by Vickie Hauff
 
It’s no wonder people are so anxious to talk about their Spotted Draft Horses. It seems these horses can do it all!
 
The Spotted Draft Horse is said to have been around for the last 100 years or so, but not as a recognized breed.
 
According to the North American Spotted Draft Horse Association (NASDHA), there was a brown and white Spotted Draft in Queen Elizabeth’s court, believed to be a drum horse.
 
It is also believed that these horses were used in Medieval times as war horses.
 
Spotted Drafts seem to have first appeared in America on a farm in Iowa in the 1960s, where a herd of around 20 were being used for farming.  
 
They are characterized by their pinto coloring, which can be any pinto coloring in overo or tobiano, and should possess the physical traits of their draft horse side. Any Draft breed is accepted—Percheron, Belgian, Clydesdale, Shire, Suffolk Punch or American Creme.
 
Draft breed characteristics include: a large frame, clean dense bone, short strong muscled forearms and thighs, legs placed well under the body, intelligent heads with active ears, powerful arching necks with a clean-cut at the throat, upright shoulders suitable for power rather than action, and short backs with strong ribs that spring high from the backbone. The hindquarters are long and smooth and to the tail which springs higher than other breeds. The  hip bones are wide and smoothly covered with level croup. Depth and thickness from the withers to the legs are essential and they should be as deep in the flank as over the heart. The average height of the Spotted Draft is 16 to 17 hands, sometimes larger, and weighs in at between 1,200 and 2,000 lbs.  
 
The breeding program begins by breeding a full draft to a Paint horse. The resulting half-draft is now bred back to a full draft to achieve three-quarter draft which is bred back again to a full draft to make a seven-eights draft which is considered a full draft again. Once the full draft status is achieved, you have a new breed, the Spotted Draft.
 
Color genetics follow along, though. Like with any Paint or Pinto, a solid color is sometimes the result, but that doesn’t mean this horse will not throw color in its foals. According to the NASDHA, black and white tobiano coloring seems to be the most popular at this time.
 
The association also has no rules on tail docking, which is popular among pulling teams,  but as the Spotted Draft is being used more and more for riding purposes, they are seeing fewer and fewer Spotted Drafts with docked tails.
 
Dennis Yoder, of Dutch Rose Farm in Winesburg, Ohio, has been breeding  premium Percheron Spotted Drafts for seven years. He was first attracted to the breed for their beauty and disposition. He uses his Spotted Drafts to work his farm, as well as for riding and pulling his carriage.  
 
“Their sweet disposition and calm, quiet temperament make them easy to train for riding or driving,” Yoder says.
 
“The breed is trying to create a draft size black and white,” he adds, “but there is also a high demand for the smaller carriage type (16h) with lots of mobility to use under saddle or as teams.
 
These horses are also good for endurance racing and some are being used for hunters and jumpers.  
 
There is not a lot that these horses cannot do.”
Which is exactly why Donna Deyoung of Sky Horse Kingdom loves her Clydesdale Spotted Draft so much. “She is half Clydesdale, half American Paint Horse,” she says. “The Clydesdale gives her beauty, unique flashy movement, great bone and size while her Paint side gives her kindness, a good work ethic and beauty as well.”
 
Donna, who raises and shows Andalusians, purchased her Spotted Draft, Blue, two years ago after seeing an advertisement on the Internet. She was immediately attracted to her rare tovero buckskin markings and blue eyes, and says she had a beautiful face, puppydog personality and was a great dressage prospect with her floaty gaits.
 
At two, Donna started basic ground work with Blue and taught her to bow on one knee and pick up and fetch things. She also enrolled her in a spook training clinic and then turned her out into a pasture with a herd of Andalusians.  
 
She is planning to breed her to an Andalusian stallion and continue her ground work.  
 
“She will be a super all-around horse and wonderful broodmare,” Donna explains. “My favorite activity is trail riding and I also like dressage. She will do both. She is also learning a liberty act with one of my Andalusians. She is the ultimate pleasure horse and sporthorse prospect. Her potential is unlimited.”
 
Donna says Blue is her favorite horse of all time because of her personality. “I have been waiting for a horse like her all of my life,” she says. “She is so loving and affectionate. She loves being with people and craves attention.”
 
One member of the NASDHA uses her Spotted Draft as a sidesaddle horse, traveling around the United States giving demonstrations and promoting the breed.
 
There are four levels of registration in the NASDHA. Premium is 7/8 Draft blood; Regular is 1/2 to 3/4 draft; Breeding is solid-color breeding stock; and Indexing are horses that are obviously at least 1/2 draft with no known parentage.
 
Prices range from $500-$3,000 for babies and $4,000-$7,000 for adult horses.  
 
While these horses are quickly making a mark in the horse industry for their unlimited uses, they are also still used in logging, agricultural work, and transportation.
 
The NASDHA was formed in 1995 to promote and protect the integrity of the breed and emphasizes that this is not a color-only registry, but a new draft  breed. To date, there are over 2,500 horses registered with NASDHA, and with the growing interest in the breed, numbers are sure to increase dramatically over the next few years.
 
The official Web site of the North American Spotted Draft Horse Association is www.nasdha.net.