I’m just daydreaming at the moment, but if there are any QH aficionados here, what breeding would you seek out for a dressage horse? Obviously the individual horse matters, along with uphill build and clean gaits etc, but to fuel the internet search daydream engine, where would you start?
I feel like the ranch/cow horses have the most athleticism but they’re also tanks.
Maybe consider some racing x barrel racing lines?
A couple decades ago when barrel racers realized that some basic dressage could help their horses handle their bodies better, dressage instructors were commenting some of those horses would have made very nice dressage horses.
Rugged Lark and Allocate Your Assets are two sires I would keep an eye out for, though RL passed 20 years ago and won’t have direct offspring. Al has more recently passed, but still has some semen (and offspring) available.
I assumed RL would be super diluted by now but good call. I’m actually on the fans of RL Facebook page.
I think there are some Indian Artifacts that have had some success in dressage. I know he’s passed, but there are sure to be some grands of his around.
Oh interesting, I’ll check that out. I only know the crazy lower level barrel horses.
Not all the cow horses are tanks. Short, sure, but some of them are more catty and agile than tankish. I had a cutting bred gelding a million years ago (like…30+ years ago) who got too tall to be ideal for cutting (he was only 15.2, but that’s “tall” when your job is to get down in the dirt chasing a cow). He was a lovely horse, looked almost like a small TB (and solid black). He was a lovely little dressage horse.
However, if I were in the market now, I’d find some footage of a few of the AQHA World classes (WORKING hunter under saddle…not the traditional class, the over fences classes, maybe working Western, and possible huntseat equitation) and I’d pay attention to the sire and dam names on the horses as they are introduced when they enter the pen. They usually come trotting down the middle of the arena as they are being introduced, so you get to see them move and you might start noticing that you really like a certain type that have similar bloodlines.
I’ve been out of the AQHA scene for so long now that I don’t even know who the popular sires are these days.
Kinda makes me want to go watch some World Show classes though. Hmmm…
Or check the AQHA World Show Dressage results:
https://www.aqha.com/world-show/results/2023/open/stakes
And there are articles about the winners:
I didn’t even know they have dressage at the World Show now! Cool!
I didn’t see any results for 2024 so maybe there weren’t enough entries for them to justify having the class at this time?
That’s too bad. The 2023 results were sparse and…trying to be tactful here…but not very competitive looking in the few I clicked on. Like…I thought I was looking at pictures from about 40 years ago.
I wonder why it hasn’t caught on? Too bad, really. And the breeding of the horses I saw was all over the place.
Interesting - I looked at a few and the names all still had recognizable lines. Scotch, Chic, Gunner. So maybe I’m not as outdated as I thought, lol.
Though no Zippo, Docs or Chips 
Gosh, would I love to have (had) a Rugged Lark. IMO, one of the most amazing horses ever.
My niece’s QH trainer has a yearling by Extremely Hot Chips who I think is a really nice mover. Even though he is western pleasure bred (not my favorite discipline) I really like him. Just goes to show that sometimes the horse belies its breeding.
If it were me, I’d take a look at horses bred for ranch pleasure, ranch trail, etc. and maybe Appendix QHs.
Oh there’s the Chips! So they are still around!
That makes me nostalgic.
If you want to go up the levels, IMHO the best best is to look for a western performance line. That is, something bred for reining/cowhorse/cutting/ranch. They are bred to sit in the back and lift their shoulders more than the other types.
WR This Cats Smart and Sannman lines have great dressage movement, I’m also a huge fan of Freckles Playboy or Colonel Freckles on the papers as they’re super amateur lines. I’ve heard good things about Kit Kat Sugars and Dual Reys, and Metallic Cats are quite trainable. Many of the reining lines are very trainable, the Colonels Smoking Gun lines dominate (just make sure not to find a spicy individual), I personally think if you find one that traces to Hollywood Jac 86 (ie through Hollywood Dun It etc), they are very kind horses.
Obviously it depends on an individual’s conformation, there are racing/barrel bred and some all-around bred horses who could do it, heck I even knew a halter-bred horse who went to PSG.
Which brings me to my next point: The most important thing is getting a good mind – and that’s relatively common in QHs. If you have that, they’ll do anything for you, and they’ll do it happily and with their whole heart and that makes up way more ground than anyone ever talks about. If you’re good enough to ride them, you won’t believe how far you can get up the levels.
And hey maybe your goal isn’t go go up the levels – all-around horses aren’t my bag, because in my experience they struggle to get above Second, but you might WANT that – they are often gorgeous horses, and very kind, very forgiving, easy horses, and they’ll try their butts off for you at the lower levels and you never have to longe them or worry about them spooking and dumping you at a show.
The other thing is it’s pretty common in my experience for dressage people to think that QHs are worthless. If you want a well-bred, good-minded, well-trained QH in the 4-8yo range that has a solid foundation in western performance of some kind, be expecting to pay $20,000-50,000 easily. There are always weird bargains, you can find someone’s backyard everyday horse for a few thousand, or a horse that got left behind in its training, or you can take the risk on an untrained one, but the good ones don’t come cheap.
I’ve seen some QH tanks that moved with the grace of a gazelle. There was a small, stocky mare with pogo legs that won everything in small hunters back in the 80’s.
So maybe give some of the ranch horses a peek. If nothing else you’ll most likely end up with one heck of a good citizen. 
I had trouble selling a gorgeous little QH filly because she was small for her age. Nothing wrong with her, just small and looked like a yearling rather then a 2 yr old. She was behind nutritionally but I imagine she turned into a beautiful horse. You can definitely find a cheap quarter horse.
The big auction i went to had long yearlings sell for about $1800 or less if you were willing to stay til midnight or later. I’m sure you could find something better locally.
Yes this was my experience when I was looking for a QH as a dressage prospect. I saw some nice ones with barrel racing training or team roping. But if they are athletic and showing promise in those disciplines, they are by no means cheap.
I also wasn’t keen on one started at 2 which is very common. So you’d either have to be ok with that or buy a baby.
There’s an RL direct son - Larks Home Run - who has some frozen available. I considered him for a hot second for my APHA mare
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