By Jerome: There is a lot of distance from N. Virginia and Kentucky border to where the foothills of the Appalachians meet the Bluegrass regions of the state. The speed rackers start on the Virginia side of the border in Clintwood. They like two gaits, fast and faster.
You will find diehard Standardbred people that have horses going so fast it is no longer a rack in style as the tail will stop going up and down in back. After about 18 mph you are out of a speed rack and into what is coined into many slang terms. Including a single foot, ambling pace, slick pace or whatever it is called it is fast. The most difficult thing is navigating the turns as some horses will break gait if they are took into them with to much speed. These are strictly speed people and each top horse may have its own little clan of groupies cheering it on and getting angry if it doesn't win. There are others that have Tennessee Walkers or Walker Standardbred crosses who sacrifice a little top speed for more style. Some have Saddlebred and Standardbred crosses. I can't leave out the Paso Fino and Standardbred crosses. The Paso Fino and Rowdy line crosses. There is one trail ride for Rowdy horses only in the area. It is in honor of John D and his horse. Most of these horses if registered are with the Racking horse associations. Some people that used to ride with John say that Rowdy was a mountain pony horse and Standardbred cross. Others will get very angry if you say he has a drop of Standardbred. I simply don't know but he hit a good lick so whatever it was, the horse turned out a winner fit to breed. That line is all over Texas and other places. They are highly sought after. The Rocky Mountain Horse is based on Old Tobe mainly. He was said to be from the Rocky Mountains in the West. I never saw the stallion as I lived farther back in the hills on the Big Sandy River. We had the Kentucky Mountain Pleasure horses which run a little bigger at the time with a little more bone mass in my own judgment. We had the pony horses also but I don't remember any of chocolate color. To make a long story short the Mountain Pleasure and the Rocky Mountain were once one organization. One with a Chocolate horse and the other with a yellow horse. They separated due to disagreements as rumor has it. Many people didn't have horses with papers. They didn't get in on the ground floor when the foundation stallions of both groups were chosen eventhough they hit the same lick. Some couldn't make the height requirements. Thus the KMSH organization was formed. The major requirement in this group was to show a gait, temperment and traditional colors that the Mountain horse's were deemed to have by the organization founders. Certification people were appointed to inspect and video horses for registration. A RMH could be in up to three registries. However a KMSH may be stuck in only that one particular organization. Not being able to show in the beginning against the RMH's or KMPH's. They could enter the KMSH show however. I never did like that and pulled my support from all of them. The KMSH may have unknown lineages as was in the beginning. I don't know about now. I do know that some of the foundations were Mountain horses, Tennessee Walking horses and even a Paso Fino. Later a spotted horse wing was approved for the organization. Some of these horses may be better or worse than the other two organizations. What you see and ride is about what to depend on. There are apt to be more various breeds in the KMSH organization imo.. However Old Tobe himself had an unknown lineage. I always thought he was a Spanish Mustang or from some oldline cattle horses that were gaited in the West. If you had to pick a horse to ride 12 hours a day would you pick one that knocked the hell out of your already sore bones? There are way to many stories, journals and books that gaited horses were first used with cattle in the West. There is evidence of Spanish Colonial horses from Mexico all the way into N. Texas. From Virginia down the coastal trail into Florida. All wild and all free for those who wanted to catch them. These horses are gaited and small pockets of them are still in those places. Horses came from Europe with mixed blood of the Arab, Jennet and Barb crossed already with coldbloods of various regions. They Iberian lines were captured by the Franks at the Battle of Tours' in France. At the time these horses were captured Europeans didn't even have stirrups yet for their saddles. The enemy did however. The Franks got lucky in that battle and went away with many horses that were crossed later.The gaited trail will come later in my book. But know Kentucky was once the Western frontier. The early pioneers brought with them oxen and horses. Many were Narragansett Pacers with some still around in remote pockets of the hills. Due to the lack of good roads the smooth saddle horse has been kept in Eastern Kentucky for hundreds of years. Some were bred to do other work besides riding. But know the Spanish blood was in the Kentucky horses hundreds of years before Old Tobe. Everyone wants to buy the Chocolate Color horse so people breed for that. It does not equate to the very best in many ways however. A bay horse may ride much better if it matters.-:) The perfect horse is the one stuck in your mind. You can spend a lifetime looking for it or simply try to create it. In the meantime enjoy what you are riding. jerome
