Quarter Type
May 29, 2009
AQHA judge Jim Heird, Ph.D. talks about the importance of “type” in a breeding horse.
Breed type can be difficult to put your finger on.
By The American Quarter Horse Journal Editor Christine Hamilton
Halter Classes
Rule 448 (b) “The purpose of the class is to preserve American Quarter Horse type by selecting well-mannered individuals in the order of their resemblance to the breed ideal and that are the most positive combination of balance, structural correctness, and movement with appropriate breed and sex characteristics and adequate muscling.”
-2009 AQHA Official Handbook of Rules and Regulations, 57th Edition
“When we say ‘type,’ we mean those characteristics that distinguish the American Quarter Horse from any other breed,” says Jim Heird, Ph.D., AQHA judge.
When you evaluate “type” or “breed character,” you evaluate those qualities in a horse that make it true to its breed.
If you plan to show your horse in breeding classes, it helps to know what characteristics are most often found in the winner’s circle. AQHA’s “Form to Function – The Importance of Horse Conformation” DVD not only tells you what is seen most often in the winner’s circle but why it is seen there.
“It’s those characteristics that everyone recognizes as being a Quarter Horse,” Jim explains, “the muscles, the defined jaw, the bones, the athletic ability. Those are the things that distinguish our breed.”
Jim thinks it is especially important for modern Quarter Horse owners to use type when evaluating conformation.
“Because our breed has become so versatile, it’s sometimes hard to know what exactly a Quarter Horse is supposed to look like,” he explains. “For example, just take a hunter horse and compare it to a cutting horse or a reining horse. Our conformation class is our place to preserve that type.”
Still, breed and sex character can be difficult to define.
“It’s easy to say this horse is straight or this horse is crooked. But it’s hard to define what breed character and quality is,” Jim says.
“Heads are proportional,” he continues.”The skull is a long bone, just like the cannon bone. You can’t look at a 14.1-hand horse and automatically say he’s got a short pretty head compared to a 16.2-hand horse.
It’s the placement of the eyes and ears, the shape of them, the size of the nostril, etc., that could very well make the little horse look ugly.”
Jim points out that many qualities that we tend to call faults in a horse’s head aren’t really genetic defects.
Though many qualities we call faults are based on what is pleasing to a human eye, some are faults no matter what we think of them aesthetically. Features such as parrot mouth, an undershot jaw and small nostrils have direct consequences that would interfere with the horse’s ability to survive in the wild.
“I don’t think it is horsemanship and being around horses (that tells you when a horse is good-looking or not)” Jim says. “I think it’s just listening to what your eye tells your heart and your brain.”
Your brain will have a much easier time picking out conformation faults once you’ve watched AQHA’s “Form to Function – The Importance of Horse Conformation” DVD. Get a copy today for a better understanding of how breeding choices impact a horse’s conformation and future usability.
It’s also difficult to define sex character in a horse.
“When you judge sex character, you have to understand that we’re talking about femininity and masculinity and seeing that,” Jim says. “You see it when you look at it; it doesn’t need to be defined.”
“You look at a horse and ask: ‘Is that mare pretty to you? Is it attractive? Does that stallion look masculine to you?’ ”
He also points out that the geldings your breeding program produces should have breed character but not sex character.
Comments
18 Comments on “Quarter Type”
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June 2nd, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I find today’s winning halter horses that are supposedly the most “correct” in type as having very llttle to almost no resemblance to the original quarter horse type
June 3rd, 2009 at 1:48 am
6-3-09
I would agree with Joe Cunningham. Today’s Halter horses hardly resemble the original quarter horse type. I like the “running” look. There is almost no difference in the confromation of the running Quarter Horses and the sprinting Thoroughbreds. Actually, they are mostly the same bloodlines.
When Rebel Cause was in Scottsdale (1970’s)I took quite a few people to look at him. I thought he was the ideal type, but some said, “He is a good looking horse but he looks too much like a Thoroughbred.”
I thought Easy Jet and Go Man Go were two of the best looking individuals I ever saw but no judge would place them in a Halter class, probably. Easy Jet’s knees were so low that he almost looked deformed. Go Man Go had a strong back and loin even after he got old. Most do not know that he never came up sore or lame–even after all the races he ran.
Grandad always said that the only way Thoroughbred blood could hurt you was if you didn’t have it. I think he was right about that.
June 3rd, 2009 at 7:44 am
When I look at todays halter horses, I see a deformed individual. Could not believe a horse could look like that and it would be desireable!
June 3rd, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that the horse known as “Best Advice” that was featured in the members’ monthly magazine as well as the Journal is the ’spitting image’ practically of the Orren Mixer painting of the ideal quarter horse? It struck me so hard that I had to pull out my membership card which has the Mixer painting on it. This horse is a son of Corona Cartel,(grandson of First Down Dash) and is a grandson of Bully Bullion who is a son of Special Effort. That means that this horse Best Advice has literally ALL of the founding quarter horse blood – i.e. Special Effort, Easy Jet, Dash For Cash and last but not least, Beduino. If you go back far enough, you’ll even find the great Man’O'War on both sides of the pedigree. Now I wish this horse Best Advice and all of his connections the best of luck, because they are going to try to win the Supreme award, and the horse sure looks the part. He appears to be better built than most of the halter-horses I have seen and yet he showed speed on the track. Another horse I have read about called “Streakin’ Flyer” won the All American Futurity some years back, and is now being trained as a hunter-jumper. If they went for the Supreme award, it would be the first time that an All American winner became the Supreme winner also. And on an additional note – the Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra, like some quarter horses, goes back to the GREAT Northern Dancer (from Canada, eh?) so when you get right down to it, good blood comes from essentially the same foundation stock, right back to the Godolphin Arabian.
June 3rd, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I think today’s halter horse is perfectly suited for its purpose and is indeed indicative of Quarter Horse ‘type’. The Quarter Horse being fitted and shown at halter is no more ill suited for that purpose than an under-sized cutting horse is for cutting, or a leggy and wild-eyed race horse is for the track. Different fitting for different disciplines, but the same horse! I think the Author’s point was that ‘type’ transcends these discipline-specific variations.
June 3rd, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I think the American Quarter Horse was bred for using; for work; for performance; mind, body, and soul. The conformation of today’s halter horses contradicts what is necessary for using, work, and/or performance. If they are being bred for halter, fine. I would just prefer the AQHA not consider the halter horse the breed standard because if it were, we would all be breeding our horses along those lines and it’s clear we are not.
June 3rd, 2009 at 7:14 pm
I agree with the points the author made, but one thing seems to be missing, and that is a good mind that needs to go with the other attributes he mentioned. A good minded horse does not have his (bred in phobias) as seems to be in to many quarter horse of today. The attributes must be balanced. Example – the old King P-234 offspring were not always heavily muscled, yet they were very athletic and usually had a heart and soul that would not quit, a poppy eye, and well balanced for their size.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:16 am
I think a halter horse should have conformation to be a using horse. The unride-able halter horse is wrong. If you want a heavy draft type, it should still be right minded so it can be ridden. Drafts can be ridden and driven. And this idea that all thoroughbreds are thin, freaky horses is wrong. Sprinting thoroughbreds are blocky body type. Many thoroughbreds are kids horses. Most of the race horses you see on TV are 2 and 3 year old studs. Of course they act a bit studdy. Please keep QH as riding horses, not halter pasture ornaments.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:53 am
I agree with Alice- Please keep the QH as a riding horse, not a halter pasture ornament- they serve no purpose whatsoever.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:01 am
I cannot beleve the generalizations and assumptions that many of the posters have made. You automatically ASSUME that just because a horse is currently showing halter that he can’t be used for anything else. Have you ever asked if any of these horses are ridden? Sure, some people CHOOSE to not ride their halter horses but this does not mean that they can’t or won’t. I’m here to tell you that every one of my halter bred horses are broke to ride when they are two. My current show mare is an awesome mover and she’s quiet under saddle. I know many many others who ride their halter horses. So please, don’t assume halter horses can’t ride – maybe it’s just that the enhibitor choose NOT to or some health issue prevent them FROM riding.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
I think we are getting away from the Author’s point. He stressed the importance of being able to see “type” and “breed character” in today’s Quarter Horse — regardless of lines or disciplines. This is not about today’s halter horse, it is about today’s ‘halter classes’. It is my choice to breed, show, and ride (modern) halter horses, but that has little or nothing to do with my ability to see, assess, and appreciate a well-balanced roping horse or structurally correct 17hh hunt seat horse as having well-deserved Quarter Horse breed character or type. While it may not be my interest to own and breed either of these, I must strive to see the benefit of having both as being representative of the breed when judging a ‘halter class’. After all is said and done, they are still Quarter Horses. Smart Little Lena showed us how the improbable can indeed be possible when we focus on type and breed character! I humbly suggest we let go of any narrowed thinking about today’s halter horse — they ride, they slide, they rope, they lope, they sprint, they cross streams, they climb steep switchbacks under full pack, and they will drag a calf to the fire just as easily as their ancestors did in the 1940s — and still give the grandkids a quiet ride around the arena during Holiday visits. What more must today’s halter horse do for you?!
June 26th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
I have to agree with Diane G that ‘Best Advice’ is the best-looking quarter horse to come down the pike in a long time. He IS the Oren Mixer horse! He looks like he can do anything. I always hear the the quarter horse is the worlds most versatile horse, but by breeding so severely to ‘type’, I wonder if each different discipline could do any of the other disciplines? I wish AQHA would hold the Versatility Class in the highest esteem – as THE goal to get thru, i.e., start a horse with halter, then move to training in versatility for the true and only Champions in the breed. That is a lot of ask of a horse, but many are already doing it. If all quarter horses were bred to try for this goal, we would get a more singular ‘type’ that could do all these things.
July 9th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Where is Best Advice showing and or standing. i would like to see him.
July 28th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I believe he is at the Barrett Ranch in Peyton, CO. I would love to see him too.
July 11th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
I just bought a “halter-bred” mare. I was so very scared that she was only “pretty.” This thinking has come from many opinions that the halter horse out there is just a freak of nature and could never do anything more than look good (and she does). But I have ridden many of today’s “riding” AQHA and I am here to tell you, this halter bred mare has the mind of any riding one out there-she is smart, loving, loyal and really wants to do the right thing…she has been the easiest horse I have ever started and the comfort in the saddle is an amazing surprise!!
So, thank you to all out there that say halter horses can do more-it makes me feel better knowing I don’t have an odd “halter bred” horse.
October 28th, 2010 at 10:26 am
Personally, I think the modern Quarter Horse has too much Thoroughbred blood and the legs and hooves have been compromised. The heads are thinner now and it’s hard to distinguish from a Thoroughbred. I agree that for the most part, the Thoroughbred blood has improved the QH, but now there is too much. If I wanted a TB, I’d go and buy one.
There is too much emphasis on big/tall and long-legged with the modern QH. A solid built QH with good leg-bone substance and decent size hooves can only be found on the foundation and ranch bred QH now. They do not break down as easily and are much sounder.
I think there are too many types of QH out there. I’d like to see the pendulum swing back to a nice solid built good bone structured quarter horse. You’d still have the great mind, ride and versatility, along with a good looking and functional horse that won’t break down at a young age. Also, I am wondering if the different types could show in classes (halter for example) as “type”
Thoroughbred type, pleasure type, ranch/foundation type. Maybe that would eliminate the continued breeding of the “unrideable halter horse” type.
October 31st, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Why So Small? I’ve recently started looking for a QH and have been disappointed to find so many ponies instead of horses. Every breed has variability in size but continuing to register QHs that are under 14.3 hands doesn’t seem to be good for the breed – they certainly don’t meet the breed ideal or the AQHA’s definition of what makes a QH (14.3 to 15.3h).
So, what’s up? Has anyone proven that larger – say 15.3 to 16 hand – horses can’t successfully compete in cutting and reining? Is this just a trend that no one questions?
Conformationally, are racing QHs the same as the ideal QH? Some say they are much more like TBs. If that’s the case – and their genetics are the same (or nearly so) how can they be registered as QHs?
Comments/information anyone?
Thanks.
Deb
April 7th, 2012 at 12:36 pm
I am looking for a win picture of Streakin Flyer with my brother Larry Layton-up–if u have this would u email it to me