Meet the Standardbred

A Short History

We use this breed of horse for the teams and outriders for several
reasons. One is their ease of converting over to our type of harness
pulling, another is their easy going nature under stress. How many
times have you noticedthe horses asleep on the battlefield? Or when
there is a horse down or problem with the gear? Ever wonder why the
horses stand there and are calm? Here is a little history on the breed.
By the early 1800"s, Americans were breeding horses to race at the
trot. In those days, the only requirement for entering the new trotting
registry was that a horse be able to trot a mile in three minutes or
less. The time was later lowered as horses' times grew faster. Horses
who could meet this standard soon became know as Standardbreds.Many of
the horses registered in the first half of the 19th century descended
from Messenger, an English Thoroughbred imported in 1788 who
was crossed with mares of Morgan, Hackney and other breeding. But the
single most influential founding sire was Hambletonian, a great-grandson
of Messenger foaled in 1849. Hambletonian raced only once, in a time
trial, but his offspring had a profound influence on harness racing.
Today, it is estimated that more than 99 percent of Standardbreds
descended from Hambletonian. Although trotters are still significant
to harnessracing, about 80 percent of Standardbreds are pacers, the
faster of the gaits.