All Set Up For The World Championship Horse Show

(Louisville, Ky.) - Equine Motorcoach™ is a part of the world's richest and most prestigious show, the World Championship Horse Show! The show is set for August 19 - 25, 2012 at Freedom Hall in the Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville, Kentucky, This exciting and prestigious event, held annually in conjunction with the Kentucky State Fair, crowns world champion Saddlebreds in different divisions each year. The show attracts people from all across the country and the world including more than 2,000 horses competing for over $1 million in awards. The American Saddlebred Horse Association and the American Saddlebred Registry, the oldest breed registry in the United States for an American breed of horse. CLICK HERE to view a video of what these amazing horses can do. Check out testimonials including William Shatner and Carson Kressley here. By the late 1700s, the American Saddlebred was being recognized as a unique and individual horse type, referred to as the "American Horse." With the continued addition of Thoroughbred blood to easy gaited horses, breeders saw they were creating a distinct breed. In the 1880s, breeders of this unique type of horse began to call for the formation of a breed association and registry. Charles F. Mills began compiling pedigrees and formulating rules for a registry. Shortly thereafter, The Farmers Home Journal, a newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky, called for a meeting on April 7, 1891. Thus, on that day, the American Saddle-Horse Breeders’ Association was established in Louisville, Kentucky. Under the leadership of the first Association President, John B. Castleman, the objectives of collecting, recording and preserving the pedigrees of saddle horses in America began. In 1908, after years of discussion, the Association formally acknowledged Denmark F.S. as the sole Foundation Sire of the American Saddle Horse. However, in 1991, after careful review of bloodlines, Harrison Chief 1606 was also named a Foundation Sire for his contribution to the formation of the breed. As time went on and the registry grew in numbers of horses and members, the name American Saddle-Horse Breeders’ Association no longer reflected the expanding functions of the Association. Therefore, on April 22, 1980, the registry’s name was changed to American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA). In 1985, ASHA headquarters moved from Louisville, Kentucky, to the new American Saddle Horse Museum building, located at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. ASHA was the first breed registry to call the Kentucky Horse Park home. The move in location also brought the establishment of innovative promotional and educational programs for the further development of the American Saddlebred horse.  About the American Saddlebred American Saddlebreds have their origin in the horses of the British Isles during the Middle Ages. Because roads were so difficult, the most popular mounts were those which "ambled," or performed a comfortable, four-beat gait. Later imported to the American colonies and bred to Thoroughbreds, the prototypical Saddlebred, called an "American Horse," was developed. It was distinctive for its inclination to perform the four-beat gaits, having inherited the ability from both sides of its pedigree. The breed type was set by the time of the American Revolution and developed throughout the nineteenth century, eventually including strains of Standardbred and Morgan blood. The American Saddlebred typically stands between 15 and 16 hands (five feet to five feet four inches) tall, measured at the withers, which is the point where the neck meets the back. The Saddlebred weighs between 1,000 and 1,200 pounds, and comes in all colors - most are chestnut, bay, brown or black. The breed is known for its athletic ability and elegant conformation - a long, fine neck, well-sloped shoulders, flat croup and long, lean legs.