I have been looking high and low, and I am having a hard time finding anyone breeding Quarter Horses (Paints) in this direction. Can it be that there aren’t any? My other thought is that there have to be some that come out less than ideal for the traditional QH disciplines that would work well in sport horse. If anyone has any thoughts or direction on where I might go to find said horses they would be mich appreciated! I am definitely interested in those that have less TB blood. My hope is to find a good all arounder, eventually kid safe, good mind, that has the ability to be competitive at the lower levels of dressage/eventing.
I think you aren’t going to find a lot of specific Quarter Horse breeders specializing in Sport Horse yet. While it’s gaining popularity, it’s still not a “thing” in my opinion. At my place we breed cutting horses that are from foundation lines that prove to be hearty, athletic animals with intelligence and talent. While most all of them develop into phenomenal cutters, many could easily become great Dressage and Sport Horses. My suggestion would be to look at Quarter Horses with some of these sportier bloodlines. I think you’ll find quiet, intelligent, pretty athletes with great movement, conformation and refined heads.
I won’t give you the purpose breed speech as I am sure you are aware that QH’s, while super cool in so many ways, are not bred for jumping or dressage movement and therefore it would be hard for a breeder to compete in that market. However, I have seen some do dressage/eventing at the mid levels and be very competitive. But it might be hard to find unless you look for a made horse that is already doing the job. So you may want to check out shows or put in an ad with the eventing/dressage clubs with the particulars, if you haven’t already tried this.
If you are looking for the solid mind that QH can bring, there are other breeds that are really good at dressage and eventing and have great minds. Like a Connemara. Ignore if you are set on a QH.
I know a few people breeding Irish Draught sport horses using QH mares, most aimed for eventing
My former next-dressage-horse was by a reining/cowhorse sire & out of a mare whose bloodlines suggested hunter (she was a Castle Magic daughter). Both sire & dams’ necks were set on higher than you would expect from their respective breeds. The mare gave size& a big stride & a lot of “go”, the stallion gave “push from behind” & a very correct gait. The foal was exactly what we wanted from the combination - even as a baby, he would sit down and extend his trot, just because he could.
Unfortunately, life got in the way & the foal is now in his early teens & just did his first dressage show for a different owner.
We think our Rugged Lark stallion will offer pretty much the same thing, with the right mare.
But I don’t think there are a lot of people currently breeding paints or QHs for sport. Maybe paintjumper will chime in with an opinion, too.
My best suggestion is if you are looking, judge the individual on its own merits, but look for the cowbred & reining-bred lines, plus the Rugged Larks. Some of the HUS lines will also offer size & stride, but be careful about how the neck ties into the shoulder.
Good luck!
In my (most likely biased opinion), I believe cow-bred, foundation QH’s can have decent sport potential.
This is the foundation QH I grew up with and I believe he had potential to do a lot. He has some strangely baroque qualities to him. (Video isn’t great, but you get the idea. He’s not a daisy-cutter.)
http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a223/Noriarc/?action=view¤t=MOV01076.mp4
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/rey+jasons+showdown
I never really knew his sire, but it was said that he produced very nicely when crossed with TB-type mares and that you’d end up with warmblood-esque builds/movement (thought I can’t claim to know what people did with them). Of course, you generally can’t beat the temperament.
Like I said, I’m probably biased, but I have always had faith in the ability of foundation quarter horses. 
I don’t know of anyone who is or has been breeding QH’s for the sport horse world. I do believe that an individual can be quite capable though.
I bred my TB mare to a 3/4 QH 1/4 TB stallion for just the reasons you posted. And I seemed to have gotten EXACTLY what I was hoping for, a nice all around good girl with a mind and heart of gold. (and boy did that QH sure flatten out her movement. Whoooo… talk about long, low and sweepy!) 2016 (or 2017) Congress green working hunter here we come! ;-p
You can do a search for Lark’s One For the Money. His people were promoting him as a sport horse stallion. (I think they post on here quite a bit, but I can’t remember their name) I do remember he had some kids doing well in both hunters and eventing. He’s now at Gumz farms and he’s pretty cool.
Edited to add: Apparently he’s heading back to Bo-bett farms where his papa Rugged Lark stood. Whoohoo!
[QUOTE=ohioeventer;6532836]
I have been looking high and low, and I am having a hard time finding anyone breeding Quarter Horses (Paints) in this direction. Can it be that there aren’t any? My other thought is that there have to be some that come out less than ideal for the traditional QH disciplines that would work well in sport horse. If anyone has any thoughts or direction on where I might go to find said horses they would be mich appreciated! I am definitely interested in those that have less TB blood. My hope is to find a good all arounder, eventually kid safe, good mind, that has the ability to be competitive at the lower levels of dressage/eventing.[/QUOTE]
I do. Mine have a lot of TB in them though. For less TB oriented lines ones with better movement:look for Painted Jewel and Sacred Indian lines for Paints.Kings Witchdoctor makes a nice moving baby. Although really, all of those horses are have a fair amount of TB in them…just the ol timey ones: Three Bars, Top Deck, Depth Charge, Indian Hemp. The Lark line is in both QHs and Paints these days…but he is half TB. So…can you find a suitable for dressage QH/Paint? Yes. Can you do it without a fair amount of the TB in the pedigree? No, I don’t think so. Some older less Tb based names to look for would be Skybug Bingo, Skipper W,Hobby Doc. Theu won’t be upfront but you can proably find a horse with some linebreeding to them like Be A Painted Teddy.
Cantering:
[IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc307/KBEquine/0107billandbosscanter.jpg)
Dancing:
[IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc307/KBEquine/0107billandbossprance.jpg)
And I will have to find pictures of his son & scan them in later.
I bought a APHA gelding out of North Dakota for barrel racing. She said he was about 15.1 or 15.2h but she never sticked him. That was fine for me, as long as he wasn’t a pony. I believe he was 2 going on 3 at the time. When he arrived here he was huge, about 15.3h. He finished at 16h and is built pretty decent too. He has an awesome trot especially for a stock horse. He tracks up really nice. I jump him and I think he would be great for dressage. He is mostly my trail horse here. The farm is Flying O ranch. Some of her mares are TB’s and she does have a TB stallion. My guy is NOT crossed with TB anywhere up close. She breeds mostly for performance, like racing, barrel racing and such. I know she just took in some mares to breed for polo to her tb stallion. But her babies seem to be decent sized and good movers.
On any number of occasions, I have been convinced my 3 yo reining bred QH colt would easily score a 70+ in a first level dressage test. He looks and moves just like a German Riding Pony when ask him to move forward in his trot and collect him canter. Of course, not what you ask for in the reining show pen…
I was in Montana last summer on a ranch that had been breeding QHs for ranch work since the 1960s. One of the generations had introduced some Canadian TB blood (current owner couldn’t remember the stallion’s name or bloodlines) and those horses were just nice sporthorses!
I was really impressed with their movement and balanced conformation. So I think it certainly can be done.
My BO’s paint stallion (1/2 TB, 1/2 paint). Well liked by dressage judges and great temperament. He is quite young in these photos:
I have a pleasure/all-around bred QH gelding that I have competed upto Training and school lots of Prelim/Intermediate stuff with. He is super easy going, a good mover (not great but is currently showing Novice with a friend and getting in the high 20s in dressage). He is very heavy Three Bars bred w/ Barpasser bloodlines on the top side and Zippo Smokey bloodlines on the bottom. If I had a 100 of him, I could sell them right and left and never have to work again! LOL. Don’t hesitate to look at the right WP bloodlines… I would try to find something that was bred to be more of an all-arounder… they are usually a little taller and can move on out for the English stuff. You can find some really nice WP or HUS prospects that did not make the cut into the bigger shows because of too much knee movement, etc that are broke broke broke for a decent price (usually under $5000.00). Just have to teach them how to go on the bit and move on out alittle and you have a great eventing prospect.
You would probably have better luck getting a bargain on a show horse that didn’t make the cut than a ranch horse, or a reining or cutting horse … they are pricey.
I grew up with QHs and to this day, think they are the best breed on the planet…for what they’ve been BRED to do. Sporthorse disciplines are not their strong suit and probably explains why you are having trouble finding one.
When I decided to make the jump from showing QHs to the hunters, I did REALLY try and find a QH suited to the job. I gave up and found a good WB. I’m a firm believer that you’ll have better success with a horse that’s been bred to do the job you are trying to do.
Not to say that a QH can’t be a good sporthorse, in the classic sense of the word. But they are the exception, not the rule.
The OP wanted to be competitive at lower levels – which probably makes it a little easier to find what she’s looking for.
I agree, at the higher levels of eventing and in the hunters the WBs are probably more competitive, although the QH crosses with a lot of TB blood are a good possibility here.
The stocky, highly muscled types with little TB influence are better suited for the Western disciplines, and are the best at it.
Indian Artbeat is being bred as a stallion that is reg AWS and has foals that are half WB as well :)_
Baroque is right??? That palomino QH you posted looks more Morgan or Andalusian, than he does QH Very cool!
The sportiest QHs I know of are the Rugged Lark ones…
[QUOTE=Vermilion;6533240]
In my (most likely biased opinion), I believe cow-bred, foundation QH’s can have decent sport potential.
This is the foundation QH I grew up with and I believe he had potential to do a lot. He has some strangely baroque qualities to him. (Video isn’t great, but you get the idea. He’s not a daisy-cutter.)
http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a223/Noriarc/?action=view¤t=MOV01076.mp4
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/rey+jasons+showdown
I never really knew his sire, but it was said that he produced very nicely when crossed with TB-type mares and that you’d end up with warmblood-esque builds/movement (thought I can’t claim to know what people did with them). Of course, you generally can’t beat the temperament.
Like I said, I’m probably biased, but I have always had faith in the ability of foundation quarter horses.
I don’t know of anyone who is or has been breeding QH’s for the sport horse world. I do believe that an individual can be quite capable though.[/QUOTE]
I’ve posted this one a few times because he’s by the same stallion as my filly. (and I think he’s really cute!) WP bred on top and HUS on the bottom.
