The Standardbred Horse: Something however Customary

Right this moment’s harness racing trotters and pacers can do much more than pull a sulky at excessive speeds. Standardbred horses retiring from off the observe swimsuit riders of all ranges in disciplines starting from dressage and barrel racing to fox looking and reining.

Extra Than a Racehorse

Helene Gregory grew up using Standardbreds in Sweden. Although she and her husband, Jeff Gregory, a widely known harness racing coach and driver, breed these horses to race, Helene developed an obsession with this typically ignored breed.

“I’m an enormous advocate for getting these horses once they’re executed on the observe,” Helene says. “I wish to pursue new careers, they usually’re so good at it. The sky is the restrict.”

Standardbreds will also be discovered on the larger echelons of aggressive equestrian sport. In 2007, the United States Trotting Affiliation (USTA) breed registry started accepting purposes for Standardbreds and their riders interested by performing in a breed demonstration on the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Video games in Lexington, Ky. Eight horse-and-rider pairs have been chosen, with backgrounds in dressage, hunter/jumper, endurance, and western using.

“Standardbreds get pleasure from working,” says Helene. “They do something you ask of them, and do it eagerly. They’re the blue-collar employees of the equine breeds.”

Standardbred Breed Historical past

A melting pot of equine bloodlines, the Standardbred’s origins start with a grey Thoroughbred stallion named Messenger, foaled in England in 1780. Imported to america eight years later in 1788, Messenger stood at stud for 20 seasons and demonstrated an unparalleled capacity to sire trotters in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.

Although Messenger was bred to supply athletic and speedy horses, it will be his great-grandson, Hambletonian 10, who ignited the spark for the Standardbred breed and claims the title of basis sire.

Hambletonian 10 sired over 1,300 offspring. A mixture of breeds have been launched into his line, together with Thoroughbreds, Morgans, Canadian pacers, and different pacing and trotting horses.

Bred in two strains—trotters and pacers—Standardbreds launched racing to the on a regular basis particular person. Races between neighbors and village roads quickly blossomed in main cities the place locals cleared streets for rivalries.

Gaited pacers run in a two-beat lateral gait, transferring legs on the identical facet in unison. Trotters race within the conventional diagonal gait, transferring reverse pairs of legs collectively.

The Nationwide Affiliation of Trotting Horse Breeders created the Standardbred’s official registry in 1879. The Affiliation’s requirement for the breed required {that a} horse be capable of trot or tempo a mile in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. This “customary” led to the title Standardbred.

From Observe to Patrol

The unruffled persona of the Standardbred is well-suited to many professions, together with police mounts. Mounted horse patrols may be discovered using drafts and draft-crosses in lots of cities throughout america, however in Newark, N.J., the breed of alternative is the Standardbred.

Officer Luis Camacho is the trainer and coach for officers within the division’s mounted patrol. Working with the Standardbred Retirement Basis, Camacho helps undertake and retrain surrendered horses for police work.

“We follow the identical construct and coloration of the horses to keep up uniformity of the patrol,” says Camacho. “We need to look the identical on daily basis to the group. The Standardbred has a constant temperament wanted to carry out police work. It’s a sturdy horse and tends to simply accept the town setting.”

Newark Police mounted officers patrol residential neighborhoods, enterprise districts, and group occasions like parades, festivals, and live shows as a result of they’ll cowl extra floor than a group of officers on foot.

“We’re in a metropolis, so it’s very noisy,” Camacho explains. “EMS ambulances, buses, you title it, they hear it. I feel it helps to work with horses coming off the observe as a result of they’re not sitting for a very long time in a stall.”

Mounted patrol officers obtain six weeks of coaching. Using instruction and fundamental horsemanship protocols, together with major care and feeding of the horse, put together them for a partnership with their assigned mount.

Standardbred Horses: Something however Customary

A Standardbred makes a beautiful alternative for novice riders who could select the path or informal using over the competitors ring. The common peak for the breed is 14.2 to fifteen.3 palms, and a weight of 900 to 1,000 kilos means they’re smaller than Thoroughbreds and warmbloods. This could make them extra accessible for timid riders preferring a smaller mount.

Though the breed sports activities a strong and sturdy physique sort, their calm temperament, excessive tolerance for rider errors, and willingness to please individuals outshines all its bodily attributes.

Mary Minkoff is a longtime board member and volunteer at Sunshine Horses, Inc., one of many main Standardbred aftercare amenities in New York State. She additionally owns a Standardbred named Hucklebuck (aka “Huck”), and believes the pondering that these horses can solely succeed on the observe is outdated.

“The breed has the potential to excel in any self-discipline,” says Minkoff. “Folks understand that they don’t have to have a Thoroughbred or a Quarter Horse to do a selected job.”

Whereas at first look they could appear to sport a plain brown wrapper, the Standardbred’s athleticism, calm temperament, and willingness to please their riders make them price a re-examination.

This text in regards to the Standardbred appeared within the November/December 2022 situation of Horse Illustrated journal. Click on right here to subscribe!