> My understanding is that many (maybe most?) of the original members of the > Racking Horse "breed" were Standardbreds. I think they had (have?) an open > stud book, and basically a horse that shows rack can be registered, so there > is a mix of breeds in the registry now. Now, that said, I'm sure Janice has > the lowdown on this and will tell us all the incorrect assumptions I just > made.... :) > well i could be wrong but it is my understanding that the RHBAA began over people owning walking horses that racked were not allowed to show them, or if they did, certainly didnt place. of course they made all this self righteous noise about how they wanted to separate themselves from soring, but they are as bad or worse than biglick walkers so thats not turned out to be true. RHBAA is a gait registry.A commissioner can watch your horse gait and if it racks, its able to be registered. There is an RHBAA registered icelandic, Blakkur is his name, he was NWHA speed racker WGC one year, many standardreds etc. That being said, what you posted is true Karen, standardbreds were in the foundation of the walking horse and so were narragansett pacers, which are extinct, and the walker is the foundation of the official racking "breed". The foundation walking horse was Allan F1, and he was standardbred and narragansett pacer all mixed up in there, and he did a wonderful incredibly smooth gait, a running walk, which he seemed to be homozygous for as a stud, all his offspring did it, and thus began the TWHBEA breed. They allowed outside horses in for a long time, and thats how spots got in. So now purists say if your pinto walker does not trace back to a mare named "dusty sally" then it is sort of a mongrel that came in when the books were open :) They did breed for gait tho. They wanted to keep producing what Alan F1 had. He was very homely btw. The old black and white photos of him in existence show him having an eerily similar to my Jaspar old foundation walker head, and he was plain black. Robert E Lee rode a standardbred, Traveller, and after the war, rode him home all the way from war and then went to work at washington and Mary college where him and Traveller are buried today. he rode him 20 miles each way to and from work for many years. Many say he was a walker but he wasn't, he was a standardbred and General Lee said "he has one smooth fast gait that is very pleasant but you have to find it and until you do, he is a very rough ride". He had hair rubbed off him all the time from the crowds that would line the road when he passed just to reach out and touch him. I have a horse named Traveller that is also grey, and if I ever had a mare I would name her Lucy Long, Lee's other horse's name. that is my standardbred history lesson for the day. Janice
-- even good horses have bad days sometimes.
