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29-457: Rocky Mountain Horses stand between 14 and 16  hands (56 and 64 inches, 142 and 163 cm) high. Any solid color is accepted by the registry, but a dark brown color called "chocolate" with a pale, "flaxen" mane and tail is preferred. This coloration is the result of the relatively rare silver dapple gene acting on a black base coat. Although uncommon, this gene has been found in over

58-579: A foundation stallion brought to the Appalachian Mountains from the Rocky Mountains around 1890. Brought to the area as a colt , oral histories state that the "Rocky Mountain Horse", as he was known, possessed the preferred chocolate color and flaxen mane and tail found in the breed today, as well as the single-foot gait. He was used to breed local saddle mares, and due to the small area in which he

87-526: A metric conversion. It may be abbreviated to "h" or "hh". Although measurements between whole hands are usually expressed in what appears to be decimal format, the subdivision of the hand is not decimal but is in base 4 , so subdivisions after the radix point are in quarters of a hand, which are inches. Thus, 62 inches is fifteen and a half hands, or 15.2 hh (normally said as "fifteen-two", or occasionally in full as "fifteen hands two inches"). "Hands" may be abbreviated to "h", or "hh". The "hh" form

116-462: A dozen breeds, including the Rocky Mountain Horse. Minimal white markings are accepted by the registry, although leg markings may not extend above the knee. The physical characteristics are somewhat variable, due to the disparate breeds that created the Rocky Mountain Horse. The Rocky Mountain Horse is known by enthusiasts for its hardiness and ability to withstand winters in the mountains. It

145-415: A four-beat ambling gait, and some can also trot. Thus, a Rocky Mountain Horse, with rider, can use the single-foot to cover rough ground at around 7 miles per hour (11 km/h) and short stretches of smooth ground at up to 16 miles per hour (26 km/h). The faster speed is known as the rack . In comparison, the average medium trot speed is 6 to 8 miles per hour (9.7 to 12.9 km/h). Eastern Kentucky

174-446: A handbreadth or handsbreadth, is an anthropic unit , originally based on the breadth of a male human hand, either with or without the thumb, or on the height of a clenched fist. On surviving Ancient Egyptian cubit-rods , the royal cubit is divided into seven palms of four digits or fingers each. Five digits are equal to a hand, with thumb; and six to a closed fist. The royal cubit measured approximately 525 mm, so

203-430: A horse halfway between 15 and 16 hands is 15.2 hands, or 62 inches tall (15 × 4 + 2 = 62) Because the subdivision of a hand is a base 4 system, a horse 64 inches high is 16.0 hands high, not 15.4. A designation of "15.5 hands" is not halfway between 15 and 16 hands, but rather reads 15 hands and five inches, an impossibility in a base 4 radix numbering system, where a hand is four inches. The hand, sometimes also called

232-433: A rider because the horse always has at least one foot on the ground. This minimizes movement of the horse's topline and removes the bounce of a two-beat gait, caused by a moment of suspension followed by the jolt of two feet hitting the ground as the horse shifts from one pair of legs to the other. The value of an intermediate speed is that the horse conserves energy. More than thirty horse breeds are "gaited," able to perform

261-529: A statute of King Henry VIII , the Horses Act 1540 ( 32 Hen. 8 . c. 13), but some confusion between the various types of hand measurement, and particularly between the hand and the handsbreadth, appears to have persisted. Phillips's dictionary of 1706 gives four inches for the length of the handful or hand, and three inches for the handsbreadth; Mortimer gives the same, three inches for the Hand's-breadth, and four for

290-529: A trail horse in Kentucky's Natural Bridge State Park. Old Tobe was gaited, and passed the trait to his offspring. Old Tobe was sired by the original Rocky Mountain Horse, an unidentified gaited stallion with a liver chestnut coat and flaxen mane and tail who was brought to Kentucky from the Colorado Rocky Mountains around 1900. He was owned by Sam Tuttle of Spout Springs, Kentucky , who operated

319-530: Is a non- SI unit of measurement of length standardized to 4 in (101.6 mm). It is used to measure the height of horses in many English-speaking countries, including Australia , Canada , Ireland , the United Kingdom , and the United States . It was originally based on the breadth of a human hand. The adoption of the international inch in 1959 allowed for a standardized imperial form and

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348-403: Is also praised for its good nature and affinity for humans. Rocky Mountain Horses have the highest risk of any breed for the genetic ocular syndrome multiple congenital ocular anomalies (MCOA), originally called equine anterior segment dysgenesis (ASD). MCOA is characterized by the abnormal development of some ocular tissues, which causes compromised vision, although generally of a mild form;

377-716: Is known for its gaited breeds , created through a mixture of Spanish horses from the southern United States and English horses from the North. American Saddlebreds , Tennessee Walking Horses and Missouri Fox Trotters also originated in the same general geographic area, from the same mixing of Spanish and English blood. Rocky Mountain Horses have a similar history to the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse , and together are sometimes called "Mountain Pleasure Horses". The Rocky Mountain Horse originated in eastern Kentucky from

406-408: Is sometimes interpreted as standing for "hands high". When spoken aloud, hands are stated by numbers, 15.0 is "fifteen hands", 15.2 is alternately "fifteen-two" or "fifteen hands, two inches", and so on. To convert inches to hands, the number in inches is divided by four, then the remainder is added after the radix point . Thus, a horse that measures 60 inches is 15 hands high (15 × 4 = 60) and

435-599: The Narragansett Pacer , a breed known for passing its gaited ability on to other American breeds. In 1986, the Rocky Mountain Horse Association was created to increase population numbers and promote the breed; there were only 26 horses in the first batch of registrations. Since then, the association has, over the life of the registry, registered over 25000 horses as of 2015, and the breed has spread to 47 states and 11 countries. In order to be accepted by

464-573: The "Handful, or simply, Hand", but adds "The hand among horse-dealers, &c. is four-fingers' breadth, being the fist clenched, whereby the height of a horse is measured", thus equating "hand" with both the palm and the fist. Similarly, Wright's 1831 translation of Buffon mentions "A hand breadth (palmus), the breadth of the four fingers of the hand, or three inches", but the Encyclopædia Perthensis of 1816 gives under Palm (4): "A hand, or measure of lengths comprising three inches". Today

493-534: The US, Tuttle kept his herd, and continued to use Old Tobe as a breeding stallion. Tuttle held the Natural Bridge State Park concession for horseback riding, and used Old Tobe for trail rides in the park and for siring additional trail horses, the latter until the stallion was 34 years old. Old Tobe died at the age of 37. The presence of the single-foot gait makes it possible that the breed is in part descended from

522-595: The US, a horse can be measured with shoes on or off. In the United Kingdom, official measurement of horses is overseen by the Joint Measurement Board (JMB). For JMB purposes, the shoes must be removed and the hooves correctly prepared for shoeing prior to measurement. Old Tobe Old Tobe was the foundation sire of the Rocky Mountain Horse breed. He was owned by Sam Tuttle, and used as

551-601: The disease is non-progressive. Genetic studies from 2008 have shown that the disorder may be tied to the silver dapple gene, as most horses diagnosed with MCOA carry the gene. A 2017 report by Jessica Fragola and Leandro Teixeira in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science entitled "Microphthalmia with multiple ocular abnormalities in 11 horses: a novel syndrome" noted a novel ocular syndrome in horses characterized by bilateral microphthalmia and aphakia associated with multiple ocular abnormalities, and given

580-418: The equestrian regulations stipulate that both measurements are to be given. In those countries where hands are the usual unit for measuring horse height, inches rather than hands are commonly used in the measurement of smaller equines including miniature horses /ponies, miniature mules , donkeys , and Shetland ponies . A horse is measured from the ground to the top of the highest non-variable point of

609-646: The hand is used to measure the height of horses , ponies , and other equines . It is used in the US and also in some other nations that use the metric system, such as Australia , New Zealand , Canada , Ireland and the UK. In other parts of the world, including continental Europe and in FEI -regulated international competition, horses are measured in metric units, usually metres or centimetres. In South Africa , measurements may be given in both hands and centimetres, while in Australia,

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638-464: The predominance of anterior segment lesions, a defect during the embryological development of the lens placode was suspected. The breed exhibits a natural ambling gait, called the single-foot, which replaces the trot seen in a majority of horse breeds. Both gaits are an intermediate speed between a walk and a canter or gallop ; ambling gaits are four-beat gaits, whereas the trot is a two-beat gait. The extra footfalls provide additional smoothness to

667-473: The registry, a foal 's parentage must be verified via DNA testing. Horses must also, after reaching 23 months of age, be inspected to ensure that they meet the physical characteristic and gait requirements of the registry. The Rocky Mountain Horse is listed at "threatened" status by The Livestock Conservancy . The breed was originally developed for general use on the farms of the Appalachian foothills, where it

696-464: The skeleton, the withers . For official measurement, the spinous process of the fifth thoracic vertebra may be identified by palpation, and marked if necessary. Some varieties of Miniature horses are measured at the base of the last true hairs of the mane rather than at the withers. For international competition regulated by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) and for USEF competition in

725-514: The trail riding concession at the nearby Natural Bridge State Park in Powell County, Kentucky . Tuttle was one of the few horse breeders in the area who kept his horses through the Great Depression and second World War; Old Tobe was one of as many as fifty horses that Tuttle owned and used for his trail riding business. Old Tobe was used as a trail horse, often for inexperienced riders, and

754-497: The width of the ancient Egyptian hand was about 94 mm. In Biblical exegesis the hand measurement, as for example in the Vision of the Temple, Authorized Version Ezekiel 40:43 , is usually taken to be palm or handbreadth, and in modern translations may be rendered as "handbreadth" or "three inches". The hand is a traditional unit in the UK. It was standardised at four inches by

783-494: Was bred, a local strain of horse originated. This foundation stallion produced a descendant, named Old Tobe , who became the more modern father of the Rocky Mountain Horse breed. Old Tobe was owned by a resident of Spout Springs, Kentucky named Sam Tuttle. For most of the 20th century, Tuttle was a prominent breeder of Rocky Mountain Horses, and helped to keep the strain alive during the Great Depression and World War II . After World War II, despite declining horse populations in

812-550: Was found pulling plows and buggies, working cattle and being ridden by both adults and children. Today, it is still used for working cattle, as well as endurance riding and pleasure riding. The breed's gait and disposition make it sought out by elderly and disabled riders. Each September, the Kentucky Horse Park hosts the International Rocky Mountain Horse Show. Hand (unit) The hand

841-424: Was gentle enough to be tied next to mares . He also performed an ambling gait . Old Tobe was bred both to mares owned by Tuttle, and outside mares owned by other breeders. His offspring inherited his gait and disposition, and were popular in eastern Kentucky. He sired foals until he was 34, and lived to be 37 years old. He and five of his sons were named as foundation sires when the Rocky Mountain Horse Association

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