Quarter Horse is ranked as the fastest breed
Quarter horse is the name given to a breed of horse that originated in the United States. The origin of the Quarter Horse has its formation from the crossing of English, indigenous and Iberian horses. Thus, its generation happened with the arrival of Europeans in North American lands, in the middle of 1611. Quarter horse has its use practically turned to saddle, racing, rural equestrianism and cutting.
History of the Quarter Horse
In mid-1611, during the period of English colonization, some mares of English origin arrived in the United States, crossed with mustang horses used by the natives, which were taken by the Spaniards to America. This cross resulted in horses that were more muscular, firm, docile, tame and suitable for short distance racing.
The choice of these animals was made based on the needs of livestock; the Quarter Horse was constantly used to capture cattle that strayed. Thus, their main role was work on the farms. Even with the development of means of transport, horses guaranteed their functions.
Settlers in the western United States began to use this horse in races, mainly at the end of the day, after they had already captured the cattle. Racing was of great importance to breeders, as it became their source of economic income.
This practice has become a habit in the region. The path covered was short distance, through the streets of small towns. So, it was defined that the distance of the route would be ¹/4 miles. Thus was established the name of the breed.
In the city of Texas (Mexico), in 1940, the first institution for breeders of the quarter mile breed was created. Its initial name was Quarter Horse Association and in 1942 its headquarters were transferred to Amarillo. Currently, the registered number of horses stands at 2.96 million.
Characteristics of the Quarter Horse
The main physical characteristics of this breed are basically:
Horses with variable height from 1.50 to 1.62;
Its weight is approximately 500 kg;
Its head is small in size and light in weight, with ears that are also small, attentive and set apart, it has a small muzzle and large nostrils, with a muscular face and slightly deepened mouth;
His pair of eyes is large and far apart from each other, due to the great width of his forehead.
Well defined and arched musculature;
Its coat is diverse, and can be toasted sorrel, sorrel, chestnut, preza, lobuna, zaina, rosilha, bay, gray, palomina bay or amarilha. A curiosity involving its coloring is that pampas, white and painted animals are not registered;
It has a straight, low, natural and harmonious gait;
Females have a longer neck, a tighter throat and less developed musculature.
Official coats
Quarter Horses are classified and registered primarily by the color of their breed. The coat pattern that has been established is that the white hairs present on the body are no more than 10 cm² in area.
Therefore, the main coats of registered horses are:
Chestnut Quarter Horse: is the most common type of coat. They are animals with more reddish fur, with mane, tail and limbs of the same color. Crossing horses of this coat always results in sorrel horses.
Bay Quarter Horse: these are animals with more golden or yellowish fur, with a black tail, limbs and mane.
Black Quarter Horse: consists of animals with hair of the same color on the tail, limbs and mane.
Gray Quarter Horse: consists of the presence of white hairs on the horse's body, which appear first on the head and all spread throughout the body as the animal grows. In order for him to be gray, one of his creators will also be gray.
Breed qualities
The Quarter Horse breed has many qualities, making them a good bet for breeders.
Its temperament is rustic, docile, meek, safe and intelligent. Horses of this breed have great ease of adaptation to any situation.
It manages faster starts and more sudden stops, in addition to having favorable conditions for changing direction and a great ability to turn on itself.
It can be considered as an instrument of strength, difficult to defeat, squad and transport optimizer. In addition, it is in first place in the ranking of the most versatile horses in the world, used especially in races, works and conformation.