The Standardbred (also known as a trotter or a pacer) is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace its bloodlines to 18th-century England. They are solid, well-built horses with good dispositions. In addition to harness racing, the Standardbred is used for a variety of equestrian activities, including horse shows, pleasure riding and light buggy horses for the Amish.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nThe breed is quite good at jumping, making them suitable for the sport horse disciplines of hunt seat, show jumping, show hunter, and eventing. The breed is also seen in dressage, and their excellent temperaments make them good trail riding and ranch horses. In addition, because of the genetics of the breed, they can also be encouraged and trained to perform smooth ambling gaits, notably the rack and the stepping pace.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nDistinguishing features: Well-muscled; longer body, slightly heavier and more placid disposition than a Thoroughbred; kind and manageable temperament, solid legs and powerful shoulders and hindquarters; able to trot or pace at speed for racing. They are known for their strong and dense bones, suitable conformation and ability to maintain high trotting speeds for extended periods of time comfortably. They are known for being people oriented and easy to train. They can be 14 to 17 hands, although most are between 15 and 16 hands. They are most often bay, brown or black, although other colors such as chestnut, gray, and roan are seen. They typically weigh between 800 and 1,000 pounds. Their heads are refined and straight with broad foreheads, large nostrils, and shallow mouths. The typical Standardbred body is long, with the withers being well defined, with strong shoulders and the muscles being long and heavy, which helps with the long strides. The neck of the Standardbred is muscular and should be slightly arched, with a length of medium to long. Their legs are muscular and solid, with generally very tough and durable hooves.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nIndividual Standardbreds tend to either trot or pace. Trotters preferred racing gait is the trot, where the horses legs move in diagonal pairs; when the right foreleg moves forward, so does the left hind leg, and vice versa. The pace is a two-beat lateral gait; pacers forelegs move in unison with the hind legs on the same side. However, the breed also is able to perform other horse gaits, including the canter, though this gait is penalized in harness racing.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nIn the 17th century, the first trotting races were held in the Americas, usually in fields on horses under saddle. However, by the mid-18th century, trotting races were held on official courses, with the horses in harness. Breeds that have contributed foundation stock to the Standardbred breed included the Narragansett Pacer, Canadian Pacer, Thoroughbred, Norfolk Trotter, Hackney, and Morgan.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nThe Standardbred breed registry was formed in United States in 1879 by the National Association of Trotting Horse Breeders.[3] The name arose due to the standard required of breeding stock, to be able to trot or pace a mile within a certain time limit.[1] Every Standardbred had to be able to trot a mile in less than two minutes and 30 seconds.[8] Today, many Standardbreds are faster than this original standard,[9] with several pacing the mile within 1 min, 50 sec, and trotters only a few seconds slower than pacers.

Height: 14-17 hh

Weight: 800-1000 lbs (shorter but heavier than Thoroughbre

Coat Colors: most often bay, brown or black, although other colors such as chestnut, gray, and roan are seen

Markings: can have a star, strip, snip, blaze, or bald face; may have a freeze brand on the right side of neck

Conformation: longer bodies, narrower chests, sloping shoulders, muscled hindquarters, large heads

Common Uses: harness racing, riding, driving, police mounts, and equine assisted therapy

Temperament: calm, friendly, loyal, easy to train, people-orien

Place of Origin: America; ancestry includes the Darley Arabian line