Quarter Horse

The American Quarter Horse is one of the best-known horses in North America.   Originally it was bred for racing, its ancestry being from across between the Spanish horses and those imported by the colonists.  In the early 1600's, there were few racetracks of the type that we have today.  The races run by these horses were often quite short, often just the main street of town.  A quarter mile was the distance usually raced, and so the Quarter Horse was aptly named after the quarter mile that it ran.  By the time that Thoroughbreds began arriving in North America, Quarter Horses were already well established.  When Thoroughbreds were pitted against Quarter Horses for these short races, the smaller, stockier Quarter Horses, with their quicksilver starts, invariably won, much to the great chagrin of the Thoroughbred owners.  Over longer distances, though, the Thoroughbred could outlast the Quarter Horse.  As Thoroughbred racing gradually became more popular than Quarter Horse racing, the Quarter Horse might have fallen by the wayside.  It was soon discovered, however, what superb cattle horses they made, and over the years their cattle sense has been brought to an incredible level.  They are quick and agile, and can turn on a dime and be up to full speed in no time flat.  they are an excellent all-round horse, able to turn their hand or 'hoof' to anything.  This breed is by far one of the most numerous in western Canada and the United States, and is thus very likely to be seen grazing in fields.   Description:  Quarter Horses are most easily recognized for their extremely well-developed hindquarters.  Their heads are small and straight in profile, with small ears and wide-set eyes; neck muscular; withers prominent, with a short back; chest very broad and muscular; legs also very muscular; hooves quite small and hard; color solid, with white markings on face and legs common.  [Grove, Kindrie, Field Guide to Horses, Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton, Alberta, 1998]

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