Mountain Pleasure Horse Association
P.O. Box 112
Mount Olivet, Kentucky 41064
www.mtn-pleasure-horse.org
A particular type of horse was bred on the steep hillsides of eastern Kentucky to work the fields and “ride the best.” The Mountain Pleasure Horse lived quietly there in the mountains, where breeders maintained the breed by selecting a pleasant gait and disposition as the basic criteria. Throughout generations, these qualities were solidly fixed with focused and discriminate breeding.
Mountain Pleasure Horses are tall and graceful with a bold eye. Jerry Murphy
For more than 160 years, eastern Kentuckians enjoyed their homegrown product of the Mountain Pleasure Horse. Each generation of Kentuckians told stories of their easy gaited, hardworking, good natured, and reliable horses, which for years were called Mountain Horses or Country Saddle horses. Mountain Pleasure Horses were the old-time gaited horse from which breeders selectively developed the Tennessee Walking Horse, American Saddlebred Horse, and more recently the Rocky Mountain Horse. Long before these, other gaited breeds were in existence.
The Mountain Pleasure Horse has a natural, easy-riding gait, allowing it to cover a lot of ground with minimum effort for both horse and rider. The gait is an evenly spaced, four-beat lateral gait with moderate forward speed and extension, and without exaggerated knee or hock action. Each beat can be distinctly counted, producing a cadence of near equal rhythm. No action devices, aids, or harsh training methods are necessary, or allowed, on Mountain Pleasure Horses.
The disposition and trainability of Mountain Pleasure Horses may be the most appreciated characteristics for novice horse owners. They are very intelligent horses that love attention. Veteran trainers of other breeds are amazed at how fast they learn. It is not uncommon to see two- and three-year-olds competing effectively with older horses at area horse shows or on challenging trail rides. Once Mountain Pleasure Horses have been trained, they remember their lessons well. This is an asset to those who do not have the time to ride a horse every day. The Mountain Pleasure Horse is waiting, with its natural gait and willing disposition, whether it is ridden once a week or once a month.
Differences with Rocky Mountain Horses
Some Mountain Pleasure Horses are double registered with the Rocky Mountain Horse Association, and many are also registered with the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse Association (KMSHA). Consequently, there have been questions about the differences between the Mountain Pleasure Horse and these other breeds.
A naturally arched neck and deep chest typify the Mountain Pleasure Horse. Daniel Johnson
Some forty-five to fifty years ago, a breeder named Sam Tuttle tapped into the Mountain Horse heritage by crossing native Mountain Pleasure stock with Tobe, his chocolate colored stallion. The popularity of Tobe’s descendants eventually led to the founding of the Rocky Mountain Horse Association (RMHA) breed registry.
The key difference between the Mountain Pleasure Horse Association (MPHA) and the RMHA is the genetic foundation. Fewer than 17 percent of the foundation horses of the Mountain Pleasure Horse Association carry any trace of the Tobe bloodline. Quite simply, the Mountain Pleasure Horse breed existed some one hundred years before the existence of the Rocky Mountain Horse, though the MPHA itself was not established until 1989.
In the MPHA, color is not a criteria of quality, while in RMHA, the chocolate color is generally preferred. Besides the chocolate color, there are (to those who study closely) various physical characteristics and slight variations in gait among horses descended from Tobe bloodlines that generally are not present in the Mountain Pleasure Horses.
Generally speaking, Mountain Pleasure Horses tend to be a bit larger (taller), longer bodied, and cover more ground with their gait than the horses from Tobe bloodlines. There is pride that the Mountain Pleasure Horse’s genetic heritage helped produce the horses of the Rocky Mountain bloodlines, whose results and color are preferred by some horsemen. For those, however, who want the old-fashioned, smooth ride, and wonderful disposition that over 160 years of Kentucky heritage provides, the Mountain Pleasure Horses may be a better option. The MPHA registry backs the integrity of the breed with blood typing and stringent scrutiny.
Differences with Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horses
Horses registered in the KMSHA are often referred to as Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horses. Several gaited breeds of horses are included in the KMSHA registry, with the Mountain Pleasure Horse being one of them. Whereas the Mountain Pleasure Horse and the Rocky Mountain Horse registries are closed to outside breeds, the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse Association registry can admit certain other kinds of gaited horses. As previously mentioned, many horses registered with the MPHA are also double registered with the KMSHA.
The Mountain Pleasure Horse has a natural, easy gait without exaggerated hock or knee action. Daniel Johnson
Blood typing has proven that the Mountain Pleasure Horse is the foundation for all other gaited American horses. In fact, Kentucky governor Brereton C. Jones, in September of 1994 at Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky, recognized this in his official proclamation:
1. “The Horsemen of Eastern Kentucky developed a type of horse, known as the Mountain Pleasure Horse, to be smooth of gait, gentle of disposition, willing to work and surefooted as necessary for mountain terrain; and
2. “This Mountain Pleasure Horse has been carefully and closely bred for over 160 traceable years along the original Kentucky mountain bloodlines; and
3. “Blood typing research by the University of Kentucky has shown the Mountain Pleasure Horse to be the parent stock of all the American gaited horse breeds” (including the Rocky Mountain Horse and Tennessee Walking Horse).
Governor Jones recognized the horses “registered by the Mountain Pleasure Horse Association to be the oldest gaited American breed of horse and to be the parent stock of all other American gaited horse breeds.”
Registration
The MPHA registration books are now closed and only offspring of registered stallions and mares are eligible for registration. There are no provisions for grade mares. The MPHA registration process requires that all horses submitted for permanent registration must be videotaped demonstrating gait, and the board of directors of the MPHA must approve each horse. The MPHA requires that all its horses be blood typed by the University of Kentucky for absolute identification of parentage before papers are issued.
Standards
The general conformation requirements for the Mountain Pleasure Horse are given as follows:
• The head should be medium sized and in proportion to the body, with medium sized jaws.
• The horse should have bold eyes, well shaped ears, and a face that is neither dished nor protruding.
• The neck should be gracefully arched, medium in length, and set in at an angle to allow a natural carriage, with a break at the poll.
• The horse should have a wide and deep chest.
• The fore and hind legs should be free of any noticeable deformity.
• The shoulders should be sloping, ideally with an angle of 45 degrees.
• Any body color is acceptable, however, spotted Mountain Pleasure Horses are not encouraged by the association for breeding or showing. Standard recognized colors of the Mountain Pleasure Horse include, but are not limited to, bay, black, chestnut, sorrel, roan, gray, cremello, buckskin, palomino, and chocolate.
• Size is from 14.2 to 16 hands, and weight is from 900 to 1,100 pounds.
Credit: Mountain Pleasure Horse Association