ABOUT THE AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE

ORIGIN

In the 1600's, American Colonists on the Eastern seaboard began to cross imported English Thoroughbred horses with assorted "native" horses such as the Chickasaw horse. Thoroughbreds contributed genes crucial to the development of the colonial "Quarter Miler," or "Quarter Mile Horse." This was a speedy working man's racer, sometimes referred to as the "Celebrated American Quarter Running Horse." The resulting horse was small, hardy, and quick, and was used as a work horse during the week and a race horse on the weekends. Due to the necessity of shorter races, and the success of these local sprinters over this distance, the popularity of these small, quick horses rose rapidly.

DEVELOPMENT

Soon after the westward expansion of the United States these new ranchers needed a sturdy horse who could work cattle, and this became the primary job of the young American Quarter Horse. The skills needed by ranch hands and their horses became the foundation of the rodeo and expanded to become a major competitive event throughout the west. To this day, the Quarter Horse dominates the sport both in speed events and in competition that emphasizes the handling of live cattle. However, sprint races were also popular weekend entertainment and racing became a source of economic gain for breeders as well. As a result, more Thoroughbred blood was added back into the developing American Quarter Horse breed. The American Quarter Horse also benefited from the addition of Arabian, Morgan and even Standardbred bloodlines.

FOUNDING

In 1940, the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) was formed by a group of horsemen and ranchers from the southwestern United States dedicated to preserving the pedigrees of their ranch horses. The horse honored with the first registration number, P-1, was Wimpy, a descendant of the King Ranch foundation sire Old Sorrel. The Thoroughbred race horse Three Bars, alive in the early years of the AQHA, is recognized by the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame as one of the significant foundation sires for the Quarter Horse breed. Large purses allow top competitors to earn over a million dollars in some of these events.

TODAY

The American Quarter Horse is best-known today as a show horse, race horse, reining and cutting horse, rodeo competitor, ranch horse, and all-around family horse. Quarter horses dominate rodeo events such as barrel racing, calf roping and team roping; and gymkhana. However, the breed is not only well-suited for western riding and cattle work. Many race tracks offer Quarter Horses a wide assortment of pari-mutual horse racing with purses in the millions. Quarter Horses have also been trained to compete in dressage and can be good jumpers. They are also used for recreational trail riding and in mounted police units.

BREED CHARACTERISTICS

The modern American Quarter Horse has a small, short, refined head with a straight profile, and a strong, well-muscled body, featuring a broad chest and powerful, rounded hindquarters. They usually stand between 14 and 16 hands high, although more recently the average Quarter Horse has gotten taller. Depending on the exact use of the horse and its bloodlines some Quarter Horses (such as Foundation or Halter) tend to be more muscular whereas horses with Western Pleasure or Hunter lines tend to be more sleekly muscled.

- Excerpt from Wikipedia