Standardbred

The American Standardbred - also briefly Standardbred - American Standardbred or is an American horse breed, and today in terms of performance, the most important trotting race world dar.

Background information on the evaluation and breeding horses can be found at: exterior, interior and horse breeding.

Exterior

The Standardbred is a defined benefit trotting horse. The breed is not very uniform as is grown on more power than beauty. The Height varies between 145 to 175 cm, with most horses are in the range between 150 and 160 cm. The croup is pronounced muscular, sloping and built over long and often. The legs of the Standardbred dry and hard with good hooves. The straight hindquarters supports the predisposition to impressive trot kicks with maximum thrust.

Since the American Standardbred is bred for trotting and pace race, the focus is on the race trot with a long moment of suspension or extremely Promotional pass and in any event a huge boost from the hindquarters. The step is a lot of ground, the horse, as with other gaited horse breeds, according to the four- beat gaits sometimes tending.

Interior

As typical racehorses they are enduring, fast, brave and very strong nerves.

In contrast to the French and Russian trotter, is the American precocious. That is, it is already as a two and three year old to see on the race track, which of course the investment of breeders considerably lowers to the first race. From the perspective of animal welfare, but it is classified as very questionable.

Breeding history

The breed of the American Standardbred is bred exclusively for trot and pace race since the mid 19th century. It was officially founded in 1879 by the adoption of a set of rules of the American breeders. In the time when the stud book was opened, in 1871, the breed horses had to achieve in order to be entered a certain speed standard. This practice established the name of the breed. At this time the standard for trotters was 2:30 minutes per mile and for Passgänger at 2:25 minutes.

The breeding origin of the breed can be traced back further, however. The origins go back to the colonists who settled New England in the 16th century and brought with them their English and Dutch horses. Also Spanish influences are suspected, what is more probable, as Spanish horses were at that time very fashionable and practical bearing on horse breeding throughout Europe. The result of this intersection, the harsh environmental conditions and the high demands on the horse was a compact, strong and durable riding horse that was able to cope with long distances for the rider comfortable. Your transitions are described in historical sources as " pace". But the fact that the transitions are described as very comfortable, lets rather suspect that they were a broken pass, or any other four-stroke variant.

Certainly the existing transitional variations were not very different from those showing the American Gaited Horses population today. With the difference that the various gear types not yet led to the separation into different breeds and that everything possible of what the Americans "soft saddle gaits " call today, in the population was present. Many of these rarely exceed 140 cm horses were bred in Canada and sold to the south. Since 1636 Rhode Iceland quickly established itself as the Horse Capital of New England and the best Pacer ( amblers ) were bought, sold and bred here.

Race soon became popular and the breed faster horses a profitable business. Over time, these horses were the most popular riding and draft horses of the colonies. Not particularly beautiful, they were sure-footed, reliable, fast and comfortable. Your name got these horses from the area in which was the center of their breed, the Narragansett Bay: Narragansett Pacer. For over 150 years, these horses were in the colonies, the horse of choice.

Soon after the American Revolution, it came through the increased import of English thoroughbreds, along with new ideas in animal breeding, to a tremendous upheaval and recovery in the American horse breeding. In 1788, the English Thoroughbred stallion Messenger, whose father Mambrino was a star of the popular horse races over four miles, was imported to Philadelphia. There he triggered a revolution in horse breeding. Mated with the tough, strong, small horses of the former colonies, brought Messenger offspring with great action, speed and endurance at a trot. The Thoroughbred influence at the same time brought more size, grace and elegance to the breed.

The combination of Narragansett Pacer and thoroughbred not only the Standardbreds, but also the Saddlebred, the Tennessee Walker, the Morgans and other breeds emerged. At the beginning of the breeding farms were still not separated from each other, and so there are many horses in the pedigree of several breeds. Messengers 1849 -born great-grandson Hambletonian is considered the progenitor of Standardbreds.