It’s embarrassing for me to admit this, but I’m confused by the term “sport horse”, could you all explain it to me?? I’m sure it’s not as simple as “a horse bred for anything other than racing” (the answer a friend gave me the other day, LOL) right?? 
In general… a horse bred for/suitable for jumping, eventing, dressage, or hunters (some might dispute that one). Combined driving would be another I’d count. Maybe even endurance. All these things are more about actual performance than prettiness or the handler/rider. (That’s a broad generalization, BTW…)
In the Morgan world, the term “sport bred” Morgan pretty specifically applies to horses without high knee action, who have a nice canter, and don’t have a lot of “show Morgan” lines.
thank you, Quietann, that’s basically what I was thinking 
now, I’m in the H/J world, so why would some dispute the hunters??
This is a good and a provocative question, the responses should make for an interesting thread. :winkgrin:
Ironically, “retired TB racehorses” often make the BEST sporthorses! But alas, few TB breeders actually breed them for this purpose–other than Gail (and debracysporthorses, AKA “Cyriz”), though in Europe, they still seem to value the TB for purposes other than racing on a track…I guess in this country, there is “no money in breeding TBs for sport purposes”, as opposed to breeding them ONLY to race, selling them at the yearling sales for (hopefully) top dollar, and then using up and throwing away the youngsters by running them into the ground as 2 and 3 year olds. If they don’t win early in their racing careers, they are rehomed (IF lucky), and go on to other sport careers if they are still sound enough, and if their brain remains intact. :sigh:
But I digress.
I think of “sporthorses” as horses who are able to (or might be able to) specialize in one of the Olympic events/disciplines (OTHER than reining!), and who have the stuff to be competitive. That would exclude hunters, but there are a LOT of very athletic sporthorses who happen to be selected for a hunter career (flat kneed movement, back cracking bascule, knees under chin, huge step, etc.), who would also be able to do another discipline. IOW, who are versatile.
A lot of European WBs who can’t do the UL jumpers or the GP dressage movements are imported over here (their “castoffs”), but have more than enough talent to do middling level stuff in the US. (3’6" hunters, Third Level dressage, Jumpers up to what–level 4 or 5?) THEY are still (IMO) sporthorses, since their sires and dams are generally carefully selected and screened, and they are athletes.
Most of them are versatile, which should define “sporthorse.”
So, that definition would leave out some breeds. I am not going to go there, but I’m sure others will 
I think the key is that sport horses have been bred with great care and rigorous inspection. The end product being a horse who is capable of doing the Olympic sports. Nothing sounds more ying yang, backyard and just plain stupid to me than the breeders who proudly try to sell their complete-mutt-non-performance bloodline/breed SPORTHORSE. Some that are gaited, even. Give me a break.
[QUOTE=opel;6364880]
I think the key is that sport horses have been bred with great care and rigorous inspection. The end product being a horse who is capable of doing the Olympic sports. Nothing sounds more ying yang, backyard and just plain stupid to me than the breeders who proudly try to sell their complete-mutt-non-performance bloodline/breed SPORTHORSE. Some that are gaited, even. Give me a break.[/QUOTE]
:yes:
Ironically, “retired TB racehorses” often make the BEST sporthorses! But alas, few TB breeders actually breed them for this purpose–other than Gail (and debracysporthorses, AKA “Cyriz”), though in Europe, they still seem to value the TB for purposes other than racing on a track…I guess in this country, there is “no money in breeding TBs for sport purposes”, as opposed to breeding them ONLY to race, selling them at the yearling sales for (hopefully) top dollar, and then using up and throwing away the youngsters by running them into the ground as 2 and 3 year olds. If they don’t win early in their racing careers, they are rehomed (IF lucky), and go on to other sport careers if they are still sound enough, and if their brain remains intact.
well, in my little part of the horsey world, 85% of the horses ARE TB’s, most off the track, or never raced, and of the 5 foals born in my barn, 3 have been TB/QH, the other 2 full TB, all bred specifically for the hunters. Best part is we (trainer and clients) still have all but one! The very first guy is 17h and does the 3’6 - 3’9 (pretty sure that the height) at the A shows, so relatively successful, right? The others are only 2yr (2 of them) and the last born is a yearling showing in hand.
I guess what I’m trying to say is we LOVE the TB’s!! In fact it really ticks me off when I meet someone who makes a statement like; “I’ll never ride a TB, they’re crazy!!” which usually results in an education for the person making that stupid statement :-))
To me, a sport horse is any horse who actually does or is bred to do an equestrian sport other than racing. That would exclude horses who compete in “looking pretty” classes only. To me, foxhunting is a sport, so I’d call foxhunters sport horses.
Why would the classic Western competition horses not be considered sport horses? I’ll grant you that the term isn’t used for Western horses, though.
a sport horse is a horse bred for sport and sport is usually defined as the Olympic disciplines - Jumping, Eventing and Dressage.
Now that reining is an Olympic sport I have no idea…
but that is what i think when i think sport horse
I tend to agree with opel and mbm. A sport horse is a horse bred for sport, with sport typically being defined as dressage / eventing / jumping / driving. (And I know some would argue sport is really just dressage / eventing / jumping, and I’m not touching the hunter vs jumper debate with a ten-foot-pole, lol.)
To take it even further, as a kid I was taught the basic categories were sport horses (Warmbloods, TBs, etc), stock horses (Paints, QHs, etc), show horses (Arabs, Morgans, etc), gaited horses (Pasos etc), and draft horses (Clydesdales, etc.)
I breed Friesian Sporthorses – which have very specific registration guidelines regarding what can be crossed with a Friesian to result in a “Sporthorse”. (Primarily Warmbloods and Thoroughbreds.) So it makes me a little crazy to see a Friespaintawalkerfino called a “sport” anything. By definition, it’s certainly not a Friesian Sporthorse.
It gets tricky though, because I’ve seen threads here which have gone on for pages with people arguing about the term “warmblood” also. I suppose it all comes down to labels and what ‘sounds’ better, even if it means the terms are abused and misused. If someone is determined to market their Whoknowsasaurus as a warmblood / Warmblood or sport horse / sporthorse, you’re probably not going to change their mind. And pointing out that someone’s grade auction horse is neither a warmblood / Warmblood nor a sport horse / sporthorse will usually just result in the owner calling you an elitist snob…
I wish there was more uniformity in the use of terminology just for simplicity’s sake. I’d like to be able to assume “sport horse” meant bred for sport and “Warmblood” meant European Warmblood bloodlines, but it doesn’t seem to be that simple any more. Instead “sport horse” may mean we don’t know (or don’t want to admit) the breeding and “warmblood” may mean Paint/draft cross.
I’ve decided it’s just easier to clarify Dutch Warmblood, etc, or even better clarification, FSA Friesian Sporthorse, or KWPN Dutch Warmblood, and so forth.
A direct quote from the Canadian Sport Horse Association defines the “sport horse” as follows…I think its an excellent description of the breed.
The Canadian Sport Horse Association has been inspecting horses for breed improvement since its incorporation in 1933. Canadian Sport Horse breeders, through the use of Thoroughbreds and warmbloods from other sport horse registries, along with established Canadian Sport Horse lines, strive to produce sound, sensible, athletic performers. Horses should be of sport horse type; defined as a horse that is built to succeed in the hunter, jumper, dressage or eventing disciplines. They are preferably between 16.0 and 17.0 hands high at maturity with a minimum of 8" cannon bone circumference and 72" heart girth. Smaller horses will be considered if other attributes are above average; eg: movement, quality, substance or verifiable performance record. Qualities looked for are good body depth and substance and a well-defined head with large, expressive eyes. Joints should be strong and clean with knees and hocks low to the ground and pasterns well angled with appropriate length. The neck should be well set on with suitable length, withers well defined with a long, sloping shoulder and a smooth, strong top-line. Hindquarters should be strong and well rounded and able to provide balance and impulsion. The movement in all gaits is very important and should be sequentially correct, straight, balanced, ground covering and have impulsion. Rounding out the ideal sport horse stallion is a horse with good character, pride, intelligence, courage and a masculine, athletic presence that leaves a good impression on the observer.
Undesirable qualities include cribbing, weaving, bone spavin, ring bone, side bone, curbs, wind sucking, parrot mouth, navicular or predisposition to navicular, or any such unsoundness which would be detrimental to a breeding program. In cases where a question may arise regarding the presence of a heritable unsoundness, an independent veterinary examination may be requested, at the owner’s expense. Stallions must be 3 years of age or older at the time of inspection
