The American Standardbred
A very versatile horse
The Standardbred is a horse breed developed in the USA for harness racing but also for riding. All Standardbreds are descendents from the English thoroughbred stallion Messenger, who was imported to the United States during the late 18th century. Standardbred differs from all other trotting breeds in the world because many of these horses are also pacers, which means that when they trot, the same pair of legs move parallel, instead of diagonally as in most other horse breeds. Some Standardbreds also have the gait "Tölt" (a kind of running walk gait). The American name Standardbred comes from 1879 when a standard was set for the horses to be included in the studbook. As a riding horse the Standardbred is very willing to work and easily learned and is a excellent breed for most disciplines, such as:
- Western riding
- Endurance riding
- Dressage
- Show jumping
- Eventing
However, due to their somewhat restrictive inbred movement pattern for
trotting, they may have difficulty reaching the higher competition
classes. They are still one of the most versatile breeds and usually
very pleasant horses to handle.