Rocky Mountain Horse Australia

The Rocky Mountain horse - unlike many purpose bred modern breeds - spontaneously developed itself at the start of the 20th century on a farm in eastern Kentucky. On a farm in spout springs Kentucky owned by Sam Tuttle, still stallion by the name of “Old Tobe” that was to become the founding stallion of the Rocky Mountains breed.

Old Tobe was a remarkable stallion. The starters he was a gaited stallion, mountain bred, he was a surefooted trail riding horse taking riders through the rugged riding tracks of the natural bridge state park where Sam operated riding tours. Unusual for a stallion, Old Tobe was extremely gentle and considerate of his riders. He was the ideal mount the young or inexperienced riders as he was calm and unflappable yet he was still capable of all the dash and sparkle you'd expect other stallion and so was a preferred Mount of more experienced riders as well.

He passed on his wonderful temperament on gate to his progeny - indeed his legacy was long in the making as he was still fathering horses right up until the end of his days at the age of 37.

Gait of the Rocky Mountain Horse
The Rocky Mountain horse is a medium-size light horse, always with a gentle temperament and easy rolling four beat gait. This gait made them an ideal mount for the farmers of the area who had to cover long distances in the saddle over rough terrain. The easy gate of the Rocky Mountain horse was kind on both rider and Mount and thus long distances could be covered more comfortably than known traditional stock horse.

Versatility
Not only was the Rocky Mountain horse and excellent trail riding horse, they were strong and sturdy and are for general farm work. They can work in the field pulling a light plough, they can be used to hurt cattle and they made a beautiful buggy horse to take the family into town or church. Bred from cold weather hardened stock they are also extremely resistant to cold and thus able to cope with cold weather far better than many other breeds.

The gait and versatility of the Rocky Mountain horse proved to be dominant traits which they passed on to other horses are thus enabling a relatively fast increasing numbers breed coming predominately from a single stallion is

Preservation of the Rocky Mountain Horse

in 1986 a group of Rocky Mountain horse enthusiasts set up the Rocky Mountain horse Association in order to ensure the preservation of the breed. Naturally the association was set up in the State of Kentucky the State of the horses creation. Soon after the association created a breed registry to oversee the ongoing development of the breed. The breed registry states are Rocky Mountain horse must have the following characteristics:-

• Be of medium height from 14 2 to 16 hands high(144 -162.5cm). Chest must be wide and slope at a 45degree angle to the shoulder. Eyes must be bold and ears should be well shaped.
• The horses must have a natural four beat gait either a single foot or rack gate or both. They should never pace. The gait is an even gate such that when they move the sound of each of their four hooves can be heard evenly spaced. No horse should need training in order to learn this gait and with training the gait can be modified to have a high in the action.
• The easy-going temperament of the founding stallion must be evident, they should be easy-going and manageable by novice and expert riders.
• The coat colour must be solid, main and tail colours should be solid that may be different to body colour. Some facial marking is acceptable as long as the markings are minor. White on the legs above the knee or hock is a fault.

Owners of Rocky Mountain horses when asked to describe their horses, how they differ from other breeds invariably described their calmness and gentleness. They are often referred to as the Labrador of the equine family, in that they generally lacked any aggression and have a love of human company. The calm and gentle they are willing, strong hearted and have excellent stamina.

Today in the US they are popular horse is for all types is pleasure and trail riding, endurance riding and they compete in the show ring in gaited horse classes. In Australia, there has been only a small interest in importing the gaited horses of North America with more focus on the breeding of raising horses, showjumping and eventing horses, as well is stock horses. As yet there is no Rocky Mountain horse Association in Australia though the time of writing this article they are now being bred here, for more information visit Rocky Mountain Horses | rmhorse.com.au