THE MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL Maryland-Bred Sport Horses


by Kimberly K. Egan, MHC President


America’s Draft Breeds America’s local transportation and agricultural industries were powered


by draft horses for centuries, until, as the Maryland Draft Horse & Mule Association (MDHMA) puts it on their website, “the internal combus- tion engine and cheap liquid fuel nearly wiped them out.” By the 1970s, as more Americans became aware of the risks posed by environmental degradation, “a resurgence of interest in environmentally sound horse- power resulted in numbers of draft horses that had not been seen since the 1930s.” Regional and local draft horse associations formed to address the resurgence. One such association was Maryland Horse Council member MDHMA, which began in Feb- ruary 1984 at an antique shop in New Market. T e association supports draft horse pulling and driving competitions at county fairs and other venues, and once a year it puts on the Maryland State Draft Horse Show and Pull at the Maryland State Fair. T is year’s show will take place at the Timonium Fair Grounds from August 29 through September 1. Draft horses will also be featured on August 4 at the Howard County Fair, on August 11 at the 75th Annual Montgomery County Fair, and on Septem- ber 15 at the Frederick County Fair. Draft horses come from all around the world and


they come in all shapes and sizes. Belgian drafts and Percherons descend from the horses that carried medieval knights into battle. T ey were still used for war until combat was was fully mechanized af- ter World War II. Clydesdales pulled canal barges along the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland. (T e remarkable monumental horse head sculptures “T e Kelpies” sit near the Canal and commemorate these hard working horses.) T eir wide hooves were ill-suited for plow- ing narrow agricultural furrows but well-suited for pulling goods in more urban environments. Shire horses were also bred to pull heavy loads, from the docks through city streets to the rural English counties, known as “shires.” Gypsy Vanners pulled gypsy carts through central Europe and the British Isles for centuries. T ere are, however, two draft horse breeds unique to the United States – the American Cream Draft and the Spotted Draft.


American Cream Draft T e American Cream Draft originated in the early 20th


century in


Iowa. T e foundation mare, Old Granny, was born sometime between 1900 and 1905 in the vicinity of Stork County, Iowa. Her coat was cream


colored and her eyes were amber, as were those of a substantial number of her foals. Cream coat, amber eyes, and pink skin are now the breed standard (along with a white mane and tail), and the color is known as “golden champagne.” A formal registry for the golden champagne Cream Drafts began in 1946, and 98% of the horses fi rst listed on the registry were Old Granny progeny. T e golden champagne color is associated with a specifi c gene, known


colloquially as the “champagne gene.” Cream drafts are genetically chest- nuts that inherit two “champagne genes,” one from each parent. T e progeny of these double champagnes will always carry the champagne gene as well. If only one of the parents carries the champagne gene, then no more than 50% of the progeny of the horse carry it. Somewhat confusingly, the champagne gene is not the same as the “cream gene.” If a chestnut horse inherits the cream gene as opposed to the cham- pagne gene, then that horse will be a palomino. T e champagne gene is found exclusively in


American breeds, most commonly in Missouri Foxtrotters, Tennessee Walkers, American Sad- dlebreds, and, of course American Cream Drafts. T e genetic implications of the champagne gene


The American Cream Draft breed standard is a cream coat (known as golden champagne), amber eyes and pink skin.


are fascinatingly complex, and there is a fi eld of scientifi c study dedicated to analyzing the myriad eff ects of the gene on a variety of base coat colors. Suffi ce it to say that in 1982, owners began geno- typing their horses and by 1990, scientists could report that American Creams are a distinct genetic group. Sadly, American Creams are few and far between. T e Livestock Conservancy, a non-profi t dedicat-


ed to preserving heritage breeds, has placed American Cream Drafts on its “critically” endangered list, which means its global population is fewer than 2,000 horses and there are fewer than 200 registrations annually. T e Equus Survival Trust also considers the American Cream Draft to be in critical status, which it defi nes as any species with only 100 and 300 active adult breeding mares in existence. Maryland breeders are doing their part, however. As of this writing,


a full 30% of American Cream Draft breeders listed on the breed as- sociation’s website are in Maryland – because there are only three in the whole country and Rose Hill Farm in West River is one of them. Frank Tremel of Rose Hill has been breeding his Rose Hill Creams since at least 1988 – his mare Rose Hill Maude was foaled in 1988, and he has a registered ACD 3-year-old colt on the ground now, Rose Hill Honey continued...


WHAT IS A MARYLAND SPORT HORSE? “A Maryland Sport Horse is a horse of any breed, including a mixed breed, that was foaled in Maryland and that has participated in at least three competitions with three or more participants in each, that were judged by a disinterested judge according to a publicly available set of rules.”


DON’T SEE YOUR MARYLAND-BRED SPORT HORSES LISTED HERE? Visit our new Maryland-Bred Sport Horse Database on our website at www.mdhorsecouncil.org/sporthorses/ and add a new horse or update the competition record of an existing horse!


36 | AUGUST 2024 | THE EQUIERY YOUR MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION 800-244-9580 | www.equiery.com


American Cream Draft Horse Association


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