When someone is accustomed to being the best in the world, it goes very hard to be usurped, and early in the twentieth century the Russians realized that their world-famous, record-breaking, and hitherto invincible racing trotter, the Orlov Trotter, was being beaten hand down by the American Standardbred. Instead of getting upset, they set out to get even, and so went straight to the source of their problem and started buying American Standardbreds. They mated them with their beloved Orlovs and came up not with an improved Orlov, but a new breed of faster trotter, which came  to be known as the Russian or M'tis Trotter.

Sadly, despite nearly a hundred years of crossing and selective breeding using the very best trotter blood from both the Standardbred and the Orlov Trotter, the M'tis Trotter is still not as fast as the Standard bred, bit it is faster than the purest Orlov. In 1949 the M'tis Trotter was recognized as a breed in its own right.

The M'tis Trotter is an even-natured horse, very energetic, courageous, and fast with very good stamina. In Russia is receives very type of care expected of a valuable and valued racehorse - good stabling, feeding, and incredible overall care.

The M'tis Trotter resembles a tough, quality half-bred with power, sometimes croup- high hindquarters, and a fairly straight neck, but a well-balanced physique. The M'tis Trotter's trotting action exhibits the defect commonly known as 'dishing' in both the fore and hind legs. The forelegs are slightly knock-kneed and the hind legs are cow-hocked.

Their heads are not as fine as one might expect. Their ears are moderately long and well shaped, the eyes are often a little small, and the profile is straight or slightly convex. They can be any solid color and stand between 15.1 and 15.3 hh.

Return to Horse Breeds page