Standardbred - Breed Characteristics

Breed Characteristics

Standardbreds tend to be more muscled and longer bodied than the Thoroughbred. They also are of more placid dispositions, as suits horses whose races involve more strategy and more changes of speed than do Thoroughbred races. Standardbreds are considered people-oriented, easy-to-train horses.

They are generally a bit heavier in build than their Thoroughbred cousins, but have refined, solid legs and powerful shoulders and hindquarters. Standardbreds have a wide range of height, from 14 to 17 hands, although most are between 15 and 16 hands. Most often are bay or the darker variation of bay called "brown", although other colors such as chestnut and black are not uncommon. Gray and roan are also found. The tobiano pattern is seen in some New Zealand-bred horses.

The standardbred typically weights between 408-544 kilograms, their heads are a refined, straight with a broad forehead and large nostrils with a shallow mouth. The typical standardbreds body is long,with the wither being well defined, with strong shoulders and the muscles being long and heavy, which helps with the long strides. The neck of the standardbred is muscular and should be slightly arched, with a length of medium to long. Their legs are muscular and solid with muscles on the inside and outside of the legs, with the hoofs that are generally very tough and durable.

There are two basic types, trotters and pacers. As the name suggests, the trotter's preferred racing gait is the trot, where the horses' legs move in diagonal pairs, when the right foreleg moves forward so does the left hind leg, and vice versa. The pace is a two beat lateral gait; Pacers' forelegs move in unison with the hind legs on the same side.

However, the breed also is able to perform all other horse gaits, including the canter, and pacers can be retrained to trot. This has been found to be due to a single point mutation in gene DMRT3, which is expressed in I6 subdivision of spinal cord neurons this area is responsible for coordinating the locomotor network controlling limb movements.The point mutation causes early termination of the gene by coding for a stop codon, thus altering the function of this transcription factor.