Custom Sales Book - 31

Above: Foxtrotters are known for their ability to do just about anything and go anywhere. From left, Jim Mann, Carla Moore, Jerry Skaggs and Charles Bunting water their horses in the Little Black River. Below: Jamie Johnson shows off the distinctive foxtrot gait in the Dale Easter Arena at the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association.

Missouri’s Horse
A
by Jim McCarty jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop

Fox trotters were bred for the Ozarks
gait before the papers would be issued. In time, the registry was closed and only the foal of a registered sire and dam could be added. sk most Missourians to “I remember when the breed startname the state horse and ed, I was 13 and I had a good geldthey are likely to pick the ing,” says Bill Sanders of Gainesville. mule, which is actually the “I wanted to register him so bad, but state animal. But pose the same quesmy dad wouldn’t let me. He said, ‘It tion to owners of Missouri fox trotcosts $10 to register that horse. Why, ters, and they will tell you that only you could go out here and buy an acre their breed, developed by selective of land for $10.’ It didn’t look like a breeding in the Ozark hills, can hold good deal to him.” that distinction. Interest in the fox trotter has It wasn’t until 2002 that the Misgrown over the years. Today, there souri fox trotter became the state are more than 96,000 horses on horse. But the breed got the association’s registry. The its ofﬁcial start in 1948 association has 5,243 memwhen a group of Ava bers, and there are afﬁliate businessmen — who realorganizations in 26 states, ized the advent of the autoEurope and Canada. mobile could spell the end Fox trotters have to their breed — started an Ava been used for everyofﬁcial fox trotter registry and • thing from six-team formed the Missouri Fox Trotstagecoach hitches ting Horse Breed Association to ﬁeld trials with gun which is still based in Ava. dogs to mounts for the U.S. Forest Early settlers in the hills around Service, which discovered fox trotters Ava brought the ancestors of the fox let them cover in one day what it used trotter to the area, then worked to to take two days to ride. A German breed horses more suited to the rugbreeder used Missouri fox trotters to ged landscape of the Ozarks. make the ﬁrst descent of the Grand “I suppose it’s more a gait than Canyon’s north rim by horses. anything,” Southwest Electric CoopMost owners point to the smooth erative President Ken Morrison says gait as the best selling point of the fox of the fox trotters he raises near trotter, which moves in a rhythmic, Humansville. “They were a smoothdiagonal pattern. Unlike most horses, riding horse, they could cover a lot the fox trotter always has one hoof of miles and they wouldn’t wear you ﬁrmly planted on the ground. This out. They were just kind of an allprovides a smoother, less jarring ride. around horse. You could tie them to When fox trotting, the horse appears a buggy. You could plow corn with to be walking with its front feet and them and then show them at night.” trotting with the rear. Show horses In the early days, someone wantalso must have a ﬂat-foot walk, and ing to register their fox trotter had to when they reach four years old, a prove the horse carried the fox-trot

“rocking horse” canter, in which the front of the horse bobs up and down while the rider remains steady. Bloomﬁeld’s Carla Moore, a director from SEMO Electric Cooperative, is a recent convert to fox trotters. “I always rode quarter horses before,” she says. “I hear a lot of talk from people who rode quarter horses. Now they want something a little smoother. If you want to enjoy the ride, get a fox trotter. It’s the difference between a Volkswagen and a Cadillac.” Jerry Skaggs, a fox trotter rider from Poplar Bluff, says his horses are in demand with cowboys on Western ranches. “They’ve ridden them on the trails out there,” says the Ozark Border Electric Cooperative member. “Now they are buying them for ranch work because they can check fences, work cattle and do it faster and more comfortable, too.” But Dale Lawson, who owns Fox Gait Farms in Ava, says there is another endearing quality to the breed. “I think the main thing people talk about is the smooth ride. But they don’t talk about how fast they can go. Fox trotters are deceptively fast. You watch him, they over reach when they are trotting or walking. If I’ve got a 12-inch over reach and we are walking side by side, in 5,280 steps, it won’t be long before I’m a mile ahead of you.”

In fact, riders mounted on fox trotters often have trouble riding with friends on other breeds. Those in the know can tell a fox-trotting horse from the sound it makes. “I’ve heard people say it sounds like someone saying ‘hunk a meat and two potatoes,’” Sanders says. “I don’t know about that, but I’d know it if I heard it going down the road. You don’t have to see it. If you know one, you can tell a long ways away if he’s fox trotting.” Fox trotters from across the U.S. descend on Ava twice a year for horse shows put on by the association at its 130-acre facility. In June, the annual Spring Show and Futurity is held. Each September, the association holds its annual Fall Show and Celebration, which attracts more than 1,500 people to the south-central Missouri town. Here the association will crown its world grand champions after eight days of tough competition. Riders often represent the third generation of their family to show at the Ava grounds, which features ﬁve arenas, 850 private horse stalls and 334 fullservice RV sites served by White River Valley Electric Cooperative. Those who ride fox trotters are understandably proud of their horses. “These horses have been good to us,” Morrison says. “We didn’t make a lot of money on them, but we sure made a lot of friends.” The 2010 Fall Show and Celebration takes place Sept. 4-11 at the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association show grounds north of Ava on Highway 5. Spectators are welcome. For more information, call 417-683-2468, send e-mail to foxtrot@mfthba.com or visit www. mfthba.com.

RURAL MMISRURAL MISSOURI

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