The Standardbred -- A Horse for Racing and Companionship

The Standardbred horse was developed in the United States as a race horse. They are most famous for carriage racing rather than saddle racing like Thoroughbreds. Trotting races were first held in the 17th century. These races were originally held in grass but made their way to official race courses with the horses sporting harnesses. There were a variety of different horses that were bred together to produce this particular breed. They include the Narragansett Pacer, Canadian Pacer, Norfolk Trotter, Thoroughbred, Hackney and the Morgan. The crossbreeding resulted in this new breed as we know it today.

While this breed is compared to the Thoroughbred, they are longer in body and feature more muscle than the Thoroughbred. Their disposition is placid and trainable. They enjoy spending time with their handlers and like meeting challenges. Their height ranges from 14 to 17 hands. The coat is most always brown or black. Other colors are not uncommon but are not seen as often as the brown or black coloration. There may be some white coloration on the nose. This breed of horse comes in two varieties -- trotters and pacers.

The trotter prefers to race at a trotting pace as its name suggests. Pacers have a pace gait which means the forelegs and hindlegs move in unison. These horses can also of course perform all the other common horse gaits such as walking, cantering and galloping. Pacers can of course be taught to trot, and sometimes trotters can be taught to pace. If you are interested in buying or breeding this type of horse, some education is in order. Breeding horses takes more than just a stallion and a mare. There is a practice called selective breeding where sire and dams are chosen for their characteristics to produce a foal with certain traits.

There are various programs devoted to this breed including the American Standardbred Adoption Program. This program helps place former racehorses with homes as companion animals. If breeding horses is what you want to do, you should consider reading some books on the general subject of horse breeding. Some titles to consider include: The Horse Conformation Handbook by Heather Smith Thomas, The Foal is the Goal by Tena Bastian and Racehorse Breeding Theories by Frank J. Mitchell and Steven A. Roman.



Horse Breeding News:
Consolidation in Maryland Breeding Farms (BloodHorse)
Citing an "effort to rationalize costs in these difficult economic times while continuing to serve Maryland and mid-Atlantic breeders with high quality stallions", the Maryland Stallion Station announced Dec. 24 it will partner with Bonita Farm and Shamrock Farms for future operations...


Rescued Clever Allemont to Old Friends (BloodHorse)
Clever Allemont, a 26-year-old stallion, has been rescued from the road to slaughter and will be shipped to Kentucky to spend the rest of his days at Old Friends near Georgetown...


Bird's breeding grounds protected in Ozarks (Pine Bluff Commercial)
ST. LOUIS - Floaters and hikers of the Current and Jacks Fork rivers in the Ozarks of southeast Missouri may be lucky enough to see a small, sky-blue bird called the cerulean warbler. It has the dubious distinction of being the fastest disappearing member of the warbler family...


Racing: Resilient horse inspires at age 2 (The Des Moines Register)
Odds, injury fail to stall Iowa equine Treasure..


Muck lives again as compost (Lexington Herald-Leader)
GEORGETOWN Tucked away on four acres at one of the world's most well-known Thoroughbred breeding farms is a site rarely noticed by the thousands of guests who visit Midway each year to gawk at top stallions and Kentucky Derby winners. Centrally located, but still out of sight, the four acres are one of two places at Three Chimneys Farm where two men work year-round to turn horse muck, a ...




Train Your Horse & Cure Bad Habits


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