History of the Missouri Fox Trotting Horses

The comfortable breed from the Ozarks in Missouri and Arkansas
The "Cowboy’s Rolls Royce" (for Europeans) or “The Cowboy’s Cadillac” (for Americans)
The breed of the Missouri Fox trotting Horse is some 150 years old. The early settlers and pioneers originally developed the breed in the Ozark Mountains, a plateau covering southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. The Ozarks are famous for their rough and rocky country. The need for a horse being able to travel long distances in a smooth manner was imminent.

1821 the first settlers crossed the Mississippi river to settle in the Ozarks. Most of them came from Tennessee, Kentucky, or Virginia and brought their horses with them. The typical gait of the Foxtrotter provides a high degree of surefootedness and therefore the settlers started breeding those horses with the “broken walk”.

The name given most specific for this breed is the foxtrot. All horses of this breed have a natural, genetic ability to perform a broken 4-beat gait. Foxtrot has no high action and therefore is very safe. Thanks to this gait the rider hardly feels any movements, making a very long ride a pleasure.

The horses walk in front and trot in hind. This extremely safe gait prevents movements for the rider and quick fatigue for the horse. Other gaits are a fast flat walk and a very comfortable canter. Thanks to these qualities the Foxtrotter quickly became the favorite horse in the Ozarks. Everyone traveling long distances including ranchers, farmers, doctors, sheriffs and tax persons preferred a Foxtrotter. Only automobiles were able to slowly replace the Foxtrotter.

Foxtrotters have always been and still are bred to be used in the cattle business. Quickly they got their nickname: “The Cowboy’s Cadillac”. Despite the increasing availability of cars and trucks the Foxtrotter is still the most desired for hard ranch work.

To better coordinate the breed, in 1948 the MFTHBA (Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breeder’s Association) was founded. Today, more than 67’00 Foxtrotters are registered in Ava, MO.
Since its start in 1959, The World Championship takes place every year in Ava, during the week of Labor Day. 1996, the first European Championship took place and has been repeated since then in a biannual mode.
 
Trail and pleasure riders as well as the Park and Forest Rangers all over the United States have discovered the advantages of the Foxtrotter. A Ranger in the Yellowstone National Park will find no better way of traveling than on the back of a Foxtrotter.

History of the Missouri Fox trotting Horse in Europe: The first Foxtrotters in Germany were presented to the public during Hypologica in 1992. The next station was Equitana in Essen in 1993. The first Foxtrotters in Europe were imported by the Queen of England in the mid-50s. History refers to them as being Palominos. Starting with Equitana the number of Foxtrotters has increased steadily, especially in Germany and Austria. Even though the Foxtrotter has become more and more attractive with pleasure riders, there are still only some 300 horses in Europe. In addition to Germany, Austria and Switzerland there is a small population in France (8 horses) and Spain (4 horses). The first European Championship took place in Traunreut, Germany from August 2 to 4, 1996. More than 40 horses from Germany, Austria and Switzerland competed in 9 areas with more than 100 classes.

Breeders have established themselves in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The breeding material is very good. Since shipping a good horse costs the same as shipping a bad one, everyone prefers a good one.

Indication of numbers as per 2000

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