Karen Briggs
Lots of breeds can offer some or all of those qualities, but there's one you may have overlooked because people tend to think of this horse harnessed to a racing bike and pacing or trotting at blinding speeds. It's the standardbred. Yes, you heard right.
When you think of the ideal family horse, what qualities do you envision? Sound and sturdy, sensible and sane, forgiving in temperament, easy to work around, not too heavy, and not too small. You might also be looking for a horse that is bombproof on the road, easy to load in a trailer and to take anywhere, and versatile enough to show in a western pleasure class with Dad one day, pop over some fences with Suzy the next, and haul a buggy down the country roads with Mom the day after that.
The history of the breed begins on May 5, 1849, when a foal named Hambletonian 10 was born in Orange County, New York. This bay son of Abdallah (descended from the imported Messenger, a English thoroughbred of the Darley Arabian line) and the Charles Kent mare (reportedly a Norfolk trotter) would go on to become the fastest trotting horse America had ever seen, and the foundation sire of the standardbred breed. (The name standardbred refers to the original qualifications for registration: that the horse achieve a standard of a mile trotted or paced in 2:30 or less.)
More than 90 percent of standardbreds today trace back to Hambletonian. Though the emphasis in standardbred breeding has been on speed, the inherent good temperament and sturdy conformation of these horses has not been lost; and now there's a movement afoot to return the standardbred to its roots and to make the public aware that it's not just for racing anymore.
If you've never considered a standardbred as a riding horse, you're not alone. Despite the fact that standardbred blood runs in many popular riding breeds, including the Morgan, the Tennessee walking horse, and the Selle Francais, there has been a fair amount of prejudice against the standardbred as a riding horse. That's not to say these horses aren't out there. Standardbreds sometimes masquerade as Morgans, quarter horses, or thoroughbreds. Unless you're savvy to the distinction between a thoroughbred and a standardbred lip tattoo, you may never know the difference; but until recently, if you were riding a standardbred, you might have been reluctant to admit it. Not any more.
Second Careers for Standardbreds
The harness racing industry has come under fire in recent years for its perceived throw-away attitude toward horses not suitable for racing. Short of the breeding shed, and a small market among Mennonite and Amish communities, the bleak reality for many retired or unremarkable racehorses has been a quick trip to the abattoir. Harness racing, already suffering from a slow but steady decline in popularity, as well as pressure from animal rights groups, cannot afford to take another hit. The United States Trotting Association (USTA), therefore, has created an initiative to open up the job market for off-the-track standardbreds.
The Standardbred Equestrian Program (SEP), launched in November 1995 by the USTA, has a mandate to help promote standardbreds as potential riding horses, show horses, and family pleasure horses. "People tend not to realize the potential and versatility of the standardbred breed," says program administrator Karen Beach. "The SEP was developed in an effort to create the option of a second career for these horses. We wanted to take a visionary stand, instead of a reactionary one."
A January 1996 kickoff meeting for the SEP, attended by members of several standardbred pleasure and adoption organizations as well as USTA and Canadian officials, helped launch several SEP programs. Among them is an educational youth program called CHAMP (Care, Horsemanship, Achievement, Merit, and Promotion), which will encourage youths to work with standardbreds for point awards; the Medallion program, in which participants can be recognized for the leisure hours they spend with their ex-racehorses; and a show series (eventually to become a nationwide effort) that will offer performance classes for standardbreds and allow participants to earn points toward championships and year-end awards.
Adopt a Horse
During the past decade or so an increasing awareness of the scarcity of homes for washed-up racehorses has spawned a new phenomenon--adoption agencies for standardbreds. Dozens of these enthusiastic organizations have sprung up in North America, usually operating on a regional level and, so far, without USTA affiliation. They range from small, backyard outfits operated by well-meaning individuals up to what is probably the largest and best-organized group, New Jersey's Standardbred Retirement Foundation (SRF), founded by Paula Campbell and Judy Bokman. SRF has developed a high profile and serious fundraising capabilities through programs such as the annual Hambletonian Charity Festival, a Mastercard program, a racing series for two-year-old trotters and pacers, and a program through which owners can donate a portion of their purses. With backing like this the SRF handles more than 50 horses at any given time, while some of the smaller organizations may only get involved in the lives of one or two ex-racehorses. But large or small, standardbred adoption agencies have a single, worthy goal: to give a horse who can no longer race a second chance at a useful career.
Standardbred adoption agencies have become experts in the promotion of the standardbred as an all-round family horse. "Standardbreds are well-disciplined, easy to work with, and far more sensible than the average thoroughbred," says Bokman, executive director and co-founder of SRF. "Most have great temperaments, and they're practically bombproof, too. Mounted Police units love them. They're really a multi-discipline horse."
Kathy Sunberg of Calgary's Performance Standardbreds, the oldest and best-known agency in Canada, agrees. "A standardbred off the track is a valuable commodity," she says. "They're perfectly broken to harness, they're in great shape, they ship well, and they've got manners. Where else are you going to find all that?"
Horses coming off the track tend to get a lot of bad press, but a racing background can have its advantages. Ex-racehorses have been exposed to a great many things at a tender age. They become accustomed to being handled and worked around every day, by many different people. They learn to deal with distractions. Vehicles of all kinds hold no terror for them. This background makes them an ideal choice for a family horse.
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