The Spotted Draft Horse is an American draft breed named after its pinto coat. It is one of the few draft breeds that can have a tobiano or overo coat, and is one of the only two heavy draft breeds that always have a pinto coat (the other one being the Drum Horse).

An all-around draft in a colorful package:
Crossing draft horses with pinto horses is a known habit, which took place during the 20th century and maybe even earlier. However, these horses had no formal registry until 1995, when the North American Spotted Draft Horse Association (NASDHA) was established.

Spotted Draft Horses come in a variety of sizes of structures, with some being massive and heavy while others being smaller and lighter. This makes them are all-around horses, used for both riding, be it English or Western style, and driving.

Breeding Spotted Draft Horses:
In order to create a Spotted Draft Horse, one needs to cross a 15hh+ tall horse with one of the following breeds: Spotted Draft Horse, American Cream Draft, Clydesdale, Drum Horse, Belgian, Percheron, Shire, or Suffolk Punch. The non-draft parent may not be an Appaloosa, a pony, or of a gaited breed.

Note that at least one parent must be either tobiano or tovero. To maximize the chances of getting a Spotted Draft Horse foal, ensure tht the tobiano parent carries two Tobiano To alleles to ensure that the foal is born tobiano.

When it comes to Horse Isle, in order to get a pure Spotted Draft Horse, one needs to cross two Spotted Draft Horses or a Spotted Draft Horse with a solid Spotted Draft Horse (see below).

Spotted Draft Horses of the Solid Class:
The Spotted Draft Horse is 'Spotted' because it carries the To allele of a gene called Tobiano, which is the gene behind the tobiano pattern in horses. The To allele is dominant, and a horse will be spotted even if they are heterozygous to this allele, meaning if they carry only one To allele.

Crossing two heterozygous (Toto) Spotted Draft Horses has a 25% chance of resulting in a foal that doesn't carry the To allele and therefore has a solid coat. Such foals can't be registered as regular Spotted Drafts, so they are registered in a special sub-registry called "Spotted Draft Horses - Solid Class".

While horses of this Solid class lack the spotted coat, they still have Spotted Draft blood. Therefore, they can serve as breeding stock for Spotted Drafts. Simply cross a Solid Spotted Draft with a regular Spotted Draft.

Conformation:
The exact conformation of Spotted Draft Horses can differ between one horse to another, but they all share a general 'draft' look. Some traits that are commonly seen among these horses are a rectangular frame, an arched and muscular neck, a deep back, a deep girth, and thick legs.

In addition, their manes are often short-to-medium in length, and the tails are cut short. Moreover, the feathering of Spotted Draft horses is light, and resembles the thin feathering seen among Belgian or Percheron horses.

Performance metrics:
The following are the: range, average, (SD), and MOE of performance metrics of ordered Spotted Draft Horses in Horse Isle (not bred ones). In rare cases, horses might have metrics outside of the range. Breeders can produce horses that are beyond this range.

Speed: 14.6-16.5, 15.5 (0.4), 0.08.
Sprint: 45-61, 54 (3), 0.68.

Accel: 0.84-1.09, 0.97 (0.05), 0.01.
Decel: 0.99-1.17, 1.08 (0.04), 0.01.

Jump: 4.68-5.11, 4.92 (0.08), 0.02.
Pull: 3.32-4.51, 3.84 (0.25), 0.05.

Turning: 48.39-63.14, 56.69 (2.89), 0.57.
Reverse: 2.3-3.0, 2.6 (0.2), 0.03.

Stamina: 53.10-62.01, 57.56 (1.98), 0.39.
Reaction: 0.77-0.88, 0.83 (0.02), 0.00.

Coats & Height:
Colors: all colors except for dominant-white, mushroom, and dominant-black, though the latter two can be bred into this breed.

Additionals: all modifications and patterns except for manchado and leopard. The coat is always tobiano or tovero.

Overo note: the overo pattern is also acceptable although less desired due to the lack of the tobiano pattern, which is why, in Horse Isle, overo-only Spotted Drafts are accepted into the main registry but will receive a partial penalty.

Height: usually 15hh to 17hh, but the full range 15hh to 19hh.