The Fox Trotting Horse comes from the state of Missouri. The breed was developed in the rocky and forest hills of the Ozark Mountains, back in the 1900’s, by the first colonizers who crossed the Mississippi River, looking for good quality saddle horses. Basically, the origin of those first horses is from the crossing of Arabian, Morgan and plantation horses, used for working on plantations in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Later on, the breed was crossed with the American Saddle Horse and Tennessee Walking Horse.
In the past, the Fox Trotting Horse was used for carrying heavy loads. The easy gait made these horses favorites for long distance riding. But, in the beginning, they were raced, and suffered the influence of the American Standard bred and Thoroughbred. Historically, the Fox Trotter is associated with the cattle industry in the Ozarks. Nowadays they are used mainly for cattle work, pleasure and trail riding, endurance and showing - western-style performance classes, western and english pleasure, jumping, ranch, driving, and halter classes. These horses have a unique diagonal broken gait called “fox trot”. At medium speed the horse walks with the front feet and trots with the hind feet. Indeed, this interesting four beat gait looks like the trot of a fox, not a high stepping gait, but very sturdy on mountainous terrain.
The Missouri Fox Trotting Horse has three natural gaits: the flat foot walk, the fox trot and the “rocking canter”. The style of each one is unique in itself. Let us discuss its name: the Fox Trot. There is a nodding movement of the head, following the rhythmic beat of the hooves, and the horse seems to be traveling briskly. The hind feet perform a sliding action in order to keep the beat with the typical gait, and the fore diagonal hoof touches the ground a fraction of second before the hind one, reducing vertical jarring effects, a characteristic of the trot. The rider does not need to stand in the saddle, like he does during the regular trot. The steps should be straight (swinging is not a quality), the strides long, regular and smooth. The horse carries its head and tail slightly elevated, keeping time with the movement of the feet. Any training device or shoeing is not required to perform the fox trot four beat gait.
The Missouri Fox Trotter is medium size, measuring from 14 to 16 hands. The head is refined with a straight profile; an oblique or slightly arched neck, proportional, well muscled and well joined to the head and body; the back should be short, with strong muscling, well spaced ribs, a deep body and chest; strong bones and muscles in the limbs, specially the powerful hindquarters and legs. The horse should stand well on its strong, proportional and sound feet. The most usual colors are black, bay, chestnut, gray, roan, brown, palomino, sorrel, tobiano and overo.
The first Breed Association was formed in 1948 to take care of these horses. In 1958 the Missouri Fox Trotter Horse Breed Association was founded. Since then most of the breeders have selected these multi-talented horses for trail, endurance and pleasure riding. In the show ring they are beautiful and stylish. Farmers love their versatility, docility, courage, agility and natural behavior around cattle. The population is over 50,000 horses.
