The Mountain Pleasure Horse is an old breed of gaited horse that was developed in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. With roots that stretch deeply into history, these sturdy and beautiful horses have remained relatively unchanged for a century or more, reflecting the primitive Appalachian gaited horse type.

Genetic testing has shown them to be ancestral to several modern breeds, including the American Saddlebred and the Tennessee Walking Horse. Historians recount how early breeders made forays into eastern Kentucky to locate and purchase the finest gaited mares. In those days, horsemen knew if you wanted to produce  horses with a locked-in 4-beat gait, you needed to put your stallions to “saddle mares” from the Kentucky hills. So year after year, the simple people of that remote region skillfully bred some of the finest riding horses in the world. Few formal breeding records were kept, however some Mountain Pleasure Horse bloodlines are traceable for over 160 years.

Selling horses to breeders of Tennessee Walkers and American Saddlebreds was only part of the picture, though. These were the “using horses” of the mountain people, ridden by the doctor, the mailman and the traveling preacher. They carried children to the one-room school and the midwife to a baby's birth. They were hitched to the farm wagon and plow. They were central to the life and culture of the people of the mountains, people who knew the best horses were intelligent, sweet natured and calm.

Today’s Mountain Pleasure Horse is an average sized horse of good bone and feet, having a loose, laid back shoulder and ample breadth of chest. The head is set on a gracefully arched neck of medium length at an angle which allows natural carriage with a break at the poll. Mountain Pleasure Horses come in all solid colors. The stunning palomino is a regional favorite and many owners take pride in their golden horses.

Mountain Pleasure Horses are intelligent and sweet natured. Their calm, tractable temperament may have saved the breed from extinction during the hard economic times of the Great Depression. The docile mares made excellent nurse mares, and the stallions were easy to handle teasers, making them invaluable to breeders of Kentucky Thoroughbreds.

The beauty of the Mountain Pleasure Horse is best experienced in the saddle. With tail waving jauntily, they step out in a smooth 4-beat gait that’s wonderfully smooth and easy to ride. The preferred gait is often called a saddle rack. Because there’s no bounce or need to post, people who have given up riding due to back or joint problems are often able to ride a Mountain Pleasure Horse in comfort. Athletic and versatile, these horses are finding their way into a variety of disciplines from competitive trail riding to gaited dressage.

Many owners of Mountain Pleasure Horses like to show their horses. When shown, no action devices or special shoes are allowed. The inherently smooth gait of the Mountain Pleasure Horse is the product of nature and generations of careful breeding.  Foals demonstrate their innate ability to perform this gait by “hitting a lick” within hours of birth.

Owners of Mountain Pleasure Horses are often asked, “Are these the same as Rocky Mountain or Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horses?” To answer this simply, the Mountain Pleasure Horse was used in the development of the Rocky Mountain Horse. Around 50 years ago, a man named Sam Tuttle began breeding gaited mares to Tobe, a stallion with an unusual “chocolate” color. Horses of this lineage became the foundation of the Rocky Mountain Horse. The Rocky Mountain and Mountain Pleasure Horses are recognized as individual breeds. Many Mountain Pleasure Horses are also registered in the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse Association.

The Mountain Pleasure Horse Association was formed in 1989 for the purpose of preserving the bloodlines and to encourage the breeding of Mountain Pleasure Horse. The association promotes the breed at various expos and horse shows. A world championship show is held in Owingsville, KY at the end of each summer.

Because of their small numbers, Mountain Pleasure Horses have been placed on the “critical list” of the American Equus Survival Trust. Because of their unique place in gaited horse history, they are being used in a number of genetic studies, most recently the Equine Genome Research Project.

Although their place in history is linked to eastern Kentucky, today’s owners and breeders of the Mountain Pleasure Horse can be found throughout the United States and Canada.

Proclamation

On September 29, 1994, the Honorable Brereton C. Jones, Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky issued the following proclamation.

Proclamation by Brereton C. Jones
Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky

To All To Whom These Presents Shall Come:

Whereas, the Horsemen of Eastern Kentucky developed a type of horse -- known as the Mountain Pleasure Horse -- to be smooth of gait, gentle of disposition, willing to work and sure-footed as necessary for mountain terrain; and

Whereas, this Mountain Pleasure Horse has been carefully and closely bred for over 160 traceable years along the original Kentucky mountain blood lines; and

Whereas, blood-typing research by the University of Kentucky has shown the Mountain Pleasure Horse to be the parent stock of all the American gaited horse breeds; and

Now, therefore, I, Brereton C. Jones, Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, do hereby recognize the Mountain Pleasure Horse in Kentucky for 160 traceable years and registered by the Mountain Pleasure Horse Association to be the oldest gaited American breed of horse and to be the parent stock of all other American gaited horse breeds.

Done at the Capitol in the City of Frankfort, this the 29th day of September, in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred Ninety-four and in the 203rd year of the Commonwealth.

For more than 160 years, Eastern Kentuckians have enjoyed their homegrown product, the Mountain Pleasure Horse. For years called "Mountain Horses" or "Kentucky Saddler" horses, the Mountain Pleasure Horse is the old-time gaited breed of horse that existed in Kentucky 160 years ago and from which selective breeders have developed all other American gaited horse breeds.

Ladies and Gentlemen: We would like to introduce to you today the critically endangered Appalachian Pure Bred Gaited Horse , also known as the Mountain Pleasure Horse! With their small numbers of about 3,000 and less than 300 active breeding mares, they have been placed on the “Critical Endangered List” of the “American Equus Survival Trust”. Because of their unique place in gaited horse history they are being used in a number of genetic studies, most recently the Equine Genome Research Project, and study of the gaited horse gene.

These wonderful horses have been carefully bred in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky for over 200 traceable years. Early Kentuckians developed these sure-footed, smooth-gaited horses with great heart, a true willingness, intelligent, sweet calm nature, and easy keepers to work the field and carry them over the steep and rugged mountains. The smooth 4-beat gait was considered a necessity. Rougher horses were put to the plow, but the super smooth horses were the ones chosen to reproduce. Eventually a consistency of quality became the norm.

Long before our country’s Civil War, the amazing Mountain Pleasure Horse of Kentucky was being developed. The Narragansett Pacer from Rhode Island, the Spanish Jennet, and the ambling Galloway’s found their way into the Appalachians with the early settlers. Others came in to work the Swift Silver mine near Campton in the late 1700’s. The farmers of Eastern Kentucky would come to depend on their horse for their survival. The Mountain Pleasure Horse is the old breed of gaited horse developed in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky.

During the Civil War, these “Mountain Horses” or Saddlers,” as they were called, were a favored mount of the soldiers from both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line.

With roots that stretch deeply into history, these sturdy and beautiful horses have remained relatively unchanged for a century or more, reflecting the primitive Appalachian gaited horse.

Genetic testing from the University of Kentucky has shown the Mountain Pleasure Horse to be ancestral to other gaited breeds, including the American Saddlebred, Tennessee Walking Horse and most recently the Rocky Mountain Horse. Historians recount how early breeders made forays into eastern Kentucky to locate and purchase the finest gaited horses. In those days, horseman knew if you wanted to produce horses with a locked-in-4-beat gait you put your stallions to “saddle mares” from the Kentucky hills.

Only in the mid-period of the 20th century, did financial incentives encourage the production of an extra horse here and there. In the 1930’s train cars of black horses were sold and taken to Tennessee. During the 1940’s they could expect to get $1,000 for a very good saddle horse! With that money, they could purchase a whole farm. Farmers might keep such an “extra” horse around for sale to the “drummers” or salesmen that acted as agents for the wealthy folk of Virginia and Tennessee.

Selling horses to breeders of Tennessee Walkers and American Saddlebred was only part of the picture. These were the “using horses” of the mountain people. The stallions are easy to handle teasers, making them invaluable to breeders of Kentucky Thoroughbred farms, even to this day.

Until recently, few people from outside the Eastern Kentucky region were aware of this Treasure of the Appalachians, however, today owners and breeders of the Mountain Pleasure Horse can be found throughout the United States and Canada. One of the largest breeders in Oregon lives here in Albany. What you are witnessing today is the natural gait and the product of generations of careful breeding.

The beauty-in-motion of the Mountain Pleasure Horse is best seen and experienced when the horse is under-saddle. They step out in a smooth 4-beat gait. Covering ground with minimal effort to both horse and rider, the footfalls sound a rhythmic four-beat cadence as each foot hits the ground individually. Riding a Mountain Pleasure Horse is nearly effortless and even long trail rides can be enjoyed in comfort. Because there is no bounce or need to post, people who have given up riding due to back or joint problems are often able to ride again in comfort.

No action devices or special shoeing is necessary to produce this delightful ambling gait. Mountain Pleasure Horse foals are known to demonstrate their ability to gait by “hitting a lick” within hours of birth.

The Mountain Pleasure Horse is by no means dull. They make excellent trail horses. Some are used to herd cattle, others for field trials. In Kentucky they show at the Breyer Fest, 4-H members ride them in drill teams and barrel racing. The “Rockin R Rhythm Riders Mountain Pleasure Horse Drill Team” WON the National 4-H Drill Team Championship three years in a row, riding these fine horses.

Owners of the Mountain Pleasure Horses are often asked “Are these the same as the Rocky Mountain Horse?”. To answer this simply, the Mountain Pleasure Horse existed some 100 years before the existence of the Rocky Mountain Horse. The Mountain Pleasure tends to be a bit taller, longer bodied and covers more ground with their gait. The key difference is genetic foundation. Whereas most all Rocky Mountain Horses are traced to the chocolate stallion Tobe, who was crossed with the Mountain Pleasure Mares, fewer than 17% of Mountain Pleasure Horses carries any trace of the “Tobe” bloodlines.

A new Registry called the Appalachian Pure Bred Gaited Horse Association has been opened which only allows purebred Mountain Pleasure Horses to be registered. The Mountain Pleasure Horse Association opened its books in 2009 and allowed other “Mountain” horses to become registered. The Appalachian Pure Bred Gaited Horse Association has been created for the purpose of maintaining the purity of the original bloodline of Mountain Pleasure Horses. The Appalachian Pure Breed Gaited Horse has replaced the Mountain Pleasure Horse on the endangered list from the Equus Survival Trust.

The Ball State University in Indiana now keeps the date base for the new Appalachian Pure Bred Gaited Horse Association books with a very close watch from the Equus Survival Trust. The mission is “Keeping them Safe and Pure.”

We invite you to stop by the Mountain Pleasure Horse booth to meet these fine horses up close. Come read the Proclamation from the Governor of Kentucky. See the list of other endangered horses being watched by the “American Equus Survival Trust.” We also have a DVD from a Kentucky TV station with interviews from persons with families of 4 & 5 generations of raising these fine horses.

We thank you for joining us and we hope you enjoy your time here at the North West Equine Horse Fair and Expo.