Sugarbush Draft Horses

The Sugarbush Draft Horse is commonly called the "Appaloosa Draft" because of its distinctive color patterns. Sugarbush Drafts come in all variations of Appaloosa patterns, including solid. Horses shown below include both some of the remaining Sugarbush Draft horses as well as Sugarbush Draft horses from the past.

With only 12 horses remaining to the breed..

I have a beautiful percheron mare I have been thinking about breeding her to Harley to start brining the Sugarbushes back around :) I love size & spots!



Sugarbush Harley's Classic O as a foal

All Grown up!

He is absolutely stunning. But is it truly a breed? Is it an appaloussa crossed with some kind of draft? Or ?
In any case, the stallion is gorgeous.

http://www.sugarbushdrafthorse.com/

Check out the Sugarbush Draft Horse Registry :)

They are beautiful half drafts but they are not a recognized draft breed unfortunately. No matter what the original person felt, they are half drafts with a spin on them.

Draft, draught, dray, work, or heavy horse is a docile large heavy bred that is used for pulling.
I have Belgain draft horses(and yes I know how I spelled it) If the opening post says they have draft horses who am I to say they are not.
I know nothing of this breed, but the stallion is one pretty boy.
Why does everything have to be a debate?

Because my personal breed, the Percheron, is being diluted to make a "breed" that has a fancy spin on it. There are already problems with the Percheron, already crappy breedings, not that I am saying this particular cross is a bad breeding, but call it what it is, a cross.

This I had found from another fourm from a Sugarbush member:


To address the comment "Sugarbush is just a gimmick name to hopefully add value and interest to what are, on average, ugly draft/appaloosa crosses." Sugarbush is not a gimmick name. Sugarbush stems from the grove of Maple trees in which Maple syrup is collected from. Commenly found in the area where this breed originated from over 50 years ago. Bred by a Mr. Everett Smith to draw attention to his carriage company "The Sugarbush Hitch Co." As for them being a "Draft x Appaloosa" cross, that's actually a Stonewall Sport Horse. The Sugarbush Drafts are a 100% true draft, not a cross. For the people who are fighting to save this rare & unique breed, we do not find our horses "FUGLY" as someone stated. Maybe before tossing out ugly comments on someones horses, one might think that the owner of said horse(s) will read this & find it deeply insulting. A true horse lover would never trash & bash anothers horse. I find it very sad to be honest. If anyone is interested in learning more about this rare & unique breed, please feel free to visit our website at sugarbushdrafthorse.com or you can visit our FB group https://www.facebook.com/SugarbushDraftHorse



As I'am very interested in learning more and getting involved in a breed I believe to be real. Since I also do love my appaloosa's & Percherons I have never bred them to get that foal, that is unethical in my opionon. Instead I research and learn more about the "breed" I just drool over.

The Drum horse to the Gypsy's, to Friesians... They have theirs.. I still day dream of mine.

your personal breed?

He's a lovely stallion.

I follow a blog written by someone who is trying very hard to bring Sugarbush Drafts back. I love the blog, mostly because there are a lot of fascinating entries about horse color genetics, but also because I enjoy reading about the breeding project. Here's a quote from there that addresses a lot of the questions asked here:

"I see it over and over again, and no matter how many times it's said, it's still wrong."Sugarbush Drafts are just an Appaloosa Draft Cross".Uh.... no. Those would be Stonewall Sport Horses.

The Sugarbush Draft Horse was a breed created many years ago in Ohio. While the initial cross was made using Percherons to Appaloosas, in the many generations following, the breed has been solidified into a consistent type. Saying these horses are "just" a draft cross makes as much sense as saying that AQHA horses are "just" a Thoroughbred cross, American Cream Drafts are "just" a dilute Belgian, or that Morgans are "just" a grade."


If you have a moment, it's well worth the read: Drafts with Dots: I wanna talk about the Sugarbush Draft Horses some more

And I agree, that stallion is absolutely gorgeous! I wish I had something like that in my pasture. *swoons*

I think theyre lovely! How come there are so few left?