Standardbred conformation can include hips higher than withers and a deep girth. Daniel Johnson
U.S. Trotting Association
750 Michigan Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43215
www.ustrotting.com
Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization of Maine
SPHO-ME
45 Old Falls Road
Kennebunk, Maine 04043
www.sphomaine.net
While Thoroughbred racing became known as the sport of kings, the dependable, athletic Standardbred brought racing to the common person. Standardbred racing has long been known as the sport of the people, and both the sport and the breed are as much a part of American life as cowboys and apple pie.
With its origin dating back to early colonial times, the Standardbred is truly an American treasure. Its contribution to U.S. history is immeasurable. Immortalized by Currier and Ives, this was the horse that pulled doctors to their patients and served alongside soldiers in the American Civil War. The Standardbred was everyone’s horse.
It was only natural that the horse that was so vital to workday life was called upon to serve for recreation as well. During the days when a roadster stood in almost every stable, the thrill of holding the lines behind a fast trotter was not for the wealthy alone. Harness racing began with heart-pounding duels along community dirt roads and gradually progressed into the sport it is today.
It began as friendly competitions between neighbors and grew into a celebrated sport of athleticism and skill at state-of-the-art racetracks. The first harness racing tracks opened in the mid 1800s, but harness racing could be found as early as 1825 at county fairs. By the late nineteenth century, harness racing was the most popular sport in the United States. Harnessed and ridden horses of all shapes, sizes, and bloodlines raced and eventually developed into a breed of their own, one known for its durability, intelligence, versatility, and speed—the Standardbred.
The name Standardbred originated from a certain standard time a horse was required to trot per mile to be registered in the original 1871 studbook. The time started off with traveling 1 mile in 3 minutes and was later revised to 1 mile in 2 minutes and 30 seconds for the trotters, and 1 mile in 2 minutes and 25 seconds for the pacers. The mile is still the standard distance covered in nearly every harness race today. The fastest pacers today attain speeds of up to 35 miles an hour, compared to a Thoroughbred, which travels just under 40 miles an hour.
With the genes for pacing, Standardbreds have contributed to the foundation for gaited breeds such as the Saddlebred and the Tennessee Walking Horse.
Standardbreds are known for their docile and willing temperaments. With their inherent desire to please and capacity to learn quickly, many former racers are reconditioned for use in regular riding. It is their athletic build and willing attitude that allows so many Standardbreds to make the transition from racetrack warrior to show horse, from fierce competitor to family companion.
History
The origin of the Standardbred traces back to Messenger, an English Thoroughbred foaled in 1780 and exported to the United States in 1788. He was used to improve running horses in America, but when a reform movement began putting pressure on the breeders of runners, trotting horse owners started to breed Messenger with their mares. Although Messenger was never raced, for unknown reasons his offspring became the fastest and best gaited trotters. His descendents spread to all parts of the United States and Canada.
Messenger was the great-grandsire of Hambletonian, a famous trotting sire that became the foundation of the Standardbred breed. Foaled in 1849 in New York Hambletonian’s dam was called the Charles Kent Mare and he was sired by a horse named Abdalla. Owned by a hired hand, William Ryskyk, Hambletonian made his debut at the Orange County Fair in New York. He was well received, but not taken seriously as a trotting sire until he did a match race at the New York State Fair with his half-brother Abdallah Chief. Later, his offspring so dominated the trotting races that all of today’s American Standardbreds trace back to Hambletonian. He was the first to have what is now called the “trotters pitch,” being higher in his haunches than his withers.
Messenger and Hambletonian were bred to Canadian Pacers, Narragansett Pacers, and Morgan horses of New England to create the Standardbred breed. (The Narragansett Pacer probably became the Canadian Pacer, both of which disappeared from the United States.)
Racing Greats
As the sport evolved, harness racing gave the United States some of its first sport heroes, including the great Dan Patch and the big gray horse, Greyhound.
Dan Patch was a hugely influential horse to the breed, born in 1896. He was a well bred pacer, and during his career, it is claimed that he paced 75 miles at an average speed of 1:59.5. He set many records and never lost a race. In 1905, he set a record for pacers of 1:55.25 at Lexington, Kentucky, that stood for 33 years. He became a legend in his own time and was America’s most famous athlete, human or equine, at the turn of the twentieth century. He traveled around the country making public appearances.
Greyhound was foaled in 1932 and was not impressive as a youngster, but the big gelding developed into a trotting machine with a 27-foot stride. Due to his terrific speed, he had very few challengers. In 1938, he set the world record for trotting the mile at 1:55.25, which stood for many years.
A more recently famous Standardbred was the pacer, Niatross, born in 1977. He won Horse of the Year in 1979 and was considered America’s super horse. At three, he won the 1980 Pacing Triple Crown and another Horse of the Year title. The same year, he beat the existing world record for pacers by 3 full seconds to 1:49.1. He entered the stud in 1981 as the fastest and richest Standardbred, with earnings of $2,019,213. He sired two Little Brown Jug winners in his first two foal crops and was considered by some to be the greatest Standardbred in history.
The Standardbred breed continues to improve each year, with athletes setting records not even dreamed of when horses raced with high-wheeled sulkies and 1 mile in 2 minutes was the mark of a truly great horse. Now horses are timed at 1:50 or faster, meaning that if a standard bred horse from today raced a champion from 1900, the former would win by a football field.
Racing Types
Standarbred racing is contested on two gaits, the trot and the pace. Trotters race trotters and pacers race pacers. Any trotter or pacer that breaks into a canter or gallop during a race must be pulled back to its correct gait and either lose ground to its competitors, or be disqualified from the race.
Trotters move with a diagonal gait: the left front and right rear legs move in unison, as do the right front and left rear. It requires skill by the trainer to get a trotter to move perfectly at high speeds without breaking the trot, even though the trotting gait is a natural one in the animal world.
Pacers, on the other hand, move the legs on one side of their body in tandem: left front and rear, and right front and rear move in unison. This action shows why pacers are often called “side-wheelers.” Pacers account for about 80 percent of the performers in harness racing and are the faster of the two gaits. They are aided in maintaining their gait by plastic loops called “hobbles,” which keep their legs moving in synchronization.
Trotters make up one in five existing Standard-bred horses and take more time and patience to develop. Talented trotters, however, have less competition while having the opportunity to win as much, or more, than pacers.
Since pacers are generally seconds faster than trotters and it takes considerable time and effort to develop a good trotter, the majority of today’s Standardbreds are raced as pacers. Pacers “get to the races faster,” meaning there is a faster return on investment, yet it takes a very fast pacer to be truly successful. Although many horses are trained to pace when racing, the majority trot naturally when they are no longer at the racetrack.
Selective breeding has encouraged pacing bloodlines, but there are very few natural pacers. It is believed that the combination of genes and temperament—which allows so much outside influence such as hobbles holding them on gait—is what makes the breed to be the most successful pacers. Long legs and backs seem to be some of the conformation features that stand out in this breed, as they are seen in both the trotter and pacer bloodlines.
Like other racing breeds, Standardbreds are becoming more delicate, bred for “young” speed with less stamina. The original trotting races were won by horses that set their speed records when in their teens. Now most Standardbreds start racing as two- or three-year-olds and the best retire at the age of four. The original trotting races were done in multiple heats, with some horses racing almost twenty miles in an afternoon, compared to most races today that are one mile.
While the majority of Standardbred racing takes place with a driver and sulky, there is a new type of racing under saddle, which was popular early in the breed’s development and has once again become popular in the United States.
Racetracks
Racing takes place at numerous tracks and fairs across North America, although harness racing is most popular in the Midwest and the East Coast.
Some of North America’s top trotting races are the Peter Haughton Memorial for two-year-olds and the World Trotting Derby, Yonkers Trot, Hambletonian, and Kentucky Futurity for three-year-olds. The latter three races make up the Trotting Triple Crown.
For pacers, top races include the Woodrow Wilson Pace and Metro Pace for two-year-olds and the Little Brown Jug, Meadowlands Pace, North American Cup, and Adios Pace for three-year-olds. The Pacing Triple Crown is made up of the Little Brown Jug, the Messenger Stake, and the Cane Pace.
Other Talents
Although names such as Hambletonian, Dan Patch, Greyhound, and Niatross have made racing Standardbreds mainstream heroes, the breed itself remains one of the equine world’s best kept secrets. They are the world’s fastest horse in harness, but for all their stamina and speed, Standardbreds make willing and intelligent companions off the track. They excel in a variety of disciplines, from barrel racing to dressage, saddle seat to combined driving. They have been trained to compete in speed racking competitions, as well as smooth gaited trail horses.
Standardbreds face every task put before them with gentleness and patience, and it is their wonderful temperament that is so crucial to the retraining process. Trail horses, 4-H mounts, carriage horses, team penners, backyard pleasure horses, and eventers are just a few of these horses’ new careers.
Riding a horse that paces can be a bit uncomfortable. The motion of the back is side to side with some suspension. Holding the horse a little “between gears” creates a variation of a stepping pace, or rack, and smoothes out the gait so it feels similar to other gaited breeds, such as the Tennessee Walker or Fox Trotter. Standardbreds can be very smooth and very fast.
Those who know Standardbreds love them for their temperament and work ethic. Due to their training on the track, it is usually an easy task to retrain them for pleasure or show. They have a heart that knows no limits and the versatility to go with it. Beginning hard work at a young age, they typically become overachievers. They are bred to accept the restrictions of hobbles, as well as lots of other confining equipment with no regular running allowed, thus saddles and riders do not seem to bother them much. They are extremely tolerant of what people do to them.
This tolerance carries over when retraining them for other disciplines, like riding. Standardbred horses are speedsters. Riding them is like driving a sports car instead of a sedan. They have an on-demand overdrive, but are gentle enough for the novice owner.
Registry and Breed Organizations
The U.S. Trotting Association in Columbus, Ohio, was created in 1939 and is the official breed registry for Standardbreds in the United States. It represents nearly twenty-four thousand Standardbred racing and breeding professionals and promotes harness racing across the country and around the world. Besides administering the studbook, it formulates the rules for racing and licenses drivers and trainers.
Since it promotes Standardbred horses on all fronts, it instituted the Standardbred Equestrian Program (SEP) in 1996. SEP is designed to work with adoption groups so non-racing Standardbreds can be used for pleasure or show, or find retirement homes. The program offers much to the Standardbred pleasure enthusiast, including the annual High Point awards program for competitors and the Medallion program for non-competitors. SEP also offers retraining tips, help with identification of horses (via lip tattoo or neck freeze brand), and other services.
Plastic hobbles keep the pacing Standardbred’s legs moving in synchronization. Daniel Johnson
Another helpful group is the Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization (SPHO), founded in 1983 by Jane Warrington in New Jersey. As the wife of a successful race trainer, Warrington felt that there was a need to market non-racing horses. SPHO supports pleasure Standardbred horse owners and acts as a clearing house for racehorses to find new homes. It helps with the retraining process of racing horses both in the United States and abroad. SPHO organized the first all Standardbred horse show and first Standardbred drill team.
Standards
The U.S. Trotting Association is the regulatory, record-keeping, and registration association for all American Standardbreds. A registered Standardbred foal must have both parents registered. (Qualifying bloodlines are necessary for registration.) Racing Standardbreds must perform with a qualifying time in order to race. The time set to qualify racers changes according to racing criteria.
In many respects, the Standardbred resembles the Thoroughbred, but it is often more muscled and longer in body and it does not stand as tall. The breed has been changing in the last few years to be more refined, combining the well muscled type that is typical of the Morgan physique with the lean Thoroughbred type. The Standardbred is unique in that it is bred for one specific purpose (racing) and then asked to switch to another job (pleasure), which has different conformation requirements.
Standardbreds average between 15 and 16 hands, although the range can be from 14 to 17 hands. They weigh between 800 and 1,000 pounds.
Although bay is by far the most common color, they can be black, brown, chestnut, gray, and roan. White markings on the face and legs are sometimes seen.
The head is bigger and may even sport a Roman nose. The eyes are wideset, the jaw is wide, and the neck is straight and average length.
Shoulders are at a 45-degree angle. Withers are well defined to hold the harness, and there should be a deep heart girth.
Many have long backs and hind legs. For a gaited saddle horse, the longer hind legs can be helpful to gait properly. The rump sometimes is slightly higher than the withers. The tailset should be high with a heavily muscled croup.
For a balanced athlete, the bottomline should be longer than the topline. The chest is powerful, and the legs and feet are straight. They are known for having strong bone, tendons and hard feet.
Standardbreds have wonderful temperaments and try hard to please; they are steady and willing. They have been bred for years to accept a lot of manmade restrictions, such as harness and racing equipment and the training not to run at a gallop. Those that did not tolerate the training were culled out. This left a breed that has a submissive nature and a strong work ethic.
Credit: U.S. Trotting Association and Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization of Maine