What is a Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse?
The Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse has been bred in the hills of Kentucky since before the time of the Civil War. Bred for practicality, the breeders used the horses for many tasks. Times were hard, and these families had to have hard working horses that were easy to keep. They were bred as an all-round farm horse that could be used to pull a plough on steep hillsides, hitched to a buggy for a trip to church, or ridden bareback by childen. Only the strong and fittest survived, making the breed a healthy, strong, and highly intelligent horse. KMS horses are people oriented, wanting to please and wanting your attention. They will walk to you in a large pasture seeking your affection and attention. Several breeds of horses make their claim as getting their foundation by breeding to the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse. How the KMS Horse got its original start is still shrouded in mystery, but we do know that for centuries the mountain people of Kentucky bred for a smooth even four beat gait, temperament, disposition and for a horse that could be self sufficient. a medium-sized horse with a quiet, gentle willing temperament and a naturally occuring (present from birth), smooth "four-beat" gait. In the gait, each foot comes down singly and with great speed, sounding a steady 1-2-3-4 with each beat equal. As a result of this action, the bounce is absorbed in the horse's ankles rather than passed along to the rider, giving the breed its characteristic "rocking-chair" ride.
The breed is best known for gentleness. It is an easy keeper and a wonderful riding companion with a strong heart and endurance. Today these horses are used as pleasure horses, for trail, and competitive or endurance riding. The smoothness of the ride has made the breed a popular choice not only for long-distance endurance riders, but for inexperienced riders, seniors, riders with back problems, disabled riders and others for whom the jarring of a conventional trot can be not only uncomfortable, but potentially injurious. The horse can be ridden at varying speeds while maintaining this gait, from about the speed of a trot to the canter of an ordinary horse. As show horses, the breed is rapidly gaining in popularity because of their beauty and unique way of moving in the ring. The calm temperament of these horses makes them ideally suited for working around cattle and for 4-H projects. These horses have a lot of natural endurance, they are sure-footed on rough ground and, because of their gait, they require a minimum of effort by both horse and rider so
that, together, they can cover a greater distance with less tiring. Their willingness and gentleness make them easy to work with and to teach almost anything.
Obviously, a haphazard and unorganized maintenance of this breed would eventually result in its dissipation and loss. For this reason, in the summer of 1986, those who were interested in the breed got together to form the Rocky Mountain Horse Association. The purpose of this association is to maintain the breed, to increase the number of horses in the breed and expand the area which has knowledge of this fine horse. To that end, the association has established a registry which has shown steady and well-regulated growth in the number of horses registered. It is critical that standards be maintained and a panel of examiners has been set up by the association to provide vigorous supervisors to the growth and development of the breed. To achieve this, ALL horses must be examined for breed characteristics and approved prior to breeding. The established characteristics for this breed are:
1. The horse must be of medium height from 14-2 to 16 hands (14.2 to any
up limit for the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse), a wide chest sloping 45
degrees on the shoulder with bold eyes and well shaped ears.
2. The horse must have a natural ambling four-beat gait (single foot or
rack) with no evidence of pacing. When the horse moves you can count four
distinct hoof beats which produce a cadence of equal rhythm, just like a
walk: left hind, left fore, right hind, right fore. Each individual horse
has its own speed and natural way of going, traveling 7-20 miles per hour.
This is a naturally occurring gait present from birth that does not
require any training aids or action devices (i.e. chains, soring or built
up shoes.)
3. The horse must be of good temperament and easy to manage.
4. All Rocky Mountain Horses® & Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horses have a
solid body color. Facial markings are acceptable so long as they are not
excessive. There may not be any white above the knee or hock.
Mountain saddle horses may be of any colour or size, but are usually from 13.1 to 16 hands and of a solid body colour. They generally have a medium, sturdy build with long muscles that give them speed and endurance. There are currently three separate registries in Kentucky for these horses, each with slighly different registration criteria regarding colour and size, but common to all are the requirement that the horse "show a gentle, willing disposition" and "give, under saddle, evidence of a natural, smooth, even four-beat gait". The registries, which were all formed in the 1980's to promote the preservation of the breed, are:
The Rocky Mountain Saddle Horse Association
The Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse Association
The Mountain Pleasure Horse Association
Though distinct from the Tennessee Walker and American Saddlebred, all of these breeds are
descended from the same easy-riding stock found in Kentucky at the time of the Civil War, originally believed to be descended from English and Scottish amblers and later refined with Spanish gaited stock. However, the Mountain saddle horses were bred by practical mountain people who had no use for a high-strung, nervous horse that couldn't "do everything" - a single-use horse being a luxury they couldn't afford.