HORSES. The unique American quarter horse has evolved from a
quarter-mile racer into the most diversified horse in the world. Although
its origin can be traced to the colonial era, the American quarter horse
gained a reputation as a faithful mount during the Texas open range era,
particularly during cattle drives to northern railroads. The breed began
in the Virginia and Carolina colonies, when colonists bred their stallions,
which were a mixture of Galloway and Hobby breeds tracing back to the
Spanish Barb, to the Chickasaw Indians' mares. These Chickasaw horses
were also descendants of the Spanish Barb, mounts of early Spanish
explorers. The hybrid resulted in the "Celebrated Quarter of a Mile
Running Horse," a quick, powerful, compact sprinter. These speedy horses
soon gained fame racing down the streets of colonial towns in
quarter-mile races, a favorite pastime of American forefathers. As
America prepared to battle for its independence, equine breeding was also
experiencing a revolution. The Godolphin Arabian, which arrived in
England around 1728 and is considered one of the three foundation sires
of the thoroughbred breed, revitalized English horses by adding
refinement and speed. His grandson, Janus, foaled in 1746 and imported to
colonial Virginia, had a pronounced effect on colonial stock. Described as
muscular and compact, with great bone and speed, Janus's genetic legacy
came to be used to plow fields, pull wagons, and carry travelers in the
development of the frontier. It was this utility that distinguished the
thoroughbred from the quarter horse.
As Texas was settled, the American quarter horse became part of the
developing open range cattle industry. The transition of the American
quarter horse from a sprinter to a cow horse began after the Civil
War.qv South Texas was rich in cattle that had been left unattended
during the war. Money was scarce and cattle were cheap. With
Reconstructionqv underway, the demand for beef in the east prompted
entrepreneurs to gather cattle and drive them north to railheads in
Kansas, Missouri, and elsewhere. It was during this period that American
quarter horse stallions were mated with mustangqv mares used on the
Texas range. The results were strong, agile mounts of adequate height,
capable of enduring the harsh climate. Gathering wild cattle in South
Texas required a mount with speed and strength. These traits were useful
for cowboys in gathering, roping, branding, and other activities on the
open range and subsequently on the great ranches established after the
trail driving era, such as the King Ranch, the Waggoner Ranch, the Four
Sixes, the JA, and the XIT.qv
The most influential sire on the Texas strain of the American quarter
horse was the legendary racer Steel Dust. Foaled in Kentucky around
1843 and brought to Texas a year later, Steel Dust gained a reputation as
a quarter-mile match racer. Steel Dust cemented his fame when he was
matched against another Kentucky-bred horse named Monmouth at a race
in Collin County, near McKinney. High wagers were set on the hometown
favorite Monmouth, but Steel Dust won the race. He also won several
other highly-publicized races before an injury ended his racing career. The
legend of this stallion's racing capabilities resulted in a demand for his
progeny. Steel Dust descendants were valued for their speed and were
sought by cowboys for use on ranches. Thus, cow horses were often
called "Steeldusts." Another horse to influence the Texas strain of
American quarter horses was Shiloh. Foaled in Tennessee in 1844 and
brought to Texas in 1849, Shiloh helped establish many great Texas
American quarter horse bloodlines. Shiloh was a descendant of Sir Archy,
a thoroughbred stallion that had great influence on the American
quarter horse breed between 1800 and 1850. Also widely known in Texas
was Gen. Sam Houston'sqv stallion Copper Bottom, also sired by Sir Archy
and brought by General Houston to Texas in 1839. His progeny were
famous racers along the Texas coast. Other American quarter horse
stallions proliferating the breed during the early part of the twentieth
century, were Billy, who founded the Billy strain of horses, Traveler, Dan
Tucker, and Peter McCue.
Although some written breeding records had been kept, there was no
formal registry for the American quarter horse in the early twentieth
century. William Anson, an Englishman by birth and Texas rancher by
choice, began researching the breed in the late 1800s. Anson settled in
Christoval in 1893 and is credited with tracing the origin of the American
quarter horse to colonial times. He preserved history and pedigrees of the
breed. More research on the American quarter horse and its claim to being
a distinct breed was done by Robert Denhardt. After accepting a teaching
position at Texas A&M University, Denhardt began to research Steeldust
horses. Both Anson and Denhardt provided research that formed the basis
for a registry. In March 1939, at the Southwestern Exposition and Fat
Stock Show, Denhardt met with several breeders and presented his idea
for a breed association. During the next year Denhardt wrote more
articles on the American quarter horse and visited with people involved
with the breed. On March 14, 1940, a group of interested livestock
industry leaders gathered in Fort Worth for another meeting that led to
the formation of the American Quarter Horse Association. Hosting the
meeting in their home were Mr. and Mrs. James Goodwin Hall (see TANDY,
ANNE VALIANT BURNETT). Mrs. Hall was the daughter of Thomas L.
Burnett and the granddaughter of Samuel Burk Burnett,qv who founded
the Four Sixes ranch. Some of those on hand for the meeting were Robert J.
Kleberg, George A. Clegg,qv Dan and Jack Casement, W. B. Warren, Walter
Hudgins, J. H. Minnick, and Denhardt. The next evening, March 15, 1940,
seventy-five people gathered for a third meeting, where a charter for the
organization was presented by Denhardt, stock was sold, directors were
elected, and by-laws were adopted. Included in the by-laws was the mission
statement: "The purpose of this Association shall be to collect, record
and preserve the pedigrees of Quarter Horses in America, to publish a stud
book and registry, and to stimulate any and all other matters such as may
pertain to the history, breeding, exhibiting, publicity, sale, or improvements
of this breed in America."
The first elected AQHA officers were: W. B. Warren, president; Jack
Hutchins, first vice president; Lee Underwood, second vice president; Jim
Hall, treasurer; and Bob Denhardt, secretary. Denhardt worked out of
his home and so did subsequent executive secretaries until association
offices were set up in Fort Worth in 1946 and permanently moved to
Amarillo later that year. The by-laws also called for registration
requirements based on conformation, pedigree, and performance in both
show arenas and races. The first AQHA-approved show was held in July
1940 during the Texas Cowboy Reunionqv at Stamford. Serving as judge
was J. H. Minnick, an AQHA director. Another milestone was set during the
1941 Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show in Fort Worth, when
the King Ranch-bred Wimpy, by virtue of being named the grand champion
stallion, was designated as P-1 in the AQHA Stud Book. Conformation
standards, pedigrees, and performance have been the mainstay of present
American quarter horses. Today, the American quarter horse has a small
head and medium-length neck blending with a powerful chest and hind
quarters. Heights range from 14.3 to 15.1 hands and weights from 1,100 to
1,300 pounds. AQHA recognizes thirteen colors, five leg markings, and
seven face markings of registered horses. Breeding for arena events, as
well as races, strengthened the athleticism and disposition of the
American quarter horse, making it the world's most versatile breed. AQHA
maintains pedigrees of 3.1 million registered American quarter horses,
making the breed the world's largest. The association sanctions 2,300
AQHA-approved shows and American quarter horse races at 110
racetracks in North America.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Dan D. and Jack Casement, "Social Significance of the
Quarter Horse," The Cattleman, September 1940. Robert M. Denhardt,
Quarter Horses: A Story of Two Centuries (Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1967). Robert Moorman Denhardt, The Quarter Horse
(Fort Worth: American Quarter Horse Association, 1941; rpt., College
Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1982). J. Frank Dobie, "Billy Horses
and Steel Dusts," The Cattleman, March 1937. Wayne Gard, Fabulous
Quarter Horse-Steel Dust: The True Account of the Most Celebrated Texas
Stallion (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1958). Don Hedgpeth, They
Rode Good Horses: The First Fifty Years of the American Quarter Horse
Association (Amarillo, Texas: American Quarter Horse Association, 1990).
Bruce Beckmann
QUARTER HORSES are MUSTANGS
Identifying an American Paint Horse
Step 1To identify a true American paint horse, you have to do a bit of
homework into its pedigree. You might think that an American paint horse is any
horse that carries the tobiano or overo coat pattern--but this is not so. The
American Paint Horse Association was formed in 1965 and was a large result
of quarter horse breeders wanting to be able to register their "crop-out"
quarter horses. "Crop-outs" were full-blooded (according to pedigree)
quarter horses that had too much white to be accepted into the American
Quarter Horse Association. At that time, too many white markings on a
quarter horse could get it excluded, since these characteristics were
considered undesirable.
Step 2American paint horses are, essentially, quarter horses with various
painted coat patterns. Although some questionable pedigrees were
grandfathered in, there are no gaited horses, no horses with any hint of
other breeds such as saddlebred or walker. Each animal was assessed on the
original ideal of the quarter horse stock.
Step 3An American paint horse will display all the physical characteristics of
a quarter horse, from its body type to its disposition. Although some quarter
horses will display more of the Thoroughbred aspects in the appendix version
of the breed, this is not nearly as common in the American paint horse. Most of
the American paint horses you will see will be heavily muscled and
large-boned, with enormous rear ends and tractable dispositions.
Occasionally. you will see a more Thoroughbred type that has been bred this
way for jumping or other English divisions.
Step 4Of course, the most obvious way to identify an American paint horse is by
its color. The color can be "loud" (very obvious splashes of color all over
the body), or it can be as small as large markings that cover a certain area of
the face. A horse can also be considered a "paint" if it has a belly spot over
three inches. So appearances can be deceiving. Most American paint horse
breeders strive to breed the "loud" colors, as these are what the breed is
known for.
Step 5There is another type of American paint horse that is much more
difficult to identify. This is the "breeding stock" paint horse. Genetics is a
tricky business, and even when you breed two paints together, you do not
always get a painted offspring. Offspring that are the result of two
registered paint horses but do not have the qualifying white markings can be
registered as "breeding stock" because they do carry the genes for the paint
coat color---they just were not lucky enough to have it expressed in their own
coat pattern.
Identifying an American Paint Horse
When the NFQHA Board of Advisors first met in 1995 to discuss how to define
the National Foundation Quarter Horse they had the benefit of 55 years of
Quarter Horse history to help guide them in their decisions. The Board relied
heavily on this historical perspective in defining what a Foundation Quarter
Horse is, and in structuring NFQHA’s Statement of Purpose, and Goals and
Standards.
All Board members agreed that the unique characteristics which set the
Foundation Quarter Horse apart from other equine breeds were: Versatility -
Disposition - Athletic Ability and Agility - Sturdy Constitution - Sound Body with
Good Bone & Foot - Natural Cow Sense - Blazing Burst of Early Speed -
Intelligence - and a Willing, Trainable mind. In reviewing this list it was
apparent that the National Foundation Quarter Horse should be defined by
one word..…VERSATILE, and that all his attributes should contribute to that
versatility.
Based on that criteria, the National Foundation Quarter Horse is defined as
follows:
•Versatility – the National Foundation Quarter Horse should be above all
things versatile. The Foundation Quarter Horse’s historical claim to fame was
his incredible Versatility, which made him indispensable to his owner. He
worked cows, plowed fields, pulled buggies and wagons, ran races, provided
basic transportation, and has been an outstanding recreation and trail horse.
•Disposition – the National Foundation Quarter should be very quiet and
willing, but not a ‘deadhead’. He knows that he needs to conserve his energy
and does not waste it in unnecessary action by jigging, head tossing, and
fighting with the rider. He has a big kind heart, and will willingly do anything
asked of him by someone that he trusts. His great mind is not only the most
endearing aspect of the Foundation Quarter Horse, but may also be the most
important aspect of his Versatility. In order to withstand the stresses of being
asked to perform a multitude of tasks he must have a quiet, willing attitude,
and also be intelligent enough to understand what is being asked of him. Many
super star specialty horses do not have this kind of mind, and can only do one
thing well.
•Conformation - The National Foundation Quarter Horse should possess the
Quarter Horse Conformation described by Robert Denhardt in 1940 – the
Foundation Quarter Horse is a medium sized, balanced horse, heavily muscled,
with sturdy bone and foot to support his weight, and carry heavy loads during
long days of work. The length of leg does not exceed the depth of the heart-
girth. The large eyes are set far apart on a short head with a large jaw, and
the neck is of medium length and thickness in keeping with his heavily muscled
frame. All parts of his conformation are geared to allowing a horse to work
hard for long hours in rough terrain, and still have the lightning burst of
speed necessary to catch a cow, and the agility required to turn that cow on a
dime.
•Color - National Foundation Quarter Horses shall meet the 1995 AQHA
standards for color and white markings.
After defining the National Foundation Quarter Horse, the next problem was
how to qualify horses for the new Association based on these definitions.
Since physical inspection was not practical nor feasible, it was decided the
certification criteria had to be based on Quarter Horse Blood. Since the only
outside blood continued to be added since the inception of AQHA was
Thoroughbred, the percentage left after subtracting the TB blood would be
the original Quarter Horse blood. Therefore, it would be necessary to
research back to the parents of the first registered Quarter Horse, or the
first TB encountered on each line; or eleven generations; whichever came
first. Thus the research had to look at over 2,000 horses in a pedigree.
This huge undertaking was considered necessary because from the beginning
of AQHA horses were accepted into the registry that were not considered to
be the Steel Dust or Bulldog type that Robert Denhardt wanted. The race type
were originally accepted as class “C” with “A” being the Steel Dust/Bulldog
type. Over the years this changed many times, but the race type or
Thoroughbred cross continued to be accepted. Some of the race type were
probably also registered as “A” horses as many of the AQHA Inspectors were
renown Race type men. Later the class system was abolished and all horses
received a registration number. (See 1st 27,000 article.)
NFQHA looks at the TB in every horse regardless of how low its AQHA
registration number, or what year it was registered or born. It is the NFQHA
belief that the more TB blood a horse carries, the more TB traits it will exhibit
and the more Quarter Horse attributes will be lost. In 1995 it was thought
that a horse carrying 75% Quarter Horse blood (researching back to the
parents of the first registered horse, or 11 generations), would meet the
above criteria. However, after the first National Show in 1996, and after
reviewing pedigrees for over a year the qualifying criteria was raised to 80%.
This criteria has proven to be excellent, as demonstrated by the overall
quality and consistency of National Foundation Quarter Horses.