Quick Facts on Standardbred Champions

 

¨       New Zealand's Cardigan Bay won 80 races throughout his career and gained two world records in the process. He was the first Standardbred to win US$1million and was later commemorated on a postage stamp.

 

Dan Patch raced a mile at 1:55 setting a world record on September 8, 1906. He died 1916 and is still one of the greatest known pacers of all time, 90 years after his death.

Zoomed In: Life With A Standardbred

There seems to be a torrent of people who refuse to have anything to do with the Standardbred horse. This I will never understand. Be it either the horse's plain faces or preference for the trot over the canter, many people tend to put Standardbreds on their low-list. My first horse was a Standardbred and she is most certainly a wonderful animal. Though, like all horses she does have her quirks.

            At age 26 she is still a marvelous and energetic old mare- little wonder her name is Dancer. In her early days she harness raced but retired early due to a lack of talent in that field. At age four she was sold to a lady who adored her and retrained her to ride western/english. The two competed in barrel racing before she retired at nineteen years of age and came to live with my family. Her barrel racing days developed a true love for galloping in her, which she's held to throughout the years.

            But despite her thrill for running, her gentleness towards children, and her obsession with food, Dancer (a.k.a. Danny) fills my life with amusement. How she squishes her food between her lips then rolls her eyes and yawns, her tongue dangling from her mouth. I love her sudden bursts of energy in the paddock while she gallivants around with her goat companion, along with her competitive flare whenever she meets with another horse in the field.

I absolutely adore the Standardbred horse.

Want to send your Zoomed In story? We accept stories based upon all breeds, and they will be posted as we begin our journey to chronicle every horse breed. Please send all entries to us at cinchmagazine@live.com and include your name and email address.

The Standardbred
J.L. Orchard

 

(ABOVE) Norman (a.k.a. Address Unknown) is a Standardbred member of the Niagara Horse Alternative Therapeutic Services, where his calm, easy going nature make him an important part of the team.

Imported from England in 1788 was a gray Thoroughbred named Messenger who is thought to be the foundation stallion of the Standardbred horse. Unlike his sire, Mambrino, who was raced at the trot, Messenger was put to stud in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey before ever having a chance to compete. While at stud, Messenger was successfully crossed with Morgan horses and the now extinct Canadian and Narragansett Pacers. It is suspected that the Standardbred breed received the strongest influence from Messenger's inbred great-grandson, Hambletonian 10, who was foaled in 1849. Hambletonian 10's unique conformation of being higher at the croup than at the withers allowed enormous thrust from the quarters making him one of the greatest contributors to the conformation of the modern day harness racer though he never raced himself. He measured 15.3 1/4 hands at the croup and 15.1 1/4 hands at the withers creating the pronounced 1 to 2 inch difference between croup and withers of the modern Standardbred. Between 1851 and 1875 he sired an estimated 1,331 foals. Arab, Barb, Cleveland Bay, Hackney, and the Morgan horse are also said to have contributed to the breed.

            It wasn't until 1879 that the Standardbred was given its name, previous to which it had been referred to as the American Trotting horse. Its name was derived from the speed standard of 2 minutes and 30 seconds set by the American Trotting Register for a mile (1.6km). The standard was later set to 2 minutes and 20 seconds for two-year-olds at the trot or pace and 2 minutes and 15 seconds for older horses.

            The conformation of the Standardbred horse is built with incredible power in the limbs, showing near perfect hind leg and hock joints. Its balance is made by the faultless relationship between its sturdy shoulder and its long graceful neck. The Standardbred horse fashions considerable width between the jaws and wide nostrils for increased and uninhibited air intake. The Standardbred must have straight legs in order to produce a clean gate. Toeing in and toeing out will greatly effect the horse's ability to compete properly. If the horse's front hoof can be lifted and bent back to touch the elbow, this is a sign of good knee action. Their hooves should be thick with wide square heels and moderately large rounded toes. Especially for trotters, a wide barrel and a wide chest are preferred. 

            Though the Thoroughbred made up the greatest contribution to the Standardbred horse there are some distinct differences between the two modern day breeds. In comparison, Standardbreds have a longer and more muscled body than does the Thoroughbred. Their heavier build lends to a more powerful shoulder and hindquarter as well as solid legs. Standardbreds are also considered an easier breed to train probably due to their benign, people-oriented temperament.

            The height of the Standardbred varies anywhere from large pony (14 hands or 56") to a moderately large horse size of around 16.2 hands (66"). Their weight averages between the eight hundreds to twelve hundreds. The predominant colour of the Standardbred is bay though they can be found in colours ranging from chestnut, black, gray, and roan. The tabiano pattern only being found in New Zealand and even then is rare.   

            There are two forms of racing for Standardbreds. There is the pace, which is a lateral movement less likely to break gait and the trot, a two-beat gate. The pace forms a rolling motion, often, which is faster than the trot. One out of every five Standardbreds will tend to be trotters while the others tend to pace though there are some horses that compete well at both gates. The Standardbred is able to perform other equine gates such as the canter and gallop but those horses that were originally trained for racing tend to require excessive training in order to break the habit of only using the trot or pace.

            Harness racing requires more tactic and speed alteration than that of Thoroughbred flat or steeplechase races and has its popularity in both trot and pace in countries such as Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and England. Throughout the remainder of Europe, only trotting races are found. There is even held in America, the Standardbred version of the Triple Crown. This pacing Crown consists of the Little Brown Jug race, the Messenger Stakes, and the Cane Pace.

            Their skill as harness racers has not gone unnoticed. They are considered to be the fastest trotting horse worldwide and because of this skill Standardbred blood is often infused to improve upon other breeds such as the Orlov and French Trotter.

            Beyond harness racing, the Standardbred horse has proved to be a versatile breed, competing in all varieties of cart and show, including dressage. The breed has proved quite skilled at jumper though its conformation has formatted it as a better hunter mount. It can also be found throughout sport horse competitions such as, cross-country and saddle-seat, as well. Its hard-working, steady temperament and sturdy build has won it steadfast popularity in all western divisions, trail riding, barrel racing, pleasure and ranching to list a few. Many Standardbreds that retire from the harness track take on these sports as a second career without great difficulty. Outside of the competitive realm the Standardbred breed makes a wonderful, sensitive, pleasure mount for riders of all-ages. 

           There are many associations, which you may adopt Standardbreds from. The adoption fee for a Standardbred horse generally ranges between $500-$1000 though "companion only" animals will frequently be adopted out for free. However when adopting a horse you may not then resell the animal. The standarad is generally to return the animal back to the society if situations arise where you can no longer keep it. A popular and trusted adoption agency in Ontario, Canada is the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society (www.osas.ca), whose adoption fee sits at $750, but you must reside in Ontario in order to adopt.