Hackney
History
The Hackney
horse was developed in Great Britain in the early 18th
Century from the Darley Arabian through his son, Flying
Childerns, foaled in 1715, and grandson, Blaze, a renowned
British Thoroughbred foaled in 1733.
The Thoroughbred
blood was crossed with the British native Norfolk Trotters
of East Anglia and eastern Yorkshire through a sire called
Jary's Bellfounder, a trotting horse which also is credited
with passing on his bloodlines to the Standardbred. This
created a fine, light horse with much style and spirit,
which was favored as a carriage horse by English sportsmen
and aristocrats.
The Hackney
pony was developed from the Hackney horse by crossing with
the small, spirited Welsh Ponies. The first well-known
pony-type Hackney was Sir George, foaled in 1866. Sir George
had strong bloodlines from the Norfolk Trotters. In England
in 1872, the trend began to breed specifically for a pony
type, but today the British breeders are not as particular
about the size of the horses as are Americans, the priority
being that the horse perform.
The Hackney
was being imported to the United States from England by
the late 1800's. It was in this time that the breeding
to achieve the specific pony type was begun through crossing
the Hackney horse with ponies of good conformation and
motion. Today 95% of all registered Hackneys in the United
States are ponies.
Although
the Hackney horse had been imported to the United States
for over 75 years, the Hackney pony was imported heavily
to the U. S. beginning in 1872 with Stella 239. Many stallions
which were highly influential in Britain in developing
the ponies were brought to America either in the middle
of their siring careers or for a few years before being
taken back to England. There were also a number of stallions
bred in America and later sent to England. For this reason,
British and American ponies are more closely bred than
some other breeds. Among those sires are Irvington Autocrat
1914, Southworth Swell 2175 and Paddock Lane's Robin Rea
2474. The strongest influence seems to have come from Southworth
Swell, imported in 1925 by J. Macy Willets of Cassilis
Farm. Most Hackney ponies today have his bloodlines in
their pedigree.
In 1883
the English Hackney Horse Society was created to preserve
and develop the integrity of the Hackney lines. The first
annual show was held by the society in 1885 in London.
In 1891, the American Hackney Horse Society was formed.
The name "Hackney" comes
from the French word Hacquenee derived from the Latin word
for horse, equus. The term, brought to England by the Normans
in the 11th century, was fully assimilated into the English
language by 1303. At that time the term meant a riding
horse, as distinguished from the heavier warhorse, and
later evolved to the abbreviated "Hack" meaning
a riding horse or a hired carriage. The modern Hackney
breed took only its name from Medieval times as it is rarely
ridden because its conformation and extreme motion make
it rough to ride. When crossed with modern Thoroughbreds,
however, Hackneys have produced some excellent jumpers.
Since
the development of the automobile eliminated the demand
for carriage horses for transportation, the most popular
use of the Hackney has been in the show ring. Hackneys
are shown almost exclusively in harness (singly, in pairs,
or in tandem), but they may be shown in hand, (lead by
a person on the ground). |
