Cultivating the highest standards
in sport.
More About HSM
Our mission is to cultivate the highest standards of animal welfare and professional conduct in sport, to promote sport horses bred in Maryland, and to maintain the Maryland Sport Horse registry.
Professional Education
Training horses, caring for them, and teaching riding, each require different skill sets, each of which is specialized. Until we develop a program specific to Maryland, HSM will recognize anyone who is certified or licensed by a program on our list as an HSM Equine Professional.
Our mission is to support breeders in Maryland who are purpose-breeding for sport, regardless of discipline, and to help those breeders market their horses outside the state. Any Maryland breeder that meets our qualifications is eligible for our breeder benefits.
Purpose-Bred Breeding
Performance Horse Welfare
The ethical treatment of equines in sport requires us to balance the competitive demands that we place on horses and ponies with and their physical and mental well-being. Our horses are our athletic teammates, not pieces of sports equipment.
Latest News
Winners Roundup: January 2025
MDA Awards $1,500 to HSM for Maryland Sport Horse Registry Start-Up Costs
Maryland Sport Horses
Thoroughbred bloodlines are the bedrock of the modern performance horse. Not only are Thoroughbreds excellent all-around athletes and keen competitors in their own right, the European performance breeds carry significant amounts of Thoroughbred blood in their pedigrees.
Thoroughbreds have been in Maryland since before the American Revolution. The first recorded Thoroughbred race in Maryland was in 1743 (the Annapolis Subscription Plate), and Selima, one of the foundation mares of the American Thoroughbred, was imported in the 1750s to Belair in modern-day Prince George’s County. The Thoroughbred is the State Horse of Maryland.
A majority of sport horses bred in Maryland carry Thoroughbred blood. Some are full Thoroughbreds. Some are European performance breeds that that are themselves dominated by Thoroughbred blood. Some are Thoroughbreds crossed with a European breed. And still more are Welsh and Connemara show ponies crossed with Thoroughbreds.
The Maryland Sport Horse Registry records five-generation pedigrees of Maryland-bred sport horses and sport ponies.