FA S T PA C I N G H O R S E S

No photos identifiable as “purebred” Narragansett Pacers exist; the breed is extinct in unadulterated form.

The blood of Hambletonian 10 (“Rysdyk’s Hambletonian”), born in 1849 and considered the founder of the American Standardbred, spread throughout New England and the Ohio Valley to such an extent that no fast pacer or trotter today is free of it.

In the latter half of the 19th century, especially during the period from the end of the Civil War to the coming of mechanized farm equipment, American Standardbred sires were used on mares of many bloodlines to get medium-sized, all-purpose farm horses. Particularly in the Appalachian South, many of these mares carry authentic Narragansett Pacer blood. horse labeled as a Narragansett Pacer