Mountain Pleasure Horses
Legend….
For more than 160 years, Eastern Kentuckians have enjoyed their homegrown product, the MOUNTAIN PLEASURE HORSE. Generation after generation of Kentuckians have stories to tell of their easy gaited, hard working, good dispositioned, reliable Mountain Pleasure Horses. For years called “Mountain Horses” or “Country Saddle” horses, the Mountain Pleasure Horse is the old-time gaited breed of horse that existed in Kentucky for well over 160 years ago and from which selective breeders developed the Tennessee Walking Horses, American Saddlebred Horses and more recently, Rocky Mountain Horses. Long before these other gaited breeds were in existence, a particular type of horse was being bred on the steep hillsides to work the fields and “ride the best”. The MOUNTAIN PLEASURE HORSE quietly existed in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky where the breeders maintained the old-time horse by selecting for their basic criteria, gait and disposition. (Source: MPHA website)
For more than 160 years, Eastern Kentuckians have enjoyed their homegrown product, the MOUNTAIN PLEASURE HORSE. Generation after generation of Kentuckians have stories to tell of their easy gaited, hard working, good dispositioned, reliable Mountain Pleasure Horses. For years called “Mountain Horses” or “Country Saddle” horses, the Mountain Pleasure Horse is the old-time gaited breed of horse that existed in Kentucky for well over 160 years ago and from which selective breeders developed the Tennessee Walking Horses, American Saddlebred Horses and more recently, Rocky Mountain Horses. Long before these other gaited breeds were in existence, a particular type of horse was being bred on the steep hillsides to work the fields and “ride the best”. The MOUNTAIN PLEASURE HORSE quietly existed in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky where the breeders maintained the old-time horse by selecting for their basic criteria, gait and disposition. (Source: MPHA website)
WVH Mountain Pleasure Horses
Here at West View Horsemanship, we are blessed to have not one, but two phenomenally bred Mountain Pleasure Horses, Goldfinger's Honey Joe and her daughter Raven Remembrance.
Raven Remembrance
Raven is a 2001 Mountain Pleasure Horse. Raven is the last daughter born to the top stallion Maple's Squirrel (aka Squirrel). At the time of her breeding, Squirrel was so old and decrepit that he needed human assistance to get the job done. Honey Joe's trainer and owner were both a bit horrified by this and were unwilling to subject Squirrel to a second round of breeding. They felt that it was unlikely that conception had taken place under the circumstances, so they selected an alternate stud.
When Honey Joe was confirmed pregnant, it was assumed that the second stud had done the deed, but DNA testing after Raven's birth revealed Maple's Squirrel as her true sire. It was a wonderful surprise! With Maple's Squirrel, Tobe, and Goldfinger all on her pedigree, Raven Remembrance definitely has royal bloodlines.
WVH is striving to preserve these top-notch bloodlines by breeding Raven to the MPHA stallion Ghost Ryder for a 2016 foal. We are super excited!
When Honey Joe was confirmed pregnant, it was assumed that the second stud had done the deed, but DNA testing after Raven's birth revealed Maple's Squirrel as her true sire. It was a wonderful surprise! With Maple's Squirrel, Tobe, and Goldfinger all on her pedigree, Raven Remembrance definitely has royal bloodlines.
WVH is striving to preserve these top-notch bloodlines by breeding Raven to the MPHA stallion Ghost Ryder for a 2016 foal. We are super excited!
Goldfinger's Honey Joe
Honey Jo is a 1997 palomino dual-registered Mountain Pleasure Horse and Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse. Honey Jo's sire was the well-known stallion Goldfinger, a popular MPHA stud. See his picture in the article below. This page of the article mentions the horse Bucky, who was Goldfinger's grandsire.