CHAPTER IV 



THE AMERICAN SADDLE HORSE 



The native home of the American saddle horse embraces the 

 more fertile sections of the states of Virginia, Kentucky, Ten- 

 nessee, and Missouri. Within latitudes 3S°-38° N. and includ- 

 ing a distance westward from the Virginia coast of almost one 

 thousand miles, we find the territory within which this compara- 

 tively new breed has been developed. Amid blue-grass fields and 

 in the hands of the better-class farmers and horse lovers of the 

 South, the American saddle horse has reached a high stage of 

 perfection. Much of this improvement has been brought about 

 in Kentucky ; hence the common term '' Kentucky saddle horse." 

 Lexington, Kentucky, has long been regarded as the great center 

 of breed activity. 



The ancestry of the American saddle horse involves several 

 rather distinct families of American-bred horses and one long- 

 established British breed, the Thoroughbred. Early in the history 

 of Kentucky — when railroads were unknown and bridle paths, 

 trails, and poor roads were common — horseback riding was not 

 only necessary but universal. The early saddle horses were hard- 

 gaited, and this resulted in the selection of the better type of 

 Thoroughbreds, easy of gait and light of foot, some of which 

 found their way into Kentucky from Virginia. Mares with an 

 ambling, or slow-pacing, gait were sought for and found many 

 years ago, and to them Thoroughbred saddle stallions of easy 

 movement were bred. The pacing blood came in part from 

 Canada and New England and so involved some Morgan breed- 

 ing. Thus, by selection there developed a class of very easy- 

 gaited saddlers. The significance of Thoroughbred blood in this 

 early development is brought out in striking manner, as shown 

 in the blood lines in Volume I of the " American Saddle Horse 

 Studbook," based on im^g%p-m^o£M>'^^^ ^- Ward. 



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