THE SPOTTED SADDLE HORSE: The Equine Sports Model
By Monica Mills Wilson (First No. American Rights)
About a quarter century ago in the Tennessee hills, local farmers rode a
nimble, smooth-gaited, colorful little spotted horse that took to the terrain like a
billy goat. One might have been sired by Ol' Slocum's pony around the corner.
Maybe another bred out of the black-and-white mare the farm kids rode in the
woods.
Whatever their breeding, one thing was sure. These cat-tracked pintos could
"ride the rough" like no other. About 14 hands high, they scrambled up mountain
sides, jumped 4' fences from a standstill, and could pen a wayward cow like a
Quarter Horse. Come Sunday, they wowed the local horse show crowd with their
gorgeous coat patterns and easy-going ride.
By 1979, fanciers of this saddle horse decided to keep track of their
breedings. Fifteen founding partners put up $l,000 each to form the National
Spotted Saddle Horse Association (NSSHA), an official breed registry in
Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The first 550 horses registered with NSSHA received foundation status.
Founding stallions, Fireball (SHF-1) and Tony W (SHF-2), probably produced more
spotted foals than any other sires.
In its infancy, however, the club faced growing pains. In l985, Mack Motes,
one of the original founders broke ranks with the privately owned NSSHA to form
the Spotted Saddle Horse Breeders and Exhibitors Association (SSHBEA), a registry
run by a board of directors and its members in Shelbyville, Tennessee. Motes
served as SSHBEA's first president and his stallion at the time, Scout's Mountain
Buck M. (F85-1), became its first foundation sire.
"In my mind," says Deedy Decker, editor of SSHBEA's Spotted Saddle Horse
News, "the Spotted Saddle Horse can do more things than any horse living. From
showing in Open or Lite Shod classes to Trail Pleasure and Sport Horse competi-
tions, this is one of the toughest, smoothest, most versatile breeds. If word ever
spread about these horses this organization would grow by leaps and bounds."
Indeed, as the new kid on the block, the breed has experienced tremendous
growth over the past l7 years. Since l979, records show more than l7,000 horses
registered with SSHBEA and another l3,000 with NSSHA to date.
Despite such rapid growth, however, NSSHA and SSHBEA today are clearly
challenged to define an ideal standard for this evolving breed. Mainly because any
horse that displays the pinto coloring and a natural gait other than a trot may be
registered as a Spotted Saddle Horse. This includes true Spotted Saddle Horses,
Tennessee Walkers, Fox Trotters, Peruvian Pasos, Paso Finos, and gaited
crossbreeds.
To qualify for Spotted Saddle Horse registration, coat patterns must show
behind the head and above the hocks. Coat colors comprise all the hues known in
the equine world. Typical markings run from the clean, circular tobiano pattern to
the irregular, rather splashy overo design. Less common are the roan-like sabino
markings and the tovero pattern combining both traits of the overo and tobiano.
Performed gaits include the flat walk, intermediate gait, and canter.
The flat walk is a naturally smooth, long-reaching, four-cornered gait w
ith
each hoof striking the ground separately. It covers from 4 to 8 miles an hour.
Intermediate gaits may be a rack, stepping pace, fox-trot, single-foot or
show gait. The show gait is a refined flat walk with a marked increase in speed
ranging from 10 to 20 miles per hour.
The canter is a comfortable rocking-chair-gait with a rhythmic rise and fall
action.
Trainers are lenient with gait descriptions since they are working with breed
variations. Professional spotted and pleasure horse trainer Bobby McNatt, 44, of
McNatt Farms in Fayetteville, Tennessee describes the true saddle gait:
"A good going saddle horse will get in there with his nose set and his head
held high. Front legs are stepping off the ground, breaking real high and reaching.
He's scissoring behind, taking a good stride but not picking up or snapping his
hocks at all."
Although both registries allow breed variations, the true Spotted Saddle
Horse's own ancestry is linked to the early spotted pony. Some breed historians
claim the horse can trace its roots back to the Icelandic Ponies that jumped ship as
Viking explorers crashed to our shores. The Icelandic ponies were often spotted,
naturally gaited, and strong enough to carry their masters into war.
Others say Spanish-American-type spotted ponies were crossed with other
gaited breeds to produce a smooth-walking pinto with a gentle, tractable nature.
Breed professionals, however, clearly discern the inherited spotted pony
influence in today's true Spotted Saddle Horse. These horses tend to show more
pony-like traits than others, standing smaller between 14-15 hands, with heavier
heads, legs, and shorter necks. These horses often display remarkable agility and
athletic prowess.
By the Civil War's end, these spotted ponies were often bred with imported
gaited horses left behind in the United States. Over the years, the Standardbred,
Mustang, and most recently the Tennessee Waker played major roles in developing
the breed. According to NSSHA, today some breeders also cross with Missouri
Fox Trotters and Racking Horses, which all share a common heritage with the old
Tennessee Pacer, the original Tennessee Walking Horse.
Breeders crossing with Tennessee Walking Horses hope to add refinement
and height as well as to double the gene needed to preserve the Walker's gliding
stride. As a result, some Spotted Saddle Horses stand taller, l6 hands and up, with
longer, finer necks and legs, and resemble a heavier TWH than any other breed.
Gaited horse breeders, however, caution prospective owners not to confuse
Spotted Saddle Horses with spotted Tennessee Walking Horses. Though cousins,
they are different breeds with different registries. While many spotted Tennessee
Walking Horses qualify for double registration with SSHBEA and the Tennessee
Walking Horse Breeders and Exhibitors Association (TWHBEA), Spotted Saddle
Horses may not be registered with TWHBEA unless both parents are also registered
with TWHBEA.
Some breeders like McNatt take issue with double registering the two
breeds. McNatt warns that cross-breeding threatens the integrity of the breed by
compromising those inherited pony-traits that originally made the Spotted Saddle
Horse unique in the first place.
He started raising Spotted Saddle Horses years ago, seeking out the most
colorful, agile, athletic and tractable animals he could find to "bump up the breed."
Today he breeds and trains both Spotted Saddle Horses and Tennessee
Walking Horses. With his wife, Sharon, they own Mr. Bojangles, a 7-time World
Champion Spotted Saddle Horse Stallion; Battle Colors, (TWH/SSH), a 1989 World
Champion Spotted Stallion, and Photo Flash Reflections, 1996 SSHBEA
Shotgunning and Team Penning World Champion. McNatts son, Wendell, l6, and
his horse, Dude's Top Gun, won the SSHBEA 1996 Hi Point Youth Championship.
Having trained both breeds for show and sport horse events, McNatt found
the Spotted Saddle Horse a far superior athlete with a naturally smoother gait than
the Walker. He claims it's rare for a double-registered Spotted TWH to tie over a
Spotted Saddle Horse in stock horse competition.
"For a naturally gaited horse," declares McNatt, "the Spotted Saddle Horse
will be ten times smoother than the average Walking Horse because of that (early)
pony infusion and its square-going gait. While 90% of the others (Walkers) are
pacers, the saddle horse will have a true gait, smooth as silk, wearing only a keg
shoe, never had a chain on in its life."
Furthermore, McNatt is concerned that with the influx of double registered
spotted horses, Walking Horse judges will tie the "walkier" type horse over a more
natural-going horse. Resulting, he fears, in more trainers resorting to "soring"--
caustically enhancing front leg animation and manipulating gait timing -- the easy-
gaited horse to win over bigger-licked horses.
"Walking Horse oriented (elements) came in, and soring came in, and big
shoes came in, and politics came in, and they took out all the fun," states McNatt
of the current industry showing trend.
As a result, McNatt is passionate about safeguarding those early "grass
roots" intentions for the breed. Many saddle horse proponents like McNatt
advocate keeping the breed natural, with a light shoe, and a good image. "Show
them with a high head, clean tack, and let them rip and run and make it fun," says
McNatt.
In response to the popularity of versatility events, SSHBEA started
competitive stock horse trials in 1994. This year they changed the name to the
SSHBEA Sport Horse Division.
"Some people don't like to show horses in a ring. They'd rather ride them,
run them, and play with them," says Jerry Higgins of Bradyville, Tennessee. He
and his wife, Janice, who serves as SSHBEA board secretary, are avid trail riders
who found Sport Horse competition to be a natural progression. "We recognized
this as another outlet to market and sell our horses."
The Higgins' who breed Spotted Saddle Horses and Spotted Saddle Mules
began competing in stock horse events with their stallion, Tonto's Terminator,
(Tonto W x a Go Boy mare), after discovering what a natural athlete he was.
Initially, they only trail rode him without a clue to his running talent. One day, they
entered him in a race at a Paint show and won.
"He never ran a barrel or pole until he was six," recalls Jerry. "He just picked
it up really quick."
The Higgins' worked Tonto only a few months before his first SSHBEA stock
horse show where he clocked l8 seconds in Barrels. "That's pretty good for a
saddle horse," says Jerry, who trained the horse. "Quarter horses run about l6
seconds."
Tonto went on to earn points in all the required sport horse events which
include: Competitive Trail Ride, Competitive Trail Obstacles, Hunting, Reining,
Team Penning, Break/Away Roping, (and/or Team Roping), Barrels and Pole
Bending. He holds the 1994 and 1995 SSHBEA Competitive Stock Horse Hi Point
Grand World Championship and SSHBEA Competitive Stock Horse of the Year titles
for the last three years.
At a recent five-breed show in Shelbyville, Tonto's Terminator won all the
running classes against every other breed, including Walkers.
According to SSHBEA's Deedy Decker, the allure of spots has hit the west
coast too. About 90% of horses leaving Tennessee are purchased as pleasure and
trail mounts.
California horse trainer Eddie Parada of Windwalker Ranch in Winchester
became interested in Spotted Saddle Horses when client's expressed a growing
interest in the breed. "They liked the smooth gaits and gentle personality of the
walking horse, but also wanted the color of the Paints," he said.
The spotted horses he brought back from Tennessee sold quickly with
requests for more. He soon purchased two multi-registered tobiano studs,
Professor's Spotted Prince, a black-and white, and Colors Can Do, a chestnut and
white, for his breeding program to satisfy his client's demand for gaited color.
As the breed makes its mark in California, a growing number of owners want
to show and promote their horses. When I decided to show my two Spotted
Saddle Horses, I discovered the opportunities were limited in California. If Spotted
Saddle Horse owners want to compete in this state, they could do so in "Open"
non-gaited horse shows or shows in which their horses are also registered. In
TWHBEA or Plantation Walking Horse shows only horses that are double-registered
with TWHBEA can show. Currently, very few Spotted Saddle Horse divisions are
offered, if at all.
Beth Jennings, of Invicta Farms, is a trainer of soft-gaited breeds at Briarcliff
in Menifee, California. Jennings considers the spotted breed the "wave of the
future" -- especially for versatility and trail trial events.
"If I was going to help someone buy a Spotted Saddle Horse out here," she
says, "I would make sure it was a double-registered individual, either Fox-Trotter,
or Walking Horse because we don't have any strictly Spotted Saddle Horse shows
yet."
Spotted Saddle Horses range in price from $l500 for a colt up to $50,000
for a world champion. Double-registered TWH/SSH horses range from $3,000 for a
colt and up.
Jennings advises buyers to consider horses with a good saddle gait. "It
should be a very smooth individual, a little handier than some of the other gaited
breeds. It is a little more agile in some ways, used more for mountainous terrain
and working in tight quarters. The gait is not as gliding, but just as smooth as any
other. You want a smooth gait, but shouldn't worry about what it is."
In response to requests for more Spotted Saddle/Walking Horse classes, the
National Plantation Walking Horse Association (NPWHA) has offered three spotted
horse classes (SSH/TWH Halter, SSH/TWH 2-Gait, and Color 2-Gait) at the NPWHA
Spring Fling at Briarcliff Equestrian Center in Menifee, May 25; the 1997 Futurity at
Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, September 13-14; and, the NPWHA Fall
Finale at Briarcliff, October 19.
While several states have active Spotted Saddle Horse clubs, California breed
fanciers have the unique opportunity to determine the breed's future growth in this
state. The challenges, however, are many:
* Whether to initiate Sport Horse Competitions as in Tennessee;
* Or, to promote the multi-registered show horse through other gaited breed
association shows;
* Or, to establish an affiliated west coast Spotted Saddle Horse association
true to the original "grass roots" ideal for the breed.
A lot to consider, but one thing is certain. The popularity of this "equine
sports model" will continue to rise due to its colorful markings, smooth ride and
athletic ability. With clearly defined standards, however, the quality of this breed
can only excel.
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