The Sugarbush Harlequin Draft (also known as 'Sugarbush Draft Horse') is an American heavy draft breed, which is famous for its spotted coat.

Stonewall Horses:
While the Sugarbush Harlequin Draft breed was created in 1999, its story begins ten years earlier, in 1989, when a man named Mike Muir decided to breed strong harness horses with leopard coats. To this end, he crossed a Percheron stallion with Appaloosa mares. Those crosses became known as 'Stonewall Horses'.

Everett Smith and the birth of the Sugarbush Harlequin:
The Stonewall Horses gained the attention of Everett Smith, a horse breeder who owned a carriage company named Sugarbush Hitch Company. Everett liked the idea of using strong 'Percheron' horses who have a leopard coat to pull his carriages

Everett bred one of his Percheron mares to one of Mike's spotted 3/4 Percheron stallions. The mare gave birth to a spotted foal called Sugarbush Harley Quinne, who was the first Sugarbush Harlequin Draft Horse.

The Sugarbush Harlequin Drafts became popular and brought fame to Everett's carriage company. This encouraged Everett to continue the breeding program for Sugarbush Harlequin Drafts and to establish an official registry.

The Sugarbush Harlequin Draft today:
Things were fine until Everett's retirement in 2008, when improper breeding of his horses by other breeders put the entire breed at risk of extinction. However, in 2013, the American Sugarbush Harlequin Draft Association was established, and the proper breeding program was resumed.

Today, Sugarbush Harlequin Drafts serve as all-around drafts who use for harness work, such as for pulling carriages, and for riding, including for recreational show-jumping.

Conformation:
The head is of good size, with a straight profile, large eyes, and long ears. The neck is muscular, slightly arched, and of medium length, connects to slightly prominent withers. The back is short-to-medium in length, connects to short loins and a rounded croup. The legs are thick and muscular, connect to wide hooves.

Overall, the body is muscular and broad, with a more 'upright' frame than most other heavy warmblood breeds, resembling that of the Percheron, from which the Sugarbush decends, or the [American] Belgian.

The mane and tail of Sugarbush Harlequin Drafts are short or medium in length, although the tail can sometimes grow longer. The lower legs have light-to-medium feathering.

Performance metrics:
The following are the: range, average, (SD), and MOE of performance metrics of ordered Sugarbush Harlequin Drafts 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: 15.7-17.2, 16.5 (0.3), 0.06.
Sprint: 53-65, 59 (3), 0.51.

Accel: 0.86-1.02, 0.93 (0.04), 0.01.
Decel: 0.97-1.15, 1.07 (0.03), 0.01.

Jump: 4.99-5.30, 5.16 (0.06), 0.01.
Pull: 3.15-3.76, 3.49 (0.14), 0.03.

Turning: 47.38-61.60, 55.75 (2.69), 0.53.
Reverse: 2.5-3.1, 2.8 (0.1), 0.02.

Stamina: 55.51-59.87, 57.64 (0.95), 0.19.
Reaction: 0.77-0.86, 0.82 (0.02), 0.00.

Coats & Height:
Colors: all colors except for dominant-black, dominant-white, and mushroom.

Patterns: The coat usualy bears one of the leopard-complex ('appaloosa') patterns. However, in rare cases, it can also be solid. Pinto is unacceptable, though.

Additionals: flaxen, lineback, rabicnao, roan, sooty, dark mane & tail, grey mane & tail.

Height: 15.2hh to 17hh.