EQUUS

MOUNTAIN HORSES

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Feral herds of Mountain Horses can be seen close-up in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in western Virginia (see location marked by red dot in Map 2). Herds also roam other backcountr­y areas in eastern Kentucky. They are the descendant­s of escaped horses originally brought to the area by pioneers. The Mountain Horse landrace constitute­s much of the nonThoroug­hbred ancestry of the Quarter Horse and Saddlebred.

The Rocky Mountain and Mountain Pleasure breeds are derived from such herds and from livestock kept for generation­s under domestic conditions by families in the area. Good photograph­s of early representa­tives of these breeds are hard to find, so I have rendered three important individual­s as drawings in order to make their conformati­on clear (far right).

None of them stood more than 14:2; note the shapely necks, short strong backs, excellent legs and feet, powerful hindquarte­rs, Spanish-influenced heads and overall muscularit­y. Such horses preserve the conformati­on and gaits of the Virginia Hobby of Colonial times. Their height has recently been increased through crosses with Quarter Horse, Saddlebred and Tennessee Walker but despite market demand for bigger horses, Rocky Mountain and Mountain Pleasure horse breeders have been wise to be rather cautious in making crosses with outside strains because gains in height are often offset by losses in steadymind­edness and smoothness of gait. The largest and heaviest Rocky Mountain Horse I’ve seen is my own gelding Oliver (see page 63) who stands fully 15:2 and weighs 1,100 pounds.

 ??  ?? Mountain Horses come in all colors and frequently manifest tobiano or sabino patterning. Black, deep red chestnut and silver-dapple are also frequently found (photo courtesy Ryan Samma). Mountain Pleasure Horse stallion Goldfinger, photograph­ed at age...
Mountain Horses come in all colors and frequently manifest tobiano or sabino patterning. Black, deep red chestnut and silver-dapple are also frequently found (photo courtesy Ryan Samma). Mountain Pleasure Horse stallion Goldfinger, photograph­ed at age...

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