The Rocky Mountain Horse

    About 160 years ago, a type of horse was developed in Kentucky with a soft, smooth gait and gentle disposition.  Today we can trace the beginnings of all American gaited breeds back to these horses, including Tennessee Walkers, Fox Trotters, American Saddlebreds, and the Rocky Mountain Horse.  The hallmarks of this breed were a gliding 4-beat gait and a wonderful, gentle disposition.  They were gentle enough to be ridden by people of all ages, strong enough to pull wagons and plows and smooth-gaited enough to provide a luxurious mode of transportation in the age before automobiles. They were owned and bred by the common folks of the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and remained largely a secret of this region for many years.

     Around the end of the 19th century, a horse showed up in Kentucky named the RM Stud Colt of 1890. Tradition has it that a family who was moving back East brought this horse cross-country from the Rocky Mountains. He was an exceptional stallion - gentle enough to be ridden by children, sure footed in the mountains, able to pull a plow or a wagon, and be ridden by the old and young alike.  He had a gentle, four-beat gait and he was an unusual chocolate color with flaxen mane and tail.  His looks, personality and gait caught the attention of everyone who knew him.  He was remarkably similar to the native stock, which had been developing in Kentucky for many years and was extensively bred to mares of this stock for the rest of his life. One of his offspring, Old Tobe became the foundation sire for the breed now known as the Rocky Mountain Horse. 

The Rocky Mountain Horse Association is Formed

    The Rocky Mountain Horse Association was officially formed in 1986 to promote and preserve the offspring of these crosses as a unique breed. This was the first Mountain Horse registry. The chocolate color with flaxen mane and tail (just called “Chocolate” by Mountain Horse people) became a very popular aspect of the breed and approximately 70% of Rocky Mountain Horses are Chocolate today.  Additionally, all horses must prove they possess the smooth gait and gentle temperament upon which the breed is founded before they can be certified to breed.  Today (2007), there are approximately 13,500 registered Rockies in the world.  

Additional Mountain Horse Registries

      There are six different breeds of Mountain Horses, many sharing similar qualities. In most cases, the qualities are so similar that for the casual rider there is little discernible difference. All Mountain Horses are known for their smooth, four-beat gait and gentle, loving temperament.

    The first Mountain Horse registry was the Rocky Mountain Horse Association.  Since their original formation, a number of disagreements have arisen around detailed registration requirements.  Over the course of the past two decades several groups from the RMHA have split off to form separate groups known as the Mountain Pleasure Horse Association, the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse Association, the Kentucky Natural Gaited Horse Association and the American Gaited Mountain Horse Association.  Additionally, in recent years, the Spotted Mountain Horse Association was formed specifically for Mountain Horses with paint coloring.    

    The result is that there are now six Mountain Horse associations, all founded on the traditional temperament and gait which first attracted people to this breed. The RMHA tends to have predominantly chocolate horses although other colors are gaining in popularity, whereas the other breeds are more likely to come in any number of colors, except, of course, the SMHA, which is only for spotted horses. The differences between these  tend to be slight, mostly focused on the rules by which the associations allow horses to be registered. For the casual rider, the differences are usually insignificant and many people simply call them "Mountain Horses" 

Rocky Mountain Horse Association (RMHA) www.rmhorse.com (606)724-2354

Mountain Pleasure Horse Association (MPHA)

Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse Association (KMSHA) www.kmsha.com

Kentucky Natural Gaited Horse Association (KNGHA) www.kngha.com

American Gaited Mountain Horse Association (AGMHA) www.agmh.com

Spotted Mountain Horse Association (SMHA)

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Bonnie Hodge has written an excellent book on Rocky Mountain Horses. She can be contacted at www.wildfireenterprises.iceryder.net