Re: Arab or TWH or ASB!

["Susan Swope" <nagzarus@prodigy.net>]

Now the rest of the story.....

Even though it is a young breed, the Saddlebred has an interesting
background.  Of course Traveller (yep, it is spelled with two "L's") had
thoroughbred in him.... lots of it!  The thoroughbred  had a great deal to
do with the development of the American Horse (later referred to as the
Kentucky Saddler and finally the American Saddlebred in the mid-1800's).
Brief history of the breed:

1600's:  foundations laid for the ASB by crossing Galloway and Hobby Horses
brought to North America by British Colonists.  These horses were naturally
gaited.  Selective breeding then developed a superior horse called the
Narraganset Pacer.

1700's:  First thoroughbreds imported to this country in 1706.  They were
developed in England by crossing Galloway and Hobby mares with Arabian
stallions.  These thoroughbreds are then crossed with the Narragensets, and
by 1776 the all-purpose riding horse called the American Horse was
recognized.

1800's:  Denmark (considered the foundation sire of the Saddlebred) a
thoroughbred son of imported Hedgeford is foaled in Kentucky in 1839.  He
sired Gaine's Denmark, whose dam was a natural gaited mare, who in turn
established the Denmark family of American Saddlebreds.  Over 60% of horses
in the first three registry volumes of the American Saddlebred Horse
Association trace to Gaines' Denmark.  Harrison Chief, is also considered a
foundation ASB stud and is THE foundation stud of the Standardbred.  The
Chief family has a similar thoroughbred background coming from the
Thoroughbred, Messenger, imported in 1788.   In the late 1700's, crosses of
Morgan, Standardbred and hackney also contributed to the breed.

Probably the key to JM Brereton's confusion is that this breed did develop
during a time of war when few records were kept regarding horses.  The name
of the game at the time was survival.  The history of the ASB does not
become clear until AFTER the Civil War, during which much of it's fame was
gained as a war horse.

Yes, indeed, Traveller was an American Horse, Kentucky Saddler, American
Saddlebred....take your pick, the lineage is the same.

As to Lee and Traveller...  he did indeed adore that horse... and just like
Lif said he was a big gray gelding who was originally named Jeff Davis.  Lee
first saw Jeff Davis when his owner/breeder rode him to war in West
Virginia.  Lee offered to buy him then and there but was told he was
promised to another officer.  Later that year, Lee saw the horse again in
South Carolina, with the new owner.  He had been renamed Greenbriar.  Lee
offered once more to buy him.  The new owner wanted to give him the horse
but Lee insisted that he pay and they settled on $175.  In the end, Lee gave
him $200 to adjust for the depreciating confederate currency.   Lee renamed
him Traveller for his "bold, tiresome way of going."  Robert E. Lee and
Traveller were recognized by just about everyone during the Civil War era.
They were rarely apart.  It was Traveller that carried Lee to the courthouse
at Appomattox to surrender to General Grant.


Susan Swope-Attardi
AERC Southeast Region
Kentucky
-----Original Message-----
From: Lif Strand <fasterhorses@gilanet.com>
To: Thiessej@aol.com <Thiessej@aol.com>; AERC <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Date: Wednesday, April 14, 1999 2:51 PM
Subject: RC: Arab or TWH


>>
>PS
>Paul went to a reference book and looked up Traveler.  He said he had
>always understood Traveler to be an Arab, which is not correct unless
>you count the Arab blood in thoroughbreds, which would be kind of
>cheating.  The reference is _The Horse in War_ by J.M. Brereton, Arco
>Publishing Co, Inc. NY 1976.  Brereton is/was an expert on military and
>equestrian subjects, a one-time regular in the Royal Horse Artillery and
>the Indian Cavalry.  He provides a bibliography to support this book.  I
>quote from pages 107-8.
>
>Traveler was "a big 16-hand, well made iron-grey gelding... he was more
>than half Thoroughbred and had in him the blood of Black Hawk, one of
>the most celebrated of the early Morgan sires.  He was bred in 1857 by a
>gentleman-farmer, James Johnston...  as a colt, with the name of Jeff
>Davis, he took first premium at the Greenbriar Fair....  As soon as he
>saw Jeff Davis as a four-year-old in the spring of 1861, he bought him,
>changing his name to Traveler..."
>
>
>--
>                                    ____________
>Lif & Paul Strand   STRAND ENTERPRISES   http://www.fasterhorses.com
>          Arabian Horses (looking for new homes!)
>         Nutrition for People & Critters * WebArt
>                     Quemado, NM  USA
>
>
>
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