Mountain Pleasure Horse

The Mountain Pleasure Horse is a breed of gaited horse that was developed in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky. This breed reflects the primitive Appalachian gaited horse type and genetic testing shows them to share ancestry with earlier breeds developed in the region, including the American Saddlebred, the Tennessee Walking Horse and the Rocky Mountain Horse. Some Mountain Pleasure Horse bloodlines are traceable for over 180 years.

The Mountain Pleasure Horse Association was formed in 1989 with goals to preserve the bloodlines and encourage the breeding of Mountain Pleasure Horses. MPHA was the first mountain horse breed association to require blood-typing for the foundation stock and all subsequent horses presented for registration for absolute identification of parentage. In recent years, DNA testing has replaced blood-typing as proof of parentage.