There are four Mountain Horse registries:
- Rocky Mountain Horse Association
- Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse Association
- Mountain Pleasure Horse Association
- Spotted Mountain Horse Association
The breed originated about 200 years ago in the hills of eastern Kentucky. One might say they are a “do it all kinda horse”. The Mountain Horse could pull a plow or cart, work cattle, be ridden by children to the fishing hole or ridden to town comfortably. They are intelligent and love human attention, often showing great affection for their owners. These horses have a lot of natural endurance. They are sure footed on rough ground and can cover a great distance without tiring. Because of their unique gait minimum effort is required by both horse and rider.
All four registries are based in Kentucky. It is quite common for some horses of these breeds to be double or even triple registered, although each registry has its own requirements for eligibility.
The "Rocky Mountain Horse" can today be thought of as a breed with a foundation sire, "Tobe". About 45 years ago, a Kentucky breeder named Sam Tuttle tapped into the Mountain Horse heritage, crossing the native mountain horse stock with “Tobe”, a stallion carrying an unusual chocolate colour. His descendants would eventually spawn the Rocky Mountain Horse breed.
The "Mountain Pleasure Horse" has a more diverse genetic pool with no single founding stallion, but still primarily limited to the original Appalachian mountain horse stock.
The "Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse Association" has allowed an even broader range of eligibility, with mare registration open to any gaited horse until recently, and some stallions from other gaited breeds (i.e. Paso Fino, Tennessee Walker) allowed registration as well.
The "Spotted Mountain Horse Association" is a relatively new registry formed to allow the registration of "spotted" (white markings on body) horses. Although included with the "mountain horse" breeds, the association will currently register any gaited horse that meets its criteria for colour, conformation and temperament.
With the exception of the Spotted Mountain Horse, all of the mountain horse breeds require a solid body colour. Mountain horses come in all colors; black, bay, sorrel, gray, chestnut, palomino, buckskin and roan, but one of the crowd favorites is the chocolate body colour with white or "flaxen" mane and tail. The Mountain Horse is a very easy keeper and because of its cold-blooded nature can tolerate winters with minimum shelter.
The gentle nature of the Mountain Horse is its most outstanding characteristic. These are the horses of choice for people with back, hip or knee problems or for people who want a comfortable ride, not a challenging ride.
Today the mountain horse is being enjoyed as a pleasure horse, trail horse, competitive show horse and for endurance riding.
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