American
Cream Draft
Discover why this endangered breed is worth preserving.
By Tracy
Williams
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In
its beginnings, America was a country that harbored adventurous
men and women, eager to stake a claim on this mysterious,
undeveloped land. Settlements were hewn by horse teams pulling
pioneers across the length and breadth of the new country
– teams that broke up the craggy soil so families could
begin to live on the land. Draft horses became essential not
only for their tireless strength but for their gentle, willing
nature. But as they opened up the new country, they paved
the road for mechanization to replace them. Efficient machinery
began to sweep the nation, and soon the giant beasts began
to fade into history. Fortunately, breeders and families across
the country recognized the value of the draft breeds for more
than just hard labor and began to strive to preserve these
early American pioneers. Because of their foresight, rare
breeds such as the American Cream Draft have not disappeared
from our modern view.
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The
American Cream Draft is a rare jewel among other horse
breeds. Not only do they bear the gentle personality and
strong conformation of other drafts, but they also possess
rare and beautiful coloring – ivory coats and brilliant
amber eyes. Unfortunately because of its unique nature,
the breed existed in small numbers even prior to the age
of mechanization. Fortunately, there are many who are
determined not only to preserve the breed but to keep
it in its purest form.
A Native History
The American Cream Draft is the only draft breed
that
can claim to be native to the United States.
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The
American Cream Draft is the only draft breed that is native
to United States. |
In the early 1900s in the thick of Iowa, a mare of draft-breeding
named “Old Granny” captured the imaginations of
breeders with her cream-colored coat, pink skin and amber
eyes. Eager to duplicate her unique coloring, breeders mated
her offspring with other draft breeds so as not to lose her
draft personality and conformation. The early success of this
project inspired a small group of people to begin line-breeding
and inbreeding in 1935 to establish an actual breed with these
characteristics.
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With
continued success of their project spurring them forth,
a group of breeders met in Iowa Falls, Iowa in 1944 and
began plans for the American Cream Horse Association of
America. Directors and officers were elected, and negotiations
to obtain a charter were begun, with the charter being officially
granted by the state of Iowa in July. This gave the new
association an umbrella for registrations and transfers
of the brand new breed. In 1948 the new breed was recommended
for recognition by the National Stallion Enrollment Board,
which granted the Cream Draft all the privileges granted
to older and more established breeds. Continued recognition
came in 1950 when the breed was recognized as standard by
the Iowa Department of Agriculture. This gave the Cream
Draft the same status as other draft breeds around the world.
The breed continued making steps of success until things
took a tumble in 1957 when the president of the association,
CT Rierson, died. His advocacy and leadership were difficult
to replace. In addition, the bylaws of the association at
that time stated that all registered animals must have a
registered sire and dam. Because of the small numbers, registrations
and transfers declined – a fact compounded by the
declining draft numbers across the country – and the
breed became nearly extinct.
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The
coloring of the American Cream Draft is from the dominant
champagne gene, they are neither a palomino or a cremello.
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The
Rescue
In
1982 three member families and the association secretary
rushed to the rescue and met to reorganize the breed in
hopes of saving it. To encourage new registrations, they
voted to allow females with dark skin into the registry
as long as they had cream coloring and light eyes. They
did maintain the rule that stallions must possess the classic
pink skin in addition to cream coloring to be registered.
Blood typing during this time proved that the American Cream
Draft was a distinct genetic group, and in 1994 the association
name changed to the American Cream Draft Association. The
efforts of reorganization proved timely, and today numbers
of this unique breed have increased to over 500 registered
names. Nonetheless, numbers are still low, and association
members are still determined that the breed begin flourishing.
Protecting
the Standard |
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So
what exactly is a Cream Draft? The American Cream Draft
adheres strictly to draft breeding; despite having the cream
color, no light horse breeds are admitted into the association.
And they are no more a color breed than the Suffolk or the
Cleveland Bay. They have their own distinct type and unique
characteristics. According to the American Cream Draft Association,
the breed is short-coupled with powerful hindquarters, wide
chest, sloping shoulders, short and strong back, strong
legs in proportion to the body and set wide-apart with strong,
sure feet. Their heads are refined and well-proportioned
to the body with small, expressive ears and wide-set, large
and intelligent eyes.
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Prior
to mechanization American Cream Drafts were used for farming.
Today, they are used for driving, draft horse competitions
and even riding. |
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American Creams while powerful are a modest size draft in
a thrifty package. Mature mares stand 15 to 16.3 hands tall
and 1500-1800 pounds while mature stallions are usually
16 to 16.3 hands tall and 1800 pounds and heavier. Despite
their size and girth, they are known for their smooth movement,
and as is traditionally typical of the draft breeds, they
are celebrated for their calm, willing manner and amiable
attitude.
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However,
the most distinguishing characteristic of this breed is the
stunning pale color palette. Cream drafts have light, medium
or dark cream coat color on pink skin that tans to gray on
their muzzles and around their eyes with long white manes
and tails. Their eyes are amber or hazel, although occasionally
foals are born with almost white eyes that don’t change
to amber until about a year later. White markings on the face
and legs are desirable but not a necessary decoration.
Today,
association members are focused on maintaining the American
Cream Draft’s winning individuality of conformation,
character and color; they are confident that these breed virtues
will be |
American
Cream Draft foals can be born with blue or white eyes, but
as they mature their eye color will change to amber, hazel
or occasionally green. |
enough
to win the hearts of American horse-owners and save this icon
of our history from extinction.The
Equus Survival Trust, a conservation nonprofit for endangered
historical breeds, lists the American Cream Draft horse at
Critical! For more information on the breed contact the American
Cream Draft Horse Association (ACDHA) or visit their website
at www.acdha.org
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Health
and Wellness |
| As
previously discussed, the American Cream Draft is a
rare entity – so rare in fact that at least for
now the only registered breeding pair of them in Florida
is owned by Charmagne and Jim Fraser of De-Funiak Springs.
“To start the story, we had just lost our draft
cross…and we decided we wanted something special,”
they said. After an Internet search, they discovered
the American Cream Draft and began searching for information
on this unique breed. They traveled to Tennessee to
purchase Ivan, an American Cream Draft stallion. Unfortunately,
Ivan began to colic every few weeks, and the Frasers
were desperate to find a source and a cure before they
lost the beautiful stallion. After speaking to a Seminole
nutritionist, they decided to change his feed to Wellness
Perform Safe. The decision proved to be a winning ticket.
Ivan has not had a colic problem since, and Charmagne
and Jim have purchased Vanilla, a Cream Draft mare to
breed to Ivan. “With any luck and good
feed from Seminole, we will have a new baby next spring
to add to the endangered list of American Cream Draft
horses,” they said. |
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Appendix
Tracking |
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Today
the American Cream Draft Association uses appendix tracking
to increase breed numbers to prevent extinction. Foals
from cream-colored matings that are too dark to register
are put in an appendix registry along with foals resulting
from Cream Draft to other draft breed matings (1/2 cream).
Horses in this registry are mated to full Creams to
strengthen genes and increase breed numbers. Great care
must be taken in this selection process to be certain
the characteristics that make the American Cream Draft
unique are retained. It would be all too easy to lose
them in selecting just for color. |
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Tracy
Williams is a freelance writer and breeding farm
manager who sometimes longs for a sweet, gentle
Draft to come home to instead of her hyper racehorses!
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