The American Saddlebred is a gaited horse developed by Kentucky pioneers from several breeds, including the Morgan, Canadian Pacer, and Narragansett Pacer.
They are truly an American all-purpose horse, good for farm work, plantation travel, show work, racing, and military work. They were very popular in the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee's Traveller was a Saddlebred, and Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Stonewall Jackson also rode Saddlebreds, at that time called the Kentucky Saddler.
They have now been bred toward flashiness and animation and elegance, so they have earned the title "The Peacock of the Horse World!" They have the walk, trot, and canter, as well as the slow gait and rack. The slow gait is a four-beat, high snapping, prancing slow step, while the rack is a ground-covering sweeping, lightning fast, hock and knee-snapping gait. Sounds wild, but supposed to be a very comfortable, easy ride for the elegant plantation owner of yore!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Saddlebred
or
http://www.american-saddlebred.com/
or
http://www.asha.net/