Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse

The Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse is a breed developed in the United States by farmers in the Mountainous regions of the state of Kentucky. The breed was developed as recently as the late 1980s.

The breed purity is still rather weak as many different types of horses can be registered as a Kentucky Saddle Horse, as long as they meet the breed standard.

Since 2002, even spotted horses and brindle horses are accepted into the stud book, as they have a sister union whose stud book goes under the name the “Spotted Mountain Horse”.

The Kentucky Mountain horse variant the Spotted Mountain horse has as yet not acquired the status of their own breed in the U.S., The strong relationship between the two classified horses is through a common stallion.

The Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse has its pedigree in horses bred by the Mountain people who settled in the Appalachian Mountains in the state of Kentucky during the 1800s.

The foundation animals for the breeding consisted of horses that descended from the famous Spanish horses brought to America during the 1500s and 1600s by the Spanish conquistadors.

The breeds that were documented as foundation animals are now considered extinct the Narragansett Pacer, Jennet, and the small but very fast Galloway ponies from Scotland brought to America by British settlers.

Their goal of breeding was to produce a horse that could function both as a working horse and riding horse in the very rough Mountainous terrain.

The extra gait and nature of the Narragansett Pacer horse lent to the new breed a very secure, fast and comfortable riding horse, something that was very important since many hours were spent in the saddle.

In 1890 a visiting family from Virginia, the Tuttle family in Log Lick, Kentucky, and sold a young stallion to farmers in the area. The colt would then become the grandfather of a very well known stallion named Tobe, who later was known as Old Tobe when the stallion reached over 30 years of age.

Old Tobe, was famous for his chocolate brown color and light mane and tail, his extraordinary gait and good temperament.

Old Tobe is believed to be the foundation breed stallion for many of the Mountain Horses in the area.
The offspring of Old Tobe bred by Sam Tuttle were very sought after and used for the development of many of the other mountain breeds including the Rocky Mountain Horses that Tuttle was famous for.

Another important personality was Richard Palmer who became a big name in Kentucky Mountain Saddle horse history. Richard Palmer was known in Kentucky for his stallion Major I, a golden palomino horse who was an offspring of Old Tobe.

Major I would become the father of a long list of horses that showed the flaxen palomino colour of his father, through the strong dominant colour genes from Tobe.

Palmer was known for his “golden” horses and their special coat colours, and he had a brand that identified the horses as his in order to ensure no one could sell similar horses in his Palmer’s.

Richard Palmer continued to breed horses, primarily intended to be registered as a Palomino, which had become immensely popular in the United States. One of his most prominent stallions, from Major was Marja II’s son, whose mother was an American trotter.

All of Major’s sons were crossed with a wide variety of mares of all different kinds of breeds, crosses and even horses with completely unknown parentage. All progeny inherited the golden color of the original bright man, and at the same time the horse was very comfortable for the rider.

Even today, there are horses representative of Richard Palmer breed lines at his old farm in Sadieville, Kentucky. The horses were unknown in the rest of the United States and when the horses were gradually replaced by motor vehicles and tractors the horses numbers began to diminish.

The Breeder Junior Robinson heard about these remarkable horses in the late 1980s and was determined to preserve the race, by breeding before it completely died out.

Junior Robinson was very fond of the breed characteristics, but at the same time very concerned about the purity of the breed of horses, as the documented pedigrees and stud books were not written down and recorded and many of the horses’ pedigrees were told orally from generation to generation.

There was not much evidence that these oral pedigrees were completely truthful. Robinson started a club for the breed in 1989, called the “Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse Association KMSHA, and started a registry where people could register horses that would be included in breeding to re-start this breed.

Strict rules were put in place in order to ensure that the breed’s own general characteristics would be maintained. A very good temperament, and natural additional four foot gait, and conforming confirmation criteria were set by Robinson to register their horses.

Robinson changed the criteria slightly when he noticed that there were also ponies, which showed the same characteristics and smooth, comfortable gaits, so he included a height classification which was a predetermined allowable height at the withers

The additional register was opened in 1992, and called the Class B where smaller horses and ponies could be registered. In Class B, all horses were registered between 110 and 140 cm, while all the horses that were over 140 cm was recorded as Class A.

In 2002 another stud book was begun a sister club to the KMSHA to register the many horses that were spotted or paint type horses, which were ineligible for the inclusion in the Kentucky Saddle-horses stud book as it only allows horses of one full color.

This breed oversight association is called the “Spotted Mountain Horse Association or SMHA, and these horses are called the Spotted Mountain Horse.

In 2007, 20 000 Kentucky Mountain Saddle horses were registered in the club since its inception, of which 18 000 of these horses are still alive today. Nearly 10 000 of these can be found in their home state Kentucky.

It is often difficult to prove that a horse has a specific blood line to be classified as a horse with a pure blood line to the Kentucky Mountain horse making registration difficult or impossible.

Today the University of Kentucky, is studying DNA and samples of horses DNA can be sent to them for analysis to determine the purity of the breed of horse undergoing testing.

The University has recognized that the Kentucky Saddle-horse is a separate breed of horse. A horse that has not been birth registered from registered parents must undergo a DNA test to determine kinship.

Since the January 1, 2008 DNA samples are mandatory to be sent to the University of Kentucky to record a horse, for the breed register.

The association has seen an increase in the number of registered individuals of around 25% annually so far, making Kentucky Saddle horse for one of the fastest growing horse breeds in the world in modern times.

A number of horses can now be found in the various States in the U.S. but horses are also exported to Canada and some countries in Europe. To make the breed pure the stud book and registry has now closed membership to horses that have not been registered in the parents association.

Attributes

Although the purity of the breed can be discussed in terms of registered horses, there is a strict standard of horse confirmation that make the difference between individuals very, very small.

In order to be registered the horse is required to hold the soft, comfortable four-foot gait test performed on a platform of wooden boards so that the four beet stride can be clearly heard when the hooves strike the wood.

The most important feature is the calm temperament and the willingness to work. In order to determine the horse’s temperament, it is observed by two examiners from the club.

The Horses confirmation is assessed and the horse must exhibit noble and beautiful features, with an average light build, adequate bone structure and a well-muscled body.

The horses will be somewhat athletic, and serve equally as working horses as well as riding horses. The head is attractive and proportional with a straight nose profile, well-defined jaw and with a broad, flat forehead.

The Kentucky Mountain horse can be across all colours, but the most desirable colour is a deep chocolate brown bay colour with flaxen colour mane and tail.

The spotted and patch or painted horse colours are not accepted as a Kentucky Saddler but can be registered as a Spotted Mountain Horse. The horses may have minimal white markings on the legs and face, but the major characters in the face and white stockings that cross the knee are not allowed.

White spots on the stomach are allowed as long as the white box does not exceed the size of a normal hand. The horses who do exhibit too much white can be registered as a Spotted Mountain Horse.

Up to 4 years of age the horse can be registered temporarily with the club this is to allow time for the foal to colour properly, as sometimes even a full color foal can still develop large white markings, or colour points that disallow it through the colour defects or characteristics that do not follow the standard.

To become fully registered horse must be over 4 years, follow the standard and require to be ridden so as to assess their temperament under saddle.

Those that are between 110 and 140cm are recorded as a Class B and horses over 140cm are registered as Class A. There is no upper limit of the breed. The Kentucky Mountain Saddle-horses are mainly used for riding, but may sometimes be used for light farm work.