Origin

Quarter Horses are a cross between Chickasaw ponies called Spanish Barbs, Arabian and English bread horses.  There are 11 foundation quarter horse bloodlines and these are the ancestors of all quarter horses worldwide. The breed has been in existence since the 1600s. The introduction of thoroughbred bloodlines has created two distinct types of Quarter Horses. The “Appendix Quarter Horses” tend to be leaner and leggier.

Lifespan

Quarter horses can live 25-35 years but some have been known to live even longer.

Fun Facts

These heavily muscled, compact horses can run a short distance (1/4 mile) over a straightway faster than any other horse. Not only quick, they are also sure-footed and agile. They are comfortable mounts for trail riding and dependable for all day farm work. With its calm, gentle and steady demeanour they are the ideal family horse.

Weighing in at 500 to 600 kilos, they are relatively small by comparison to other breeds. Average height is between 14.1 and 15.2 hands high.

There are 17 recognized colours of American quarter horses including the most prominent colour of sorrel (brownish red). The others are bay, black, brown, buckskin, chestnut, dun, red dun, gray, grullo, palomino, red roan, blue roan, bay roan, perlino, and cremello.

In addition to their speed, Quarter Horses are known for their “cow sense”. Once widely used as working cow horses they now excel at rodeo events. Their powerful haunches help with quick departs to gather a stray from a herd or propel them around barrels in a barrel race. Quarter Horse racing remains an exhilarating sport with tracks across North America. They are equally at home under saddle or in harness.

Male – Stallion

Female – Mare

Young – Foal

On the Farm

Suzy