Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Information

The Missouri Fox Trotting Horse is known best for the comfort it affords it's rider. Loved as a trail horse, the majority of registered Missouri Fox Trotters are
owned by people who use them for trail riding, competition, endurance, and pleasure riding. Acclaimed as a show horse, the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse is
also recognized for its beauty and style in the show ring. Used by hunters and forest rangers for its endurance and surefootedness in rugged terrain, by
ranchers for its versatility and intelligence, and on Hollywood movie sets for its gentle nature, the breed has quickly earned its reputation as a horse for all
situations.

The Missouri Fox Trotting Horse has three natural gaits: an easy-going flat foot walk, the smooth and comfortable fox trot characteristic of its name, and a
relaxed and free-flowing canter. No special shoeing or training is required for these horses to perform their gaits, and their good dispositions and willing
attitudes are among their many desirable characteristics, making them one of the most versatile and loved of horse breeds within the equine registries.

Developed from horses in the Missouri Ozarks, the breed is characterized by a gentle demeanor and its signature gait, the fluid, diagonal 4-beat fox trot.
Bloodlines can be traced from the horses of early settlers coming to the Ozarks from neighboring states of Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee and Arkansas.
Their horses were depended upon for their surefootedness in this mountainous region and their ability to do whatever was needed around the homestead
ranging from plowing, hauling logs and working cattle, while at the same time being able to double as a stylish buggy horse or riding horse for the family.
Whatever the need, this using horse proved capable and adaptable, later becoming known as the Missouri Fox Trotter.

By 1948 a breed association was formed for this talented horse for the purpose of maintaining an accurate stud book for the breed. In 1958 the Missouri
Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association located in Ava, Missouri was reorganized and reincorporated as a stock company. In 1973 the corporation was
changed from a stock company to a membership organization. The Association had kept its registry open for qualifying stock until 1983. After that time,
horses approved for registration had to have both parents permanently registered in the MFTHBA, effectively becoming a "closed book" registry.

In 2002, the Missouri Legislature recognized the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse as their Official State Horse, and the Missouri Fox Trotter is at home in all 50
states, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and beyond.
The Foxtrotter is anywhere between pony size to over 16hands and is found in every color imaginable including champagne and dun - making it the perfect
family horse or trail companion.

Surefooted in mountainous terrain, gentle in temperament, and smooth of gait for the comfort of both horse and rider, the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse
Breed’s motto today is "To Ride One Is To Own One."

The Champagne gene is a recently discovered dominant gene that has the ability to dilute both black, brown and red pigment. Champagne has visual
characteristics that differ from cream, pearl and dun dilutions. Some common characteristics of a champagne horse are: pink skin, dark freckles especially
around the eyes and on the muzzle, a shiny coat that is often slightly darker in the winter and eye color that will go through a number of color changes
starting blue and evolving to a hazel or amber color. It is possible for a horse to have several dilution genes in which a combination of the dilutive affect
will be seen.

All of our horses and foals have been dna color tested and those individual results are available to a serious buyer at any time. We believe very strongly in
color testing and in parentage verification although it does add to our breeding costs. Testing assures you, the buyer, that all horses at Broken Gait Ranch
are accurately described.

Amber Champagnes have a gold body, ranging from pale gold to deep, rich yellow. Their points (mane, tail, lower legs) range from very light brown shading,
to very dark (almost black) looking points. This color is sometimes mistaken for buckskin or dun.

Gold Champagnes will either have a white/flaxen mane and tail, or the mane and tail will be the same shade as the body. The Flaxen Golds look like
palominos at a distance. Dark Golds are the most similar to a dark red dun but without any dun factor. The foals of both are often born chestnut-colored
and turn golden after they shed their foal coats. If they are flaxen gold the mane and tail will shed out flaxen or white.

Sable Champagnes look much like Classic Champagne, but when the horse is tested it will have the bay "agouti" as does an Amber. However, Sable color
is the result of a champagne gene on a dark bay (sometimes called ""brown") base color.

Classic Champagnes vary in shades. It often manifests as a liver chocolate metallic shade. The closest color outside of champagne to it are certain shades
of grulla, but champagne horses do not have the "primitive" dun markings. The dark points on the legs may or may not be visible. Some people may
confuse this variation with the silver dapple gene.

Ivory Champagne was the name originally given to a pale cream color that very closely resembles Cremello. However, it was discovered that this color was
the result of a champagne gene PLUS a cream gene acting on a red (chestnut) base, and that champagne plus cream on other base colors (black or bay)
produces other, similarly pale colors, but with darker points. So, to make the color names clearer and more scientific, they became Gold Cream, Amber
Cream, Sable Cream and Classic Cream, respectively. They closely resemble double dilution creams such as cremellos and perlinos, but Champagne
Cream horses have amber or yellow-green eyes instead of blue eyes, and the skin is mottled like a champagne rather than pink like a cream.

DNA TESTING FOR COLOR

DNA color tests are now available through several recognized testing laboratories for: Red Factor/Black, Grey, Dun, Agouti, Seal Brown, Cream Dilution,
Silver Dilution, Champagne Dilution, Tobiano, Sabino-1, Lethal White Overo

The dun color is a result of the dun dilution gene's affect on the basic coat colors. The four basic base coat colors are black, brown, bay, and chestnut. Dun
on Black is Grullo, Dun on Bay is bay dun (sometimes called just "dun") or dunskin (buckskin dun,) Dun on chestnut is red dun and dun on brown is seal
dun.