Spotted Saddle Horses, Anyone?

[Wellspotted]

I would like to know more about Spotted Saddle Horses, as right now I'm very confused. I went to the breed organization Web site but their "About the horse" link doesn't give any information about the breed's history. Somebody told me the pinto coloration comes from the Quarter Horse, but I thought that the Quarter Horse registry was pretty particular about how much white a horse can have, and the SSH site apparently accepts almost tobiano for registration, regardless of its own bloodlines.

So ... anyone care to clear up my confusion? A friend of mine is very enthusiastic about the breed (but no more knowledgeable than I am).

The stallion whose pedigree I found online shows virtually all TWH in his pedigree, and I still can't figure out where the pinto coloration, or the QH, comes in.

Help, please!

[coloredhorse]

In a nutshell, an SSH is a spotted TWH. Some outcrosses are allowed ... or at least they were (I have an older registered SSH out of a TWH dam and sired by a Paint stallion). The registry was created essentially to allow a place for TWH-crosses of color to be registered. A common cross is TWH-APHA (not AQHA), as with my mare. At this point, though, there is plenty of color in full or nearly-full TWH lines. (APHA was created in much the same way ... to allow QHs with "too much white" place where they could be registered.)

For much, much more complete information, visit the Spotted Saddle Horse Breeders & Exhibitors Assn. website: www.sshbea.org (http://www.sshbea.org). You'll see from the photos and pedigrees there that these are horses with the basic conformation, movement (and sweet temperament, per my personal experience!) seen in TWHs. Though they make no specific bloodline requirements, the registry is essentially self-limiting, since those who want to register with the organization are interested in TWHs. Spotted QHs or QH/TB crosses register with APHA. Other spotted horses register with the Pinto Horse Assn. of America. (Oversimplified, of course, but you get the picture ... SSH = spotted TWH with maybe something else tossed in, as well.)

FWIW, I adore my SSH girl, who is not gaited (most/many have the TWH running walk, and I've seen a couple who also rack). She's been a great all-rounder who never said "no" to anything she was asked. Still ticking (even low-level dressage competitions) at age 20 and showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

[Wellspotted]

Thanks, coloredhorse!

I like your name! :)

[CA ASB]

I originally had much confusion over this breed as well as a traditional name for Saddlebreds was Saddle Horses. Of course, color was bred into them as well creating spotted Saddlebreds (of Scripps-Miramar fame), so when I first heard the term, I just thought people were using the old name - then found out that they were really spotted Walking Horses.

Would imagine that much of the original spotted stock for both the SSH and the spotted Saddlebred came from the same areas. It's kind of fun to go back and do pedigree research in the ASHA registry on the pintos and all of a sudden, poof, you will have two solid colored registered parents that somehow created a spotted offspring :D

[coloredhorse]

Thanks, coloredhorse!

I like your name! :)

Thanks! I adopted it after taking said SSH mare in a local hunter show, where the "judge" (read: local chick hired for fun local show; not a licensed judge of any sort!) stopped me at a break, asked if I was entered in any more divisions and when I said yes, told me not to bother because, and I quote: "Colored horses have no place in the hunter ring." The sneer with which she said "colored horses" stuck with me and I adopted the online handle as sort of a personal defiance.

[bludejavu]

I've have been educated by someone who breeds Spotted Saddle Horses that they are, in fact, not just Walking horses with spots. Apparently, the registry now is comprised of mainly Walking Horses with spots, but other breeds may be registered as Spotted Saddle Horses as well. The breeder who educated me has mainly racking stock that has only partial Walking Horse blood or no Walking Horse blood in them but they still are registered as Spotted Saddle Horses. Before I met her, I also thought they were strictly a spotted Walking Horse.

Here's a link to a discussion about what a SSH is all about and when I first became aware that they weren't just Walking Horses: http://forums.horsenewsnetwork.com/_/HNN/Forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=236

[coloredhorse]

Thanks, blu; that's interesting reading.

As I noted above, though there are no specific bloodline requirements, the registry is rather self-limiting, with the bulk of horses being of TWH or largely TWH descent. There are some non-TWH horses in there, but not too many. Your friend is a cool exception (I enjoy racking horses and ponies, personally, and know a handful of TWHs that also have a nice, fast rack).

Interestingly, some other gaited breeds are starting their own "color" registry, rather than using the existing SSHBEA. "Spotted Mountain Horses," for instance, which is also open to all -- a friend has a TWH pinto who is registered as a TWH, an SSH, and now also as a "SMH," LOL! -- but is primarily populated by Rocky and Kentucky MH bloodlines. Seems a little silly to me, but hey, whatever floats your boat!

(I'd also like to take yet another opportunity to say how much I loff my old SSH girl!!!)

[luvs2ride79]

The last place I boarded at was owned by a Field Trial breeder/trainer/judge. He has one good mare that he breeds quite regularly. She's a Walker/Fox Trotter, gray with a couple of socks and a blaze. Her first foal was a gray with HIGH whites and a wrap under blaze. Her second foal, bred to a SSH was a LOUD Tovero Bay/White. Her third foal by a gray Walker with HIGH whites (Sabino) was ALL WHITE! The only color on him was a small brown spot in one eye. All his Skin was pink. Her fourth foal was a very interesting filly that came out of the shoot all gray/roan and a bald face (no pictures of her). I believe he registered her and the other two spotted babies with the SSH.

The Tovero gelding:
http://www.2hottotrot.com/showphoto.php/photo/9942/cat/655/page/1

The mare and the white/Max Sabino baby. He'll be two this year, I need to go get some updated pictures of him this Spring. I'm hopping John will see how impracticle he is for field trials and con him out of Cotton, lol.
http://www.2hottotrot.com/showphoto.php/photo/9186/cat/655/page/1
http://www.2hottotrot.com/showphoto.php/photo/9939/cat/655/page/1
http://www.2hottotrot.com/showphoto.php/photo/9940/cat/655/page/1

[coloredhorse]

Pretty pictures, luvs2ride! Does the max sabino colt tend to sunburn? He's quite striking!

[katarine]

my TWH/SSH filly who is now 4 YO and pushing 16.3. She's getting to be TOO big.

She has a nice rack, rocking chair canter, but we haven't found her running walk yet. Sweet, kind mare.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3191/2928638717_1449721a33.jpg?v=0

[Sandy M]

Thanks! I adopted it after taking said SSH mare in a local hunter show, where the "judge" (read: local chick hired for fun local show; not a licensed judge of any sort!) stopped me at a break, asked if I was entered in any more divisions and when I said yes, told me not to bother because, and I quote: "Colored horses have no place in the hunter ring." The sneer with which she said "colored horses" stuck with me and I adopted the online handle as sort of a personal defiance.


She must be a relative of the guy, years ago, who judged me and my App at a schooling H/J show (very high level schooling show though - lots of big names, fences up to 4', etc.). The horse in question was a supersafe schoolmaster Preliminary/Intermediate level eventer. I was just getting in some practice over 3'6" stadium fences prior to a fall event. This horse would, however, go like a hunter. There were a lot of good horses, so when I didn't place in earlier classes, it was not big deal. However, then I went into an Ammy class. There were 8 entries. 3 had refusals, 2 had poles down. So: five horses with major faults. My guy cruised around beautifully, hit every spot, and I have a picture of him with his knees practically up under his chin. He.did.not.place. Since it was a schooling show, I went to the judge and politely asked what I could do/correct to improve my horse's performance. Oh, nothing, said he. Your horse went beautifully, but Appaloosas are NOT english horses. I then, not so politely, asked him to what use he would recommend putting a 16.3 hand, rangy, jumper type Appaloosa: Steer roping? AaAAAAARGGGHHHH!!! I then just walked away. *icon for sticking out one's tongue* ROFLOL

[coloredhorse]

Sandy M, kinda Twilight Zone-ish, isn't it.

Now if she'd said my very TWH-y built mare had too much knee action, or her natural head carriage was a little higher than you look for in hunters, sure, right on the money. I didn't expect to pin among better-suited horses. But the color? C'mon! And she was always cute as a button over fences ... a little flat in her jump, but knees dead even and to her eyeballs and always with ears pricked and a keen expression.

I've seen LOTS of big appies (and a couple of POAs, for that matter) that looked great cruising around a hunter course or dressage ring, too!

[LuvMyNSH]

Your horse went beautifully, but Appaloosas are NOT english horses.

I once lost a walk/jog wp class at a schooling show because my appy mare's "straight shoulder makes for a rough walk to lope transition." Yes, that is exactly what the AQHA carded judge told me. I will never forget it. :lol: I guess apps aren't western horses either.

Another fun moment - I took my MFT to an open show that advertised itself as gaited friendly, and was dead last in every english class. When I came back for the western classes with her ribbons in, I couldn't lose no matter what. I asked the judge what I had done wrong in the morning classes (I lost to a kid that got bucked off for crying out loud!) and she said she had assumed the mare was lame because she trotted funny, but once she saw the ribbons she knew she had to be a gaited something-or-other. I could have almost forgiven her, but my mare was pretty hot in the morning and racked instead of foxtrotting - it should have been pretty obvious that she was a "gaited something-or-other" from the get go!

[FlyingChanges]

I have a SSH that I got for my hubby a few years ago. She is such a sweet & amazing horse! Wonderful temperment....great on trails....not mare-ish at all. She is pretty much bomb-proof! When I was younger, I showed a few SSH in Country Pleasure. I have never ridden one that was not a total joy to ride.

[mrd]

We have 2. You can register them as SSH either because they are the product of two registered SSHs, or you can put an application in to register by color and gait inspection. You only have to have a white spot above the elbow/stifle somewhere on the body. The mare we have would have qualified under both criteria, but the gelding we have has no known breeding - I personally think he is a cross between a paso fino and a harlequin great dane :lol:- but he racks quite nicely and met the color criteria. Here he is in a class. He is the mainly white horse with the brown spots that wins the class. There is one other SSH in there and he is mainly black and his rider has a blue day coat on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvNOm3xViMM

The are incredibly comfy rides and usually quite sane. But since both of ours are mainly white, the maintenance is ridicuous.....All the rest of my horses are plain, plain bay. Much easier to clean!

[jazzrider]

My hubby's horse Rocky is a mutant, 17.1 hand SSH (registered) who has a wonderful rack, and an even better disposition. He's perfect for my husband, who is 6'3" and when we got him -- a new rider. Now they've been together for almost 8 years. Rocky turned my hubby into a horse lover. :sadsmile:

[luvs2ride79]

Pretty pictures, luvs2ride! Does the max sabino colt tend to sunburn? He's quite striking!

Just on his nose. They keep zinc oxide on it and it seems to do the trick. He does favor the shade when turned out.

[Wellspotted]

These posts remind me of a very local hunter show I went to a couple of years ago here. There was one class for "Non-Thoroughbred Hunters." Almost every horse in it was either a paint/pinto or a palomino or an Appaloosa.

Colored hunters of the world, canter (or rack) on! :yes: