American Saddlebred

The American Saddlebred is a popular show horse. Saddlebreds are shown either as three-gaited (walk, trot, and canter) or five-gaited (walk, trot, canter, slow gait, and rack). The rack is a natural even four-beat gai where each foot pauses in mid-air before coming down separately. It looks like fun to ride a horse who is racking, and it is. Horses can rack at speeds up to 30 mph. The slow gait is a slow, graceful version of the rack. Saddlebreds have Thoroughbred, Morgan, and Pacer bloodlines. Their original purpose was to cover a lot of ground as plantation owners rode from area to area.

Saddlebreds come in solid colors (grey, bay, chestnut, black). Half-breeds may come in other, more showy colors such as pinto.