American Cream
History & heritage
One living story. Knowledge kept together.
American Cream Draft horse, photographed in 2008. · Just chaos; edited by Pitke · CC BY 2.0 · License terms
Follow the story behind the name.
An Iowa farm mare became the starting point of a national preservation story. Old Granny was sold in Story County in 1911, and breeders noticed that her descendants repeatedly carried a cream coat. The later stallion Silver Lace helped make that local family recognizable. Clarence Rierson gathered descendants and investigated pedigrees; the association was chartered in 1944. Mechanized farming then reduced the market for workhorses just as this young breed was establishing itself.
The American Cream is a substantial draft horse associated with a cream body, pale mane and tail, pink skin and amber eyes. Its traditional identity is practical: a horse that could work in a team, pull implements and remain manageable around a farm. The association revived in 1982 after years of minimal activity. A striking photograph helps introduce the breed, but color alone cannot establish a horse's ancestry or eligibility.
Sources for general species learning
Sources behind the breed’s story.
The original history, identity and conservation teaching above draws on these cited accounts. Official links open the full material for further study.
Keep learning from official information.
These research portals help locate further material. A search link is a route for exploration; it is separate from the sources used for the article above. Domestic breed information, wild-species assessment, historical books and new research need their own context.
- FAO DAD-IS · Domestic breed information
- IUCN Red List · Species assessments
- Biodiversity Heritage Library · Historical literature search
- USDA National Agricultural Library · Research search
- Google Scholar · Scholarly literature search
- Open Library · Book catalogue search
- HathiTrust · Digitized catalogue search