I'll start by confessing that until recently I was fuzzy on the difference between a Saddlebred and a Standardbred. But when an anonymous commenter pointed out that I had gotten the breed wrong in my discussion of Breyer's All Glory, I was motivated to buckle down and do the research.
In teasing apart the elements of this situation, there are several points of confusion:
1. Rejoice (the mold being used for All Glory) is a National Show Horse.
2. William Shatner is a long-time fan of Saddlebred horses.
3. Shatner's horse All Glory is a Standardbred.
4. Who is considered a Standardbred Road Horse (or "Roadster")
Having cleared that up, I shall now proceed to muddy the waters!
1. Rejoice: a National Show Horse
What, you might well ask, is a National Show Horse? This is a new one to me. The breed registry was only created in 1981, so this is one of those newfangled horse breeds. A National Show Horse is a cross between a Saddlebred and an Arabian.
The NSH registry requires at least 25% Arabian blood, up to 99%. This creates a horse with the specialized gait of the Saddlebred, and the delicate dished facial profile of the Arabian. The NSH also has an Arabian's tail set - which is not quite as high (which is to say, broken) as the Saddlebred's.
These traits can all be seen in the Rejoice mold.
2. William Shatner's Saddlebreds
I talked about this at length in the original All Glory post. The Saddlebred is a breed developed largely for pleasure riding. It has a comfortable ride, and a calm temperament. Saddlebreds are famous for their "high-stepping" action and as five-gaited horses: in addition to walk, trot, and canter, they perform the slow-gait and the rack.
Saddlebreds originally descended from a cross between the Thoroughbred and the Narragansett Pacer (a breed which is extinct today). So it has distant ties to the Thoroughbred breed.
3. But All Glory is a Standardbred
I know, right? Someone who is known for liking Saddlebreds shouldn't branch out into Standardbreds. It only causes the confusions. Mr. Shatner, if you're reading this, we simply insist that you drop the Standardbreds and go with something less confusing. Icelandic ponies, perhaps, or Friesians.
The Standardbred was originally an open registry, like the Warmblood. Until relatively recently, any horse could qualify as a Standardbred, as long as it was able to trot a mile in 2.5 minutes. A lot of Thoroughbreds were double-registered as Standardbreds. Although the Standardbred registry was created in the 1800s, there is still a lot of Thoroughbred blood in the Standardbred bloodline.
4. What's a Standardbred Road Horse?
Standardbreds can do a lot of things. They can be either pacers or trotters. They make excellent all-round riding horses, jumpers, dressage, and trail horses.
However, some Standardbreds trot really really fast, and with good form. These are Standardbred Road Horses, also known as "Roadsters." They focus on three trotting gaits: the jog, road gait, and trot at speed. These are show ring gaits, and not used in Standardbred racing.
Roadsters are judged on their form, whereas a racing Standardbred is judged strictly on its speed (and is raced against other Standardbreds, not shown in the ring).
In other words, "Standardbred" is what the horse is, but "Road Horse" is what it does. Like the difference between a Thoroughbred jumper versus a Thoroughbred race horse.
So there you have it - hopefully this has helped clear things up!
In teasing apart the elements of this situation, there are several points of confusion:
1. Rejoice (the mold being used for All Glory) is a National Show Horse.
2. William Shatner is a long-time fan of Saddlebred horses.
3. Shatner's horse All Glory is a Standardbred.
4. Who is considered a Standardbred Road Horse (or "Roadster")
Having cleared that up, I shall now proceed to muddy the waters!
1. Rejoice: a National Show Horse
What, you might well ask, is a National Show Horse? This is a new one to me. The breed registry was only created in 1981, so this is one of those newfangled horse breeds. A National Show Horse is a cross between a Saddlebred and an Arabian.
The NSH registry requires at least 25% Arabian blood, up to 99%. This creates a horse with the specialized gait of the Saddlebred, and the delicate dished facial profile of the Arabian. The NSH also has an Arabian's tail set - which is not quite as high (which is to say, broken) as the Saddlebred's.
These traits can all be seen in the Rejoice mold.
2. William Shatner's Saddlebreds
I talked about this at length in the original All Glory post. The Saddlebred is a breed developed largely for pleasure riding. It has a comfortable ride, and a calm temperament. Saddlebreds are famous for their "high-stepping" action and as five-gaited horses: in addition to walk, trot, and canter, they perform the slow-gait and the rack.
Saddlebreds originally descended from a cross between the Thoroughbred and the Narragansett Pacer (a breed which is extinct today). So it has distant ties to the Thoroughbred breed.
3. But All Glory is a Standardbred
I know, right? Someone who is known for liking Saddlebreds shouldn't branch out into Standardbreds. It only causes the confusions. Mr. Shatner, if you're reading this, we simply insist that you drop the Standardbreds and go with something less confusing. Icelandic ponies, perhaps, or Friesians.
The Standardbred was originally an open registry, like the Warmblood. Until relatively recently, any horse could qualify as a Standardbred, as long as it was able to trot a mile in 2.5 minutes. A lot of Thoroughbreds were double-registered as Standardbreds. Although the Standardbred registry was created in the 1800s, there is still a lot of Thoroughbred blood in the Standardbred bloodline.
4. What's a Standardbred Road Horse?
Standardbreds can do a lot of things. They can be either pacers or trotters. They make excellent all-round riding horses, jumpers, dressage, and trail horses.
However, some Standardbreds trot really really fast, and with good form. These are Standardbred Road Horses, also known as "Roadsters." They focus on three trotting gaits: the jog, road gait, and trot at speed. These are show ring gaits, and not used in Standardbred racing.
Roadsters are judged on their form, whereas a racing Standardbred is judged strictly on its speed (and is raced against other Standardbreds, not shown in the ring).
In other words, "Standardbred" is what the horse is, but "Road Horse" is what it does. Like the difference between a Thoroughbred jumper versus a Thoroughbred race horse.
So there you have it - hopefully this has helped clear things up!
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