Cross Breeds

What breeds and cross of horses were used in the end of the 19 century at rural places of western USA?

Thanks

Public Comments

1. a lot of them would be TB and Morgan crossed with the local wild bands that are in the western states. Both my grandparents raised Calvarily horses for the army in the olden days and They gave the ranchers stallions to cross on their mares to raise horses for them. When the army quit using horses a lot of the ranchers just turned the studl loose with the wild ones.
2. Quarter Horse/Thoroughbreds. Quarter Horse/Arabians, Quarter Horse/Appaloosa, Quarter Horse/Morgan, Quarter Horse/Persuran, Quarter Horse/ Belgium, Quarter Horse/Andalusian, and a mixture of all of the above plus mixtures of warm bloods with all of the above, and all of these were mixed with the Mustang.
3. A vast majority of them were the predecessors to today's gaited horses. In many rural areas *roads* were not fit for travel by buggy, making a smooth-gaited, sturdy, sure-footed horse a necessity. These horses needed to be able to comfortably carry a rider long distances at a ground covering, energy efficient gait. Many were a cross of TB and Morgan blood along with Pacers from up north, namely the Canadian and Narraganset pacers (both now extinct). They were commonly referred to as "amblers" and while there were no distinct breeds back then there were many well-known bloodlines. Some of these lines were Hal (from the TB sire Tom Hal), Copperbottom, Mountain Slasher, Maude Grey, Denmark, Black Allen, Ole' Soppe, Travellers, Bullets, Grey Johns, Pacing Pilots, and the first horse ever recorded to perform the running walk- Bald Stockings. These bloodlines were the foundation of many of the current American gaited breeds such as the Saddlebred, Tennessee Walker, Missouri Foxtrotter, Kentucky Saddler and Rocky Mountain horse. These horses were the pride of the farmers and did much to earn their worth. It was not uncommon for the same ambler to be plowing the field through the week, competing in impromptu races on the weekend and pulling the family buggy to Sunday service. With the development of better roads and then the advent of the motor car the usefulness of the ambler became less important and they all but fell by the wayside. It wasn't until the early to mid 20th century that they re-emerged as a popular show horse. The Walkers West website has a wonderful history of the gaited horse bloodlines from that time period in their Breed History section and even has many photographs and paintings posted of individual horses in the Ancestors page. http://www.walkerswest.com/History/Contents.htm