Lexington, KY - This time of year, a lot of attention is given to the Thoroughbred, which gave rise to Lexington's reputation as the Horse Capital of the World. Lexington is the historical breeding and training ground for equine finestock. Most visitors to the area - in fact, most residents of the area -
believe the racing Thoroughbred dominates the industry. Truth be told, sport horses in Kentucky far outnumber racing Thoroughbreds. And one of the most prominent sport breeds, the American Saddlebred, is not only America's first indigenous breed, it was introduced as the "Kentucky Saddler" in 1816 at a horse show near Lexington.
And therein lies a fascinating story about Kentucky's Saddlebred heritage unknown even to most Kentuckians.
Originally settled as part of Virginia, the area's first white settlers brought to the frontier their passion for horses. Among the earliest explorers were the McConnell brothers, William and Francis. As their party camped alongside a spring in June 1775, word came of the first Colonial victory over the British at Lexington, Mass. The brothers vowed to name their new settlement to honor that victory.
That bubbling spring -
today's McConnell Springs Park - was harbinger for the newly founded settlement's future reputation. The limestone topography, pocked by springs and sinkholes that define the Blue Grass region as unique throughout the world, gave rise to the horse farms for which it is known. The underlying limestone karst infuses the water and grass with calcium that ensures horses bred and raised here develop strong bones. (Humans benefit, too, with one of the lowest osteoporosis rates.)
Although Thoroughbred horses capture the general public's imagination, what with Keeneland, the Derby and the pursuit of the Triple Crown, the Saddlebred is America's own breed (the Thoroughbred is a European import). Bloodlines include the Thoroughbred and Morgan, as well as the Narragansett Pacer (Paul Revere's mount; now extinct), the Irish Hobby and Scottish Galloway of the 1600s, and the Norfolk Pacer. These all combined one glorious spring day in 1851 when a foal by Denmark F.S. out of the "Stevenson mare" dropped - and the American Saddlebred was officially born.
The term "saddler" predates the breed and generally referred to any horse with a comfortable gait that made it easy to ride. Precursors of the developing breed became known as Kentucky Saddlers. Many Lexington breeders and trainers became intensely involved in bloodlines, including breeder Henry Clay and trainer Denton Offutt (who had owned the New Salem, Ill., general store where Abraham Lincoln worked).
At a time when horses were the only reliable transportation, a well-trained and easy-to-ride steed was essential. As the American Saddlebred emerged in the mid-1850s, the horse featured three natural gaits (walk, trot and canter) and was trained to two additional gaits (slow gait and rack). Think of the three-gaited Saddler as the family car; dependable and easy to maintain. Soup it up to five-gaits, however, and you have the 19th-century equivalent of a modified racecar, or roadster as it was called.
Timing is everything. The breed was coming into its own when the nation descended into sectionalism and the War Between the States. As the Belgian was to knights of old, the Saddlebred became the Civil War cavalry officer's mount of choice: Robert E. Lee's Traveller, U.S. Grant's Cincinnati, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's Little Sorrel, William T. Sherman's Lexington, and John Hunt Morgan's Black Bess were all Saddlebreds. Early on, the South had a decided advantage. Whereas Union cavalry mounts were provided by the Quartermaster Corps, Confederate officers generally brought their own horses. As the North captured more and more Southern horses, the South's advantage slipped away. In 1864 alone, the Union Army bought or captured nearly 210,000 horses.
The devotion of the cavalry rider to his mount took on almost mythic proportions. Lee's Traveller was just about the only horse he would ride; the same for Jackson's Little Sorrel (originally purchased for his wife). Grant had only two mounts. And Lexington's own Gen. Morgan ("Thunderbolt of the Confederacy") turned loose his own beloved mare when capture was imminent. Legend has it Morgan could hear her calling for him as the Union forces took him prisoner in Ohio.
Following the war, the Saddlebred settled into domestic life with a solid reputation. Children were ferried to and from school on a reliable horse that could be depended upon to know the way. Physicians knew their Saddlers were ready to pull the buggy any time of day or night. The iceman and grocer had horses pulling their wagons who knew exactly which house to pull up to along the route. Just about everyone had a horse or could rent one from the local livery.
Today, one can hardly imagine the cityscape of the late 19th and early 20th century America. Horses were everywhere: under saddle, pulling carts and buggies, hauling wagons and vans (some carrying other horses), guiding streetcars, omnibuses, and coaches. Imagine the stench. Manure everywhere and not quickly taken away, if at all. Occasionally, a horse might drop dead in the street. Main streets and roads were cleared of carcasses immediately. Side streets less so, and dead horses might lie for days or weeks before removal. Summer heat made matters even worse, and it is little wonder that cholera epidemics caused by tainted drinking water were a matter of life (and death). Lexington suffered two major epidemics in 1833 and 1849.
Throughout the 19th century, whenever Court Day was held (in Lexington, the second Monday of each month), horse-trading led to racing and showing. Thoroughbred owners would race their high-strung mounts known for quick bursts of speed over relatively short courses of a mile or so. Saddlebred owners, however, would race over long distances, up to four miles (famous sire Lexington, 63 of whose offspring were Saddlebreds, still holds the record). These owners would also "show" their horses to emphasize good looks and multiple uses, whether under saddle or pulling carts (called "bicycles" or "bikes"), buggies, wagons, or carriages. As racing and showing became institutionalized, the Thoroughbred took to the oval track while the Saddlebred entered the show ring. In many equine sports, the objective is to cross the finish line first or complete the course the fastest. The Saddlebred, however, is judged on appearance and performance. Subjective, perhaps, but nothing beats a finely turned out horse under an experienced rider. "Peacock of the Show Ring" is an honestly earned nickname for the breed.
Although Saddlebred horse shows occur today throughout North America, the season is centered in Kentucky. From Spring Premier at the Kentucky Horse Park each May, to the Lexington Junior League Horse Show at Lexington's Red Mile in July (the "world's largest outdoor horse show"), to the World's Championship at the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville in August, and every county fair horse show in between, from Shelbyville to Germantown (Kentucky's oldest continuous horse show), owners, trainers and competitors from across the country vie for the judge's eye and compete for prize money, bragging rights and show ring records that will increase the value of a mount offered for sale.
Just as the Triple Crown is winding down, the horse show season is heating up, all based on Kentucky's Saddlebred heritage.