saddlebreds

Hi folks,iv had horses over 25 yrs so im no young un nor new to horses and breeds ,however there is a breed i simply know nothing about and that is the saddlebred .can anyone enlighten me in the stats etc like....how tall are they meant to be ....what colours are they usually ...what are they bred for.....etc etc ......and before you gasp in dispare at me not knowing ... im from the UK and im used to different breeds

Many thanks folks xxx

Comment

You need to be a member of Barnmice Equestrian Social Community to add comments!

Join Barnmice Equestrian Social Community

Comment by bex on November 9, 2012 at 12:04am: ah i thought it looked fine but was never sure what exactly what it was used for ...thanks for reply..and website x

Comment by Jackie Cochran on November 8, 2012 at 10:33am: First, thanks for the armoured jousting pictures.

I do not know much about the American Saddlebred, but here goes.

This breed was developed mainly as an easy riding horse/fine harness horse. It comes from various breeds, the colonial era Canadian horses, Morgans, Standardbreds, Thoroughbreds, Arab, maybe Barb, and any other fine horse that came around. They are known for being five gaited (walk, trot, canter, stepping pace, rack). They are the descendents of the European easy gaited horses (amblers) that were more popular in Europe for basic riding than the trotters were before posting was invented. Several Saddlebred enthusiasts do not think a non-Saddlebred normal walk-trot-canter horse is truly suitable to be a riding horse (with the possible exception of the Arab.)

They tend to be within the TB range of heights.  In my opinion they overbred for refinement, and therefore many lack in heart girth and bone. They tend to high, light and "airy" trots which can cover a lot of ground. Personally if a small Saddlebred with decent heart girth and bone came into my life I probably would be quite pleased. I have read good reports of Saddlebreds being used in many normal riding pursuits, hunting, jumping, trail riding, pleasure driving, dressage, etc..

The the show classes for Saddlebreds mostly emphasize high action, and for centuries they have grown the hooves VERY long, added weights and had all sorts of other tricks to increase the heighth of the action. They also "set" the horse's tail so the dock goes straight up (the vet cuts the depressor tendons of the tail and then the horse spends most of its time in a tail set) claiming that it balances the look of the horse, very high head set and high tail set. Show Saddlebreds under saddle use a Lane Fox type saddle and a double bridle, the saddle is set far back so it does not interfere with the shoulders, and the riders sit far back in the saddle.  Winning show Saddlebreds can be worth a lot of money, maybe not as much as winning Thoroughbreds but still more than most breeds.

I hope a Saddlebred enthusiast answers your question! Since I ride hunt seat I never got into the Saddlebred horse.