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For over 200 years, the saddle horse has
lived in the hills and valleys of eastern Kentucky. Originally bred
by the mountain people for the demanding needs of farm life, the
horse which had been secluded for many years became noticed and
domesticated in the late 1980’s. Over the last 20 some years these
horses have become a highly sought after “pleasure horse” in all of
Kentucky as well as around the world, for their easy going
temperament, intelligence, versatility, willingness, and most
notably, a smooth, natural 4-beat gait. Many members of long-time
Kentucky families remember well the stories of the many
extraordinary feats that were told about these horses by their
grandfathers and great grandfathers around the dinner table.
In 1989, Robert Robinson, Jr., a
native of Irvine, Kentucky formed the
 Kentucky
Mountain Saddle Horse Association® (KMSHA) to document and preserve
the ancestry and rich heritage of the mountain saddle horse. In 2002
the Spotted Mountain Horse Association® (SMHA) was formed, (a
subsidiary of the KMSHA) to register mountain horses that had
“spots” of white that were considered to much coverage for any of
the existing mountain horse breeds, in order to meet their solid
color
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