INTRODUCTION
KENTUCKY SADDLEBRED HORSES
LONG ASSOCIATED WITH FINE THOROUGHBRED HORSES, KENTUCKY'S BLUEGRASS REGION IS ALSO HOME TO AMERICA'S OLDEST INDIGENOUS BREED: THE AMERICAN SADDLEBRED HORSE. A COMPOSITE OF SEVERAL BREEDS, THE SADDLEBRED HORSE WAS DEVELOPED BY 18TH-CENTURY COLONISTS WHO SOUGHT A GOOD-LOOKING, SENSIBLE, ADAPTABLE, AND COMFORTABLE ANIMAL TO RIDE AND DRIVE. THESE TRAITS MADE IT THE MAINSTAY OF THE CONFEDERATE CAVALRY DURING THE CIVIL WAR AND THE CHOICE MOUNT OF MANY GENERALS ON BOTH SIDES. AS THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION REPLACED THE NEED FOR WORKING HORSEPOWER, THE SADDLEBRED EVOLVED NATURALLY INTO RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES. AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS "PEACOCK OF THE SHOW RING," THE SADDLEBRED'S BEAUTY, EXPRESSION, AND ATHLETICISM EPITOMIZE THE ESSENCE OF A SHOW HORSE.
IN MANY WAYS, THE BREED'S HISTORY PARALLELS THAT OF AMERICA AND UNFOLDS IN PICTURES IN "KENTUCKY'S SADDLEBRED HERITAGE" BOOK BY JAMES KEMPER MILLARD.
A LIFE-SIZE STATUE OF "SUPREME SULTAN", SIRE OF CHAMPIONS, STRIKES A TROT IN FRONT OF THE 'AMERICAN SADDLEBRED MUSEUM' AT THE KENTUCKY HORSE PARK IN LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY. THE MUSEUM MOUNTS A PERMANENT EXHIBIT DETAILING THE RISE OF THE AMERICAN SADDLEBRED AND ANNUAL EXHIBITS EXPLORING VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE BREED AND ITS HISTORY. THE MUSEUM ALSO MAINTAINS AN EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF PAINTINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS ARTWORK, ARTIFACTS, AND DOCUMENTS. THE MUSEUM IS OPEN 9:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. SEPTEMBER - MAY (UNTIL 6:OO P.M. DURING THE SUMMER) AND IS CLOSED MONDAY AND TUESDAY AND MAJOR HOLIDAYS FROM NOVEMBER TO MID-MARCH. AN ADMISSION FEE IS CHARGED, WHICH INCLUDES ADMISSION TO THE HORSE PARK. (COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN SADDLEBRED MUSEUM, LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY).
ALTHOUGH HORSE RACING WAS A MALE-DOMINATED SPORT EARLY ON, TODAY DEDICATED MEN AND WOMEN BREED, TRAIN, AND SHOW THE MAGNIFICENT AMERICAN SADDLEBRED--- THE FIRST EQUINE BREED DEVELOPED IN THE UNITED STATES. THE FIRST HORSE SHOW ON RECORD WAS HELD NEAR 1816 AT LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, "HORSE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD," BUT ANYTIME TWO OR MORE RIDERS MET UP, COMPETITION WAS CERTAIN, "THE SOUTHERN SADDLE BREED".
KENTUCKY, - THAT BUBBLING SPRING, THE LIMESTONE TOPOGRAPHY POCKED BY SPRINGS AND SINKHOLES THAT DEFINE THE BLUEGRASS REGION, WAS THE HARBINGER OF THE NEWLY FOUNDED REPUTATION THAT GAVE RISE TO THE HORSE FARMS AND RELATED ACTIVITIES FOR WHICH IT IS RENOWNED WORLDWIDE. THE UNDERLYING LIMESTONE KARST INFUSES THE WATER AND GRASS WITH CALCIUM THAT ENSURES HORSES BRED AND RAISED IN THE REGION DEVELOP STRONG BONES AND STAMINA. (HUMANS BENEFIT, TOO. THE AREA HAS ONE OF THE LOWEST RATES FOR OSTEOPOROSIS.)
ALTHOUGH THOROUGHBRED HORSES TEND TO CAPTURE THE GENERAL PUBLIC'S IMAGINATION, ESPECIALLY AROUND THE TRIPLE CROWN AND BREEDERS CUP, IT'S THE SADDLEBRED THAT IS AMERICA'S OWN BREED (THE THOROUGHBRED WAS IMPORTED FROM EUROPE). BLOODLINES THAT INCLUDED THE THOROUGHBRED AND MORGAN, AS WELL AS THE NARRAGANSETT PACER (NOW EXTINCT), THE IRISH HOBBY AND SCOTTISH GALLOWAY OF THE 1600's, AND THE NORFOLK PACER, CAME TOGETHER ONE GLORIOUS SPRING DAY IN 1851 WHEN A FOAL BY DENMARK F.S. OUT OF A MARE SIMPLY KNOWN AS THE "STEVENSON MARE" DROPPED --- AND A BREED WAS BORN.
THE TERM "SADDLER" PREDATES THE BREED AND WAS USED GENERALLY TO REFER TO ANY HORSE THAT HAD A COMFORTABLE GAIT AND WAS EASY TO RIDE. AS THE CENTRAL KENTUCKY AREA BECAME RENOWNED FOR FINE HORSEFLESH, PRECURSORS OF THE DEVELOPING BREED SOON BECAME KNOWN AS THE "KENTUCKY SADDLER".
MANY LEXINGTON BREEDERS AND TRAINERS BECAME INTENSELY INVOLVED IN BLOODLINES, INCLUDING LOCAL FARM OWNER AND SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE HENRY CLAY AND TRAINER DENTON OFFUTT (EARLIER OWNER OF THE GENERAL STORE IN NEW SALEM, INDIANA, WHERE ABRAHAM LINCOLN EARNED HIS NICKNAME "HONEST ABE"), A FRIEND OF CLAY'S. ONE OF THE FIRST HORSE SHOWS OF RECORD WAS HELD NEAR LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, IN 1816, AND SADDLERS WERE PROMINENT ENTRANTS.
IN A DAY AND AGE WHEN HORSES WERE THE MOST RELIABLE TRANSPORTATION AND WERE AVAILABLE TO JUST ABOUT EVERYONE, A WELL-TRAINED HORSE THAT WAS EASY TO RIDE WAS AN ESSENTIAL. AS WHAT WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS THE AMERICAN SADDLEBRED FINALLY EMERGED I THE MID-1850's, THE ANIMAL FEATURED THREE NATURAL GAITS (WALK, TROT, AND CANTER) AND COULD BE TRAINED TO TWO ADDITIONAL GAITS (SLOW GAIT AND RACK).
IT'S BEEN SAID THAT THE FIRST HORSE RACE TOOK PLACE WHEN THE FIRST TWO RIDERS MET. SO IT'S JUST A NATURAL EVOLUTION THAT A HORSE BRED AND TRAINED FOR BASIC TRANSPORTATION WOULD ALSO TAKE ON A COMPETITIVE EDGE. THINK OF THE THREE-GAITED SADDLER AS THE FAMILY CAR, DEPENDABLE AND EASY TO MAINTAIN, BUT NOTHING YOU'D SEE AT NASCAR. SOUP IT UP TO FIVE GAITS, HOWEVER, AND YOU HAVE THE 19TH CENTURY'S EQUIVALENT OF A MODIFIED RACECAR.
GENERALLY, A SADDLEBRED IS NOTED FOR SPECIFIC FEATURES. A RELATIVELY SMALL HEAD ABOVE A MUSCULAR AND SEEPING NECK IS A HALLMARK. BOTH THE FORELEGS AND HINDQUARTERS ARE EXTREMELY STRONG AND WIDE-SET. A SHORT BACK, COMPACT BODY, AND BROAD CHEST ADD TO THE QUALITIES ENSURING A SMOOTH RIDE. BUT MANY FEEL IT'S THE EXPRESSIVE EYES AND ERECT EARS THAT SIGNAL THE ANIMAL'S INTELLIGENCE AND WILLINGNESS TO TRAIN AND PERFORM.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING, AND JUST AS THE BREED WAS DEVELOPING THROUGH CROSSBREEDING TO STRENGTHEN THE BLOODLINE, THE NATION DESCENDED INTO SECTIONALISM AND WAR.
AS WHEN IRON, CARBON, AND OTHER ELEMENTS ARE COMBINED UNDER EXTREME HEAT TO FORGE STEEL, SO TOO DID THE DEMANDS OF MILITARY CONFLICT FORM THE CRUCIBLE THAT WOULD ELEVATE THE SADDLEBRED TO WAR HORSE FAME. AS THE BELGIAN WAS TO KNIGHTS OF OLD, THE SADDLEBRED BECAME THE CALVARY OFFICER'S MOUNT OF CHOICE: ROBERT E. LEE'S TRAVELLER, U.S. GRANT'S CINCINNATI, "STONEWALL" JACKSON'S LITTLE SORREL. IT'S HARD TO FIND A BREED OTHER THAN THE SADDLEBRED LEADING THE CHARGE OR ESCAPING CAPTURE. EARLY ON, BECAUSE CONFEDERATE OFFICERS GENERALLY BROUGHT THEIR OWN HORSE, WHEREAS THE UNION CAVALRY MOUNTS WERE PROVIDED BY THE QUARTERMASTER CORPS, THE SOUTH HAD A DECIDED ADVANTAGE. THE CONFLICT WORE ON. THE NORTH CAPTURED MORE AND MORE SOUTHERN HORSES. THE SOUTH'S ADVANTAGE SLIPPED AWAY. IN 1864 ALONE, THE UNION ARMY BOUGHT OR CAPTURED NEARLY 210,000 HORSES.
THE DEVOTION OF THE CAVALRY RIDER TO HIS MOUNT TOOK ON ALMOST MYTHIC PROPORTIONS. LEE'S TRAVELLER WAS JUST ABOUT THE ONLY HORSE HE WOULD RIDE, THE SAME FOR JACKSON'S LITTLE SORREL (ORIGINALLY PURCHASED FOR HIS WIFE). GRANT HAD ONLY TWO MOUNTS. WHEN CAPTURE WAS IMMINENT FOR LEXINGTON'S OWN GEN. JOHN HUNT MORGAN ("THUNDERBOLT OF THE CONFEDERACY"), RATHER THAN DESTROY HIS BELOVED SADDLER BLACK BESS TO PREVENT HIS MARE'S CAPTURE, HE TURNED HER LOOSE. LEGEND HAS IT MORGAN COULD HEAR HER CALLING FOR HIM AS THE UNION FORCES TOOK HIM, PRISONER.
FOLLOWING THE WAR, THE SADDLEBRED SETTLED INTO DOMESTIC LIFE WITH A SOLID REPUTATION. CHILDREN WERE FERRIED TO AND FROM SCHOOL ON A RELIABLE HORSE THAT COULD BE DEPENDED UPON TO KNOW THE WAY. DOCTORS KNEW THEIR SADDLERS WERE READY TO PULL THE BUGGY ANY TIME DAY OR NIGHT. THE ICEMAN AND GROCER HAD A HORSE TO PULL THEIR WAGONS THAT KNEW EXACTLY WHICH HOUSE TO PULL UP TO ALONG THE ROUTE. JUST ABOUT EVERYONE HAD A HORSE OR COULD RENT ONE FROM THE LOCAL LIVERY.
THROUGHOUT THE 19TH CENTURY, WHENEVER COURT DAY WAS HELD (TYPICALLY ONCE A MONTH), HORSE-TRADING LED TO SHOWING AND RACING. WHILE THE THOROUGHBRED OWNERS WOULD RACE THEIR HIGH-STRUNG MOUNTS KNOWN FOR QUICK BURSTS OF SPEED, SADDLEBRED OWNERS WOULD RACE OVER LONG DISTANCES, AS MANY AS FOUR MILES (FAMOUS SIRE LEXINGTON STILL HOLDS THE RECORD). THESE OWNERS WOULD ALSO "SHOW" THEIR HORSES TO EMPHASIZE THEIR GOOD LOOKS AND MULTIPLE USES, WHETHER UNDER SADDLE OR PULLING CARTS, BUGGIES, WAGONS, OR CARRIAGES. AS RACING AND SHOWING BECAME INSTITUTIONALIZED, THE THOROUGHBRED TOOK TO THE OVAL TRACK WHILE THE SADDLEBRED ENTERED THE SHOW RING. IN MANY EQUINE SPORTS, THE OBJECTIVE IS TO CROSS THE FINISH LINE FIRST OR COMPLETE THE COURSE THE FASTEST. THE SADDLEBRED, HOWEVER, IS JUDGED ON APPEARANCE AND PERFORMANCE. SUBJECTIVE? PERHAPS. BUT NOTHING BEATS A FINELY TURNED-OUT HORSE UNDER AN EXPERIENCED RIDER.
TO ENSURE THE BLOODLINES WOULD BE PROTECTED AND LINEAGE RECORDED FOR SELECTIVE BREEDING, THE NATIONAL SADDLE HORSE ASSOCIATION WAS FORMED IN 1891, RENAMED EIGHT YEARS LATER AS THE AMERICAN SADDLE HORSE BREEDERS ASSOCIATION. NOW CALLED THE AMERICAN SADDLEBRED HORSE ASSOCIATION, ASHA IS HEADQUARTERED AT THE KENTUCKY HORSE PARK IN LEXINGTON --- SITE OF THE 2010 WORLD EQUESTRIAN GAMES --- WITH SEVERAL OTHER NATIONAL EQUINE ASSOCIATIONS.
TODAY, OF COURSE, THE HORSE IS NOT NEEDED FOR TRANSPORTATION. UNLIKE THAT BELGIAN, WHO WENT FROM KNIGHT'S CHARGER TO DRAFT ANIMAL, THE SADDLEBRED FOR THE MOST PART IS A SPORT BREED. WITH FULLY 75 PERCENT OF THE BREED HAVING AT LEAST ONE LINE BACK TO DENMARK'S FOAL, GAINES' DENMARK, THE BREED NOW CALLED THE AMERICAN SADDLEBRED SUPPORTS A VIABLE BREEDING, TRAINING, AND SHOW INDUSTRY AND A MYRIAD OF RELATED EQUINE ACTIVITIES. THESE ALL COME TOGETHER EACH YEAR IN MAY WITH THE KENTUCKY SPRING PREMIER HORSE SHOW AT THE KENTUCKY HORSE PARK IN LEXINGTON AND THE MAY CLASSIC AT SHELBYVILLE, KENTUCKY. THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER AT COUNTY FAIRS ACROSS KENTUCKY AND IN SURROUNDING STATES, RIDERS OF ALL AGES COMPETE IN A SYSTEM TO QUALIFY FOR HIGHER-RANKED SHOWS. THE HIGHEST OF THESE ARE THE LEXINGTON JUNIOR LEAGUE HORSE SHOW (THE LARGEST OUTDOOR SHOW IN THE WORLD) IN JULY, THE WORLD'S CHAMPIONSHIP HORSE SHOW AT LOUISVILLE IN AUGUST, AND THE KANSAS CITY AMERICAN ROYAL HORSE SHOW IN NOVEMBER. TOGETHER THESE THREE COMPOSE THE "TRIPLE CROWN" OF THE SADDLEBRED UNIVERSE.
KENTUCKY'S SADDLEBRED HERITAGE FROM ITS INCEPTION TO THE MODERN SHOW RING.
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FROM THE BOOK "IMAGES OF AMERICA, KENTUCKY'S SADDLEBRED HERITAGE"
BY: JAMES KEMPER MILLARD
COURTESY OF THE LOCAL LIBRARY
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