Quarter Horses (as a breed) - are there different conformations?

[poltroon]

[QUOTE=KIloBright;7879720]
Far as that halter baby pic, yes the horse is very post legged, but to be fair to those judging halter, has this horse won anything, or is it just sale pic, of someone trying to sell a baby with a major defect?
I’m not defending halter trends, but to be fair, I have never seen a halter horse that is so post legged win anything[/QUOTE]

http://www.clarkrassi.com/fearlespastfoals.html

[aktill]

Looks like Dad alright: http://www.clarkrassi.com/fearles.html

[propspony]

[QUOTE=Bluey;7879740]

Both have the wonderful, full of try and kind and easygoing personality quarter horses are generally known for and none are on any extreme of conformation, many/most quarter horses are not.[/QUOTE]

Yes Bluey! I’ve said this so many times to people over the past couple of years. After lifetime of riding TBs and WBXs I faced the fact I was now middle aged, and allowed myself to be talked into breeding my TB mare to a (mostly) QH stallion.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I simply have NEVER experienced ANYTHING like the amazing mind on this baby. She’s not going to be big, (I’m hoping for 15.1) but I’m not tall, and even as a fugly, downhill baby, she’s more balanced and athletic than her mother ever was in her entire life. Combine that with a sweet, in your pocket, quiet, kind, smart mind, and she’s EVERYTHING that QH breeders claim a QH should be.

I love her simply to pieces.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100471801343358&l=fb79954741

[KIloBright]

[QUOTE=aktill;7879761]
Looks like Dad alright: http://www.clarkrassi.com/fearles.html[/QUOTE]

Agree, and hypp pos also!
Pretty bad!

Halter has become an entity onto itself, which I don’t agree with, but that happens to be a fact.
We here in Alberta, had a Horse Improvement program, where horses were scored by three judges, one being an equine vet. They were scored on front limbs, hind limbs, overall balance and type. They were also really moved out on a large triangle, judging movement, as to length of stride, rhythm, lightness and impulsion
Major and minor faults were evaluated, and if a horse had any major fault that would preclude future soundness, standing up to work, the total score could not be added up
Most of the big halter breeders avoided this conformation assessment,as it was not un common for a horse that had been winning at halter all year,on there breed circuit, to get a low score at this program
Big difference in evaluating a horse;s conformation as it relates form to function, in a scoring system, versus placing horse against horse, hardly moved out at a jog and placing those that profile pretty, without any real form to function criteria
Having said that, not fair to knock an entire breed due tot he direction that the halter industry went

[KIloBright]

For anyone interested, here is the scoring system, the way Halter SHOULD be judged, but IS NOT.

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/hrs5297

That link does not seem to work, so this is another one The entire program comes up, but if you scroll down, you will see the conformation evaluation system and what were considered major and minor faults, plus what the scores reflected, far as serious defects
Unfortunately, this was not a mandatory government program, which controlled as to what animals were allowed to breed, thus died out over time, due to lack of support
You can have all the info and programs available, upon which breeders can select horses to breed, but unless you have some government control,as In Europe, people will still breed what they want to.

http://members.shaw.ca/ahaa/HIP_PrizeList_2001.pdf

http://members.shaw.ca/ahaa/HIP_PrizeList_2001.pdf

[poltroon]

A good quarter horse is an amazing animal. I have known many good ones, and they spoil you for how tolerant they are of just about anything.

Here in California, they are as common as dirt, and you start to take them for granted and forget how terrific they can be.

Which leads me to this funny story, told to me by a friend. California friend went to Germany and had arranged to go riding, excited about the prospect of riding a fancy warmblood horse. She gets there, and there are four horses ready - two german warmbloods and two quarter horses. She is feeling bitterly disappointed to come all this way to ride quarter horses just like she could have ridden at home. But, she’s a good sport, and went along with it.

The guides were horrified when they realized their guest assumed she’d get to ride their fancy imported Quarter Horses. No, the warmbloods were for the guests.

[KIloBright]

h![]( Poltroon

That is funny, and shows how supply and demand often influences horse price and assumed values!
It is a well known fact that Gypsy Vanniers are pricy on this side of the ocean, based on above info
Over in Europe, there was some laugh ,far as the value placed on these horses, which basically are fancy marked draft horses
I did use AQHA horses in my Appaloosa breeding program. Some of our Apps were App to App, while others were outcrosses to AQHA
I remember one buyer who bought a three year old Appaloosa filly from us, that could not be registered ApHC, due to the white rule
The buyer was from an open English home, having ridden TBs. She was amazed, when she came out to try the horse, and could lope her in an open snowy field. She said that she would have had a run away on the horses she was used to riding
Patch, became her `family, and she kept and rode her at an English barn, jumping her, trail riding her, etc.
One of the AQHA mares that produced many nice horses for me, was a daughter of AQHA stallion Kilomax. Since we always rode our broodmares, before putting them into the broodmare band, I rode Ms Maxed as a three year old
She was a very sensible young horse, even on a tough mountain ride that had many bog holes, as the following picture shows
Her babies had her mind, plus great conformation
[IMG]http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/KiloBright/trail%20riding/MissMaxed_zpsfd85ec68.jpg)

[shedigshay]

OMG that is horrifying.