By the mid-1800s, the Kentucky Saddler had come to be called the Saddlebred, and was one of the most
popular breeds in the East. When the Civil War began in 1861, these horses carried soldiers and generals
into the fighting. Both General Ulysses S. Grant and General Robert E. Lee owned Saddlebreds. The
breed's involvement in the war was of great importance, both during and after the conflict. Historians
believe the Saddlebred was valuable in helping the South recover from the war. In the 1890s, a group of
breeders organized to "collect, record and preserve" the pedigrees of the American Saddlebred. In 1891,
the National Saddlebred Horse Breeders Association was formed in the South, fater to be called the
American Saddlebred Horse Association. In the days before the Industrial Revolution, the Saddlebred
Horse served several purposes. He was a saddle horse mostly, used to comfortably carry his rider from
place to place. He could also work as an elegant carriage horse, pulling rigs with style, grace and speed.
With the advent of the automobile in the early 1900s, the Saddlebred became mostly a show horse, a job
he still excels at today.
Question
From Hobby Farms Editors, "American Saddlebred Horses." ©2011 by EG Media Investment, LLC.
The passage indicates that Saddlebreds are considered important by historians because these horses
O provided an interesting leisure activity in Kentucky
O have the longest history of documented pedigrees
O aided the South in recuperating after the Civil War
O were primarily carriage horses, not show horses