We specialize in foundation bred Missouri Foxtrotter
FOX TROTTERS 20 YEARS AGO
Mr. Hibbard was a founding member and secretary of the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association, Ava, Missouri.
The fox trotting horse, a pleasure and using horse, was developed in the rugged Ozark hills to answer the needs for a horse that could carry a heavy load for long hours at a ground-consuming gait. The gait was easy for both horse and rider. This was a favorite horse for cattleman, assessors and sheriffs, who made long rides before the advent of good roads and cars. Then he was a using horse with an easy gait. He is still so, but he also became a great pleasure horse, trail riding and endurance horse.
The story of the fox trotter would not be complete unless we mentioned a few of the many breeders. These names have been synonymous with good horseflesh since the pioneer days of this section. Some gave their name, or the name of a famous sire they owned, to a family of horses. Many of these families, all tracing their ancestry back to the early sires, have long been known in the Ozarks.
The early Alsups, who settled in the Ozarks before the Civil War, were noted for their good horses and their racing. They were consistent winners. They brought a famous sire and race horse to the Ozarks called BREMMER. The stallion was not only a winner of races but a potent sire. He passed his good qualities on his sons and daughters during a long life.
Many of his sons were used as stallions, and people referred to them as the BREMMERS. Soon when a BREMMER mare was bred to a BREMMER stud, the owner of the colt thought he had a pure bred BREMMER. In fact, there was never a studbook or an association. RED BUCKS, POPCORNS, and other families branched from the same strain of blood. Even though there was never a studbook, the horse named BREMMER made horse history in the Ozarks. They were good riding horses and good using horses and many good racing horses.
The Alsups took some of their racehorses to California in 1894. Here they raced and dug for gold. Their horses won more gold in races than their picks and shovels turned up in the earth - and it was much easier to earn. The men of the groups re-crossed the country with their horses.
But dangers and rigors of the trip were thought too much for even the brave women and children of the party. These took ship around the horn and back up to New Orleans. Here they took a river steamer up the Mississippi and back to their husbands, fathers and their beloved Ozark hills.
The Kissees another family long noted for good horses, developed great horses such as OLD FOX, DEACON, BEATY FOX, and OLD DIAMOND. The DIAMOND horse started a family of DIAMONDS. The blood of these horses flows in the veins of many good mares and studs in this area. To own a DIAMOND or a FOX strain gave prestige to the owner and his horses.
William Dunn, who brought good horses of Morgan breeding from Illinois and Kentucky, to which he added some Thoroughbred, was famous during his lifetime for good horses. Of the many good horses produced by William Dunn, the one that became best known was OLD SKIP. He contributed much to the present fox trotting breed.
OLD SKIP was a potent sire for twenty years or more and is remembered by many horsemen. His colts were of good disposition, with a lot of life and staying qualities. They were famous using horses and nearly every one was a good fox trotter. If a horse was selling at a public sale and it was announced that the animal was sired by OLD SKIP, the bidding always picked up. Many of his sons were used as studs and much of the blood flows in the veins of the fox trotting horse today.
Another horse to be mentioned is an American Saddlebred Stallion of the DENMARK strain named CHIEF. He was brought to Oregon County by Tom Overstreet. He was later sold to Lewis Lindley of Thayer, Missouri. The last year of his life, he was owned by the Morrison brothers of Howell County. Most of Chief’s colts were outstanding fox trotting horses. His bloodline still remains in numerous horses in Howell and adjoining counties.
Stony Williams bred horses called STEELDUST and SEAFOAMS. They were excellent fox trotters and left their lasting imprint on horses in this area. One other sire must be mentioned: COTHAM DARE, an American Saddlebred horse registry 19910. COTHAM DARE was brought to this area by Clyde Norman. He was registered in the Fox Trot association on confirmation and gaits. He was a potent sire and his colts were good fox trotting horses. His blood is well-mingled in the fox trotting horses of Douglas, Texas, Wright, Ozark and other counties of the Ozarks.
Other horses like GOLDEN GOVERNOR, OZARK GOLDEN KING and the many that space does not permit have contributed much in this generation. It was the wish of a number of horse men to preserve that splendid type of using and pleasure horse, that led to the securing of a charter and starting a stud book in 1948, when we reorganized with more capital and a larger group.
Since that day, we have made rapid growth. A number of mares and a few stallions have been established in other states. We have inquiries from all the states and Canada.
Our horse is not a high stepping show horse, as is the Tennessee Walker, and we have no such ambitions. Our bylaws forbid cut tails, switches, braces, weights, and other such artificial devices. We hope to produce a USING AND PLEASURE horse.
The fox trot horse was primarily a using horse that was easy riding. He had a gait that was easy for both rider and horse. He could cover long distances at this gait, which was a variation of the plantation walk. It is a broken gait since the animal walks with his front feet and trots with his back feet. The track of the back feet disfigures the tracks of the front feet. The traveling animal nods his head with each step and his feet beat a rhythmic sound as he travels. The tracks are in line. It is this easy gait and sure-footedness that made the fox trotter such a popular using and pleasure horse. The gait is what the name implies, a fox trot.
In confirmation the fox trotting horse is rather compact, with deep full body and chest, well-muscled legs, tapering to a strong foot. The head and neck are graceful and well attached. The color may range from jet black to white. Sorrels predominate, and chestnut sorrels with white markings are favored. Many of the fox trotting horses are five gaited horses, but they show at a flat foot walk, fox trot, and canter. These are riding gaits of a majority of the horses that fox trot, and a few ride at a rack or slow gait.
As a rule, the fox trotting horse is sensible and good dispositioned. They are easily trained to the saddle. Any one who can ride, can train and show them. Their shoes are not weighted. They are a using and pleasure horse of the kind that a youngster or grown up enjoys.