TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 419 



so varied that several varieties or sub-types of the saddle horse 

 exist, each possessing a distinct type of its own. The most 

 important of these sub-types are (1) the five-gaited saddler, 

 (2) the three-gaited horse, (3) the hunter, and (4) the polo pony. 

 All of these are pleasure horses. The running horse or race 

 horse, the cavalry horse, and the western cow pony are other 

 sub-types adapted to certain special uses, but the following 

 discussion is confined to the four first mentioned. A brief 

 description of the cavalry horse will be found in the chapter 

 dealing with market classes of horses. 



The Five-Gaited Saddle Horse. 



The five-gaited saddle horse is also known as the Ameri- 

 can Saddle Horse, this being the name of the breed which sup- 

 plies practically all horses of the gaited class. To classify as a 

 five-gaited horse, the saddler must have at least five gaits, four 

 of which must be the walk, trot, canter, and rack; in addition 

 to these four, the horse must have one or more of three slow 

 gaits the running walk, fox trot, and slow pace. The gaited 

 saddler is the horse that has made Kentucky and Missouri 

 famous. In his native home he is looked upon with great ad- 

 miration, and bred and trained with great care. 



General appearance. The gaited horse wears a natural 

 mane and tail, in contrast to the other types of saddle horses. 

 The breeders of this type lay stress upon loftiness of carriage, 

 airiness of movement, refinement, intelligence, docility with 

 high spirit and courage, withal, great beauty in every detail 

 of conformation, without any sacrifice of those qualities which 

 insure durability and creditable performance of the work de- 

 manded of a saddle horse. A leading Kentucky breeder pre- 

 sents the points of the typical five-gaited saddle horse in the 

 following brief paragraph*: 



"The typical saddle horse does not differ materially from 

 other light horses in conformation. The characteristics peculiar 

 to the type are a long, clean neck, sloping pasterns and shoul- 

 ders, withers moderately high and narrow, a short and compactly 

 coupled back, smoothly turned quarters, and a well-set, high- 

 carried tail. In action there should be promptness, ease, and 

 precision in going from gait to gait, and absolute straightness 

 and evenness in each. The rack should be smooth, swift, and 



*Bit & Spur, September, 1912, p. 22. 



