Look in places getting hit by natural disasters. After floods, fires, etc, there will be people selling to keep themselves solvent.
It will hit the lower end folks most, but they have nice horses too.
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LEGEND status. At the time this was a bit more uncommon though, riding bridleless
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Love your horse’s bloodlines… and he’s very handsome!
I spent much of the winter riding a Coats 'n Tails 3-year-old and I’m very familiar with These Irons Are Hot. That’s the dam’s side. On the sire’s side is Indian Artifacts. He was awesome! Have you ever seen photos of Indian Artifacts? Your horse resembles him a great deal.
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I tried a really nice horse down in FL this winter - trainer swore up and down he was a warmblood but there was no way on the planet he wasn’t a QH of some sort. He was dreamy to ride, broke to death on the flat, super comfortable gaits and a decently big step. He was small and I am tall, but if he’d been 16.3 instead of 15.3 he’d have come home with me.
I love a good appy - I don’t know how hard they are to find these days but the unmarked ones used to be quite inexpensive and they are frequently a good size, good movers and good jumpers.
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one of the better horses we bought was because the seller needed to the money to pay their federal taxes
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Most AQHA are Appendix. I’ve got one in my barn that’s 7/8 TB but registered as AQHA. Go to any AQHA show barn and you’ll find some seriously nice BIG QHs but IMO, finding one that jumps well is the hard part.
I would LOVE to have an APHA/AQHA. Finding one is harder than finding a “traditional breed” in my neck of the woods. It seems like unless you’re in a quarter horse hotspot (Texas? Other parts of the South?) finding a quality one is nearly impossible.
People posting here are seriously confused about what “Appendix” means. People seem to be using the word “Appendix” as if it is equivalent to “has Thoroughbreds in the pedigree.” That is incorrect.
“Appendix quarter horses” are horses that are registered in the AQHA Appendix Registry. Appendix QHs can “advance” to the regular AQHA registry. If they do, they are no longer “Appendix QHs,” they are “regular” quarter horses. The presence of Thoroughbreds in the pedigree is, at this point, irrelevant, and the horse is NOT “an Appendix.”
It is entirely possible that you can have a horse that is registered AQHA (i.e. a “regular” QH) and is “more Thoroughbred” than a horse registered as an Appendix QH. As I mentioned previously, the dam of my current QH is 3/4 Thoroughbred and she is a “regular” AQHA, not Appendix.
If you want to know more, your primary resource is the AQHA rule book, available at AQHA.com.
Here is an article on breeding a Thoroughbred to a Quarter Horse: https://www.aqha.com/-/breeding-a-thoroughbred-to-a-quarter-horse
Here is another with the historical perspective: https://www.aqha.com/-/the-ailing-append-1
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Right now, the Midwest is another hot spot for AQHA/APHA.
Check out these Facebook pages:
AQHA Hunters/Jumpers (Open, Amateur, & Youth)
AQHA - APHA - APHC Over Fences Horses
LOOKING FOR AN ALL-AROUND PLEASURE HORSE - This one is almost entirely WP-type horses but you can find the rare gem with hunter potential.
I think you have to join all of those to be able to see the posts.
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The problem is that the shoulder/ neck conformation they breed for and the movement are counter to what makes a good jumping horse. Modern QHs are less likely to jump well than older horses were.
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Funny you should say that. My QH has a long neck and great shoulder. He can also jump, as I found out when he cleanly jumped a four-foot wall on the first day I brought him home. The cutting/reining/ranch types are built very different from the typical halter/pleasure type. Long necks, open throat latches, more uphill. My horse looks like a TB or warmblood cross.
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I am responding to an earlier post about TBs having significant health/soundness issues.
Well this may be true. Luckily for me my OTTB is sound and going strong at age 18. I hope she stays healthy and happy as long as possible. I’ve had her since she was four and I love her to pieces. She has a home with me forever : )
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There seems to be two types of OTTB. The ones who are so crippled they can’t do any job at all, from an early age. And the ones who will keep working happily to the day they die, despite usually having a bunch of ‘jewelry’ from their years of work.
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