The Racking Horse

Photo Copyright Sandra W. Hall Photography

The Racking Horse has origins almost dating back to the very birth of our nation. Legendary for its beauty, stamina and calm disposition, this noble animal's popularity grew strong on the great southern plantations before the Civil War. It was learned that the horse could be ridden comfortably for hours because of its smooth, natural gait.

Photo Copyright 1998 Sandra Hall Photography

The "rack" of the Racking Horse is a bilateral four-beat gait which is neither a pace nor a trot. It is often called a "single-foot" because only one foot strikes the ground at a time. The Racking Horse comes by this gait as naturally as walking or striking a bold trot comes to other breeds. He is not to be confused with other breeds, with which the "rack" is an artificially achieved gait resulting from special training.

Beginning riders have found the Racking Horse to be the answer to their prayers, not only for his extremely comfortable ride, but also because of his unusual friendliness to humans. Beginners and veterans alike can appreciate the opportunities generated by this intelligent, family oriented steed.

Guaranteed Perfect (1997 World Grand Champion Racking Horse) ã Sandra W. Hall Photography

The Racking Horse is attractive and gracefully built with a long sloping neck, full flanks, well boned, smooth legs and finely textured hair. The Racking Horse is considered a "light" horse in comparison with other breeds, averaging 15.2 hands high (a "hand" is considered to be four inches) and weighing 1,000 pounds. Colors may be black, bay, sorrel, chestnut, brown, gray, yellow, cremello, buckskin, dun, palomino, roan, champagne, and even spotted.

The gaits performed by the Racking Horse do not alter between the bridle path and the show ring. Though he may be shown under saddle, in hand or in harness, and may be flat shod or shown with pads, he still performs the smooth, collected gait which made him famous as a pleasure mount.

The Racking Horse is one of the most versatile of horse breeds.

Photo Copyright 1998 The Racking Review	Competing in the show ring...
In many different divisions...	Photo Copyright 1998 Young Photography
	Even competitive jumping and trail classes...
To plain, good old fashioned smooth trail riding...

The information and photographs in this article are kindly provided by the Racking Horse Breeders Association of America. To learn more about this stunning breed, please click here to visit their website.