The American Cream Horse Breed
Wikipedia,  www.wikipedia.org






The American Cream is a very rare draft horse of consistently
cream color and medium to heavy build. It is the only heavy horse
breed to originate in the United States.


History of the American Cream Horse

The foundation dam of the breed was a cream colored draft mare of
unknown breeding, Old Granny, purchased in 1911 in Iowa. Her
attractive foals drew much attention in the local farming
community. One of her descendants, the stallion Silver Lace No.
9, foaled in 1931 from a Belgian mare, had the biggest early
influence on the breed. In the mid-1930's, C.T. Rierson of Iowa
purchased a number of creams with the intent of establishing a
breed, and for the first time, detailed records were kept. The
foundation stock was a mixture of cream horses of unknown
background, and Belgians and Percherons. He came up with the name
American Cream, and in 1944 established a breed association with
other interested horse breeders.


The middle of the twentieth century was not the best time to
promote a new draft horse breed, and by the 1970's the breed
association was defunct and the American Cream was nearly
extinct. In response to this danger, a new association was formed
by the few remaining breeders in 1982. It is now called the
American Cream Draft Horse Association. About 300 horses are in
existence, with a distribution across the USA.


American Cream Color & Markings

Genetic research, conducted by E. Gus Cothran of the University
of Kentucky, has established that the American Cream is not
merely a color variant of the Belgian breed, but unique in type
as well as color. The color is caused by a dominant gene known as
champagne, and is not palomino. Creams have a body color ranging
from almost white to a dark cream, with a white mane and tail.

White face and leg markings provide an appealing contrast and are
favored. Foals are born with eyes that are almost white and
darken with maturity to an amber or red-brown color. Skin is
preferably pink, but at present dark skinned mares are
permissible for breeding as long as they have the rest of the
cream characteristics.

Horses mature late, at around five years of age. Mares mature at
around 16 hands in height, and weigh around 1600 lb. Mature
height and weight of stallions is around 16.3 hands and 1800 lb
or more. The head is refined and in proportion to a short-coupled
body with a sloping shoulder and deep girth. Mane and tail are
kept long and flowing. The eye-catching beauty and uniformity of
the horses makes them crowd pleasers when they appear in parades
and at shows. They usually appear in harness but can also be
ridden. The temperament is very docile and willing.

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