HN Trivia: How well do you know your State Horses?

You might live in a state that has designated a particular breed as its official state horse and not even realize it!

A couple weeks ago our friends at Horses in the Morning challenged me to identify the official horses of the 15 states that have designated them. A few of them I knew (“Tennessee? Tennessee Walking Horse, duh”), but more often than not I had no clue!

So, I did some research:

• Alabama

State horse: Racking Horse

Year of designation: 1975

Association with state: The Racking Horse Breeders Association of America, which has over 80,000 registered horses, has its headquarters in Decatur, Alabama.

• Arizona

State horse: Colonial Spanish Horse

Year of designation: 2011

Association with state: The Colonial Spanish Horse has a long history in Arizona, mainly through the Wilbur-Cruce strain originally bred near Arivaca.

• Florida

State horse: Florida Cracker Horse

Year of designation: 2008

Association with state: The Florida Cracker Horse was first brought to what is now Florida in the 1500s by Spanish explorers, and it played a large part in the development of the state’s cattle and general agriculture industries.

• Idaho

State horse: Appaloosa

Year of designation: 1975

Association with state: The Appaloosa has made a substantial contribution to Idaho history, mainly through its association with the Nez Perce Indian tribe.

• Kentucky

State horse: Thoroughbred

Year of designation: 1996

Association with state: The Thoroughbred is the center of a multi-billion dollar breeding and racing industry in Kentucky.

• Maryland

Official state horse: Thoroughbred

Year of designation: 2003

Association with state: Maryland has a long history of breeding and racing Thoroughbreds, and today maintains an extensive network of breeding farms, training centers and racecourses.

• Massachusetts

State horse: Morgan

Year of designation: 1970

Association with state: The foundation sire of the Morgan breed, named Figure, was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts in 1789.

• Missouri

State horse: Missouri Fox Trotter

Year of designation: 2002

Association with state: The Fox Trotter is a gaited breed developed in the Missouri Ozarks.

• New Jersey

State horse: Horse (state animal)

Year of designation: 1977

Association with state: As of the designation of the horse as the state animal, New Jersey contained over 4,500 horse farms housing almost 40,000 horses and played host to a horse industry that extensively contributed to the preservation of natural lands in the state.

• North Carolina

State horse: Colonial Spanish Mustang

Year of designation: 2010

Association with state: This state breed references the Banker horse of the Outer Banks, descended from Spanish stock.

• North Dakota

State horse: Nokota (honorary equine)

Year of designation: 1993

Association with state: The Nokota developed in the badlands of southwestern North Dakota, and are named after the Nokota Indian tribe that inhabited the area.

• South Carolina

State horse: Marsh Tacky

Year of designation: 2010

Association with state: The Marsh Tacky was developed in the swampy Low Country region of South Carolina, and has played an integral part in the state’s history.

• Tennessee

State horse: Tennessee Walking Horse

Year of designation: 2000

Association with state: The Tennessee Walker is a gaited breed initially developed in middle Tennessee.

• Texas

State horse: American Quarter Horse

Year of designation: 2009

Association with state: The history of the Quarter Horse is closely intertwined with that of Texas, where the breed was used for ranching and racing. The American Quarter Horse Association is headquartered in Amarillo, Texas.

• Vermont

State horse: Morgan

Year of designation: 1961

Association with state: The Morgan breed was developed mainly in Vermont, where the founding stallion, Figure, lived most of his life and died in 1821.

Source: Wikimedia Creative Commons

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