.
• Other than those two breeds, there were more breeds added to the bloodline of Saddlebred to make this breed.
• The addition of Morgan’s blood gave the line a lot of the Saddlebred’s noble and magnificent appearance.
• Hackney blood rendered the horse lighter and gave it more exaggerated movement and stride length.
• The Thoroughbred blood created the breed’s vigor and conformation.
• The first Saddlebreds were formed by combining the Morgan, Pacers, Thoroughbred, and Hackney breeds.
• When the Saddlebreds were created, they were found to be able to learn the slow gait and rack, which were the two gaits that the Saddlebreds could get trained to perform.
• Saddlebreds are not huge horses and can stand between 14-16 hands high (60-64 in (152.4-162.53)). Pinto patterns have been recognized in the breed since the late 1800s, and they can be any color.
• People mistake them to be bigger than they actually are because of the high carriage. These horses keep their heads high, making them look much taller than their actual height.
• These horses were a very prominent part of the first national horse show in the United States. And because of this, there was various American saddlebred auction as well.

Usage In Films: American Saddlebred Horses

The TV show Fury in the year 1955-1960 was about a horse used to help and save a lot of people from trouble and was a very joyous horse. That horse was an American Saddlebred.

Many of the horses in the Golden Age of Hollywood films and television shows were Saddlebreds, including the stars of National Velvet, My Friend Flicka, Fury, and Black Beauty.

In Mr. Ed’s television series, a part-Saddlebred horse played the starring role, and a Saddlebred was featured prominently in the film Giant.

William Shatner, Saddlebred breeder and an actor, portrayed James T. Kirk in Star Trek Generations in the 1990s, riding his own horse, a mare called Great Belles of Fire. Will Rogers, Clark Gable, Joe Louis, and Carson Kressley are just a few of the notable celebrities that have owned and shown the species, in addition to Shatner.

The Lemon Drop Kid, who was a star harness horse, was featured in a horse magazine.

Usage In War: American Saddlebred Horses

The American Saddlebred was widely used during the American Civil War by the military as they were known for their endurance and bravery. A large number of officers made use of them as mounts. Some of them were General Sherman’s Lexington, General Lee’s Traveler, General Grant’s Cincinnati, and General Jackson’s Little Sorrell.

• Traveler, the grey warhorse of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, was perhaps the most well-known Saddlebred to fight on the battlefields. When it came to battle, Traveler was famed for his speed, strength, and stamina and was claimed to have stood up better than any other breed in the military in battle and on long marches.
• There are many controversies over whether Traveler was a Tennessee Walking Horse or a Saddlebred, but he wasn’t technically either, just like the rest of his Civil War friends. The oldest Tennessee Walker breed group was founded in 1935, and the American Saddlebred breed registry was established in 1891.
• Saddlebreds and Tennessee Walkers, on the other hand, are descended from the same forebears as Canadian Pacers and Narragansett Pacers. Traveler was categorized as a ‘Kentucky Saddler,’ and according to the breeds crossed with them at the time, they grew into either American Saddlebreds or Arabians.

Usage In Sports: American Saddlebred Horses

Saddlebreds were multi-talented racehorses capable of performing various jobs with strength, speed, and style. In 1891, the American Saddlebred Horse Association and in the year 1935, the South African Breed registry was formed.

• They were handled as pleasure horses, harness-driven, and utilized as war mounts.
• All Saddlebreds were capable of walking, trotting, and cantering. Some people also had a natural knack for two other gaits: the rack, which is a fast and dazzling slow gait, and the four-beat gait, which is a slower variation that is extraordinarily smooth for the rider. Horses were selectively developed to emphasize their unique abilities and breed leaders formed to pass on the most desirable characteristics.
• These types of horses began to gain more popularity, the trainers and professional breeders of Kentucky, Missouri, began to compete for the shows to win the top honors.
• The Kentucky State Fair staged the first World’s Grand Championship for Saddle horse in 1917, with Easter Cloud winning the five-gaited division, Happy Sybil winning the three-gaited division, and Lady Beautiful winning the fine-harness section.
• Sweetheart on Parade, Bourbon Chief, Wing Commander, Imperator, My My, and Lady Carrigan were some of the most notable horses of the 1900s.

Traditional competitions for awarding the title World’s Grand Champion title for Saddlebred horses are still held. Yet, many Saddlebreds in the twenty-first century have come full circle and are displayed in various disciplines that reflect their multibreed pedigree.

Dressage, reining, combination driving, cutting, barrel racing, endurance riding, jumping, and eventing are just a few of the sports in which saddlebred horses have excelled.