it entirely depends on the horse. The stick-straight hind legs are a nope - they might still be ridden, but I guarantee they aren’t doing anything athletic, for long. But some of then do have pretty good conformation
Apparently I misread and she said roper not Reiner. I agree the size isn’t really an issue but none of these guys scream English performance prospect or dressage stud of choice.
https://www.aqha.com/-/top-roping-sires-of-2022
One of these guys compared to a Makuba, FS Don’t Worry, Golden State, etc is pretty apples and oranges.
I think you’d be surprised how they would look and move if they’d been started out with either of those things in mind, vs Roping 
Most of them have really good functional conformation. Several of them are actually high ranking Reiners and Cutters, who sired winning ropers, so those types aren’t too terribly different
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Fair point. I can’t say I’ve had much personal exposure to seeing these guys cross trained and showing in person
yeah, they’re really not cross-trained, with few exceptions. However, I have some Dressage friends who take on ex-reining/cutting client horses and it’s SO FUN to watch them get the training and change how they move. Though to be fair, those discplines do some of the work in creating horses who actually MOVE, unlike the HUS and WP training 
But I’ve also seen a few reining/cutting-bred horses who never went that route, going right to Dressage, and they look like little WBs who were bred for the Hunter ring (lower neck set, vs the higher set of a purpose-bred Dressage horse). They’re just well-conformed, which makes the biggest difference
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Breeding is such a gamble to begin with, I wouldn’t gamble on WBxQH. You never know what’s going to come through on the QH side just by looking at the sire. You could take a deep dive into his get, but you may never find one that has a WB dam.
I suppose if people are inclined to experiment, and have the time and the funds to do so and will give the resulting foal a home for life if it comes out wonky, then there’s no harm in it.
I’ve never known any breeders that were into experimenting, but apparently there are plenty out there.
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Best Young Horse last year at East Coast Sallie Wheeler was a WB x QH.
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I know. I just gave up trying to get that point across!
An older man at my BB had a lovely QH who was an ex roping horse. He was uphill in build, 16h, a lovely mover and very well built. No way you could compare him to a reiner! He didn’t ride much so I got to keep him in shape. He was wonderful.
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Any idea what the QH name was?
The 2023 East Coast Best Young Horse champion was the 2022 filly Charlotte RWC (registered as Simply Charlotte with the KWPN but also listed in USEF as Charlotte RWC and Chardoneigh RWC). She is by Cabardino and out of Lovin Honor, who is by Signature of Honor, an AQHA stallion by PS Sign the Card and out of Student of Art, a thoroughbred mare (French Cut – Wahoo Baby, Hula Chief).
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That’s correct. The dam is papered AQHA and showed in those shows before being bred. The mare is lovey. Charlotte is lovely.
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AQHA does allow TB’s to breed into their registry. The resulting foals are registered with an Appendix AQHA registration. Then can then acquire a full registration through performance. Most of the QH’s that are over 16hh and that would be closer in body type to a WB would be these horses.
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I’m only coming back because we were talking about DNA and how finnicky it can be. My IDSH, who is mostly QH, got spooked while I was mucking the other day and got down low in the front and did the neatest (/s) cutting back and forth thing in the front because of where she was standing and couldn’t decide which way to spook. Again, she doesn’t look QH and wouldn’t be confused as a QH, but the genes are apparently there - I don’t know much about QH breeding so I can’t say that side of the family is one discipline or another. I can guarantee my Morgan and my ID couldn’t do the same move even if it occurred to them.
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Photos of the same horse, about 14 years apart. Grandson of Doc Bar. Dam side were running bred. Went to the AQHYA World Championships in reining. Had yellow papers (AKA Appendix), but neither parent was a TB.
This horse was 15hh, easily had the scope to jump 3’ in his prime. His sunset career was as a foxhunter. If I had the money to clone him so I could breed mares to him, I would.
As many ppl have posted, the phenotype of the QH is all over the map. To say it’s a “roping” horse doesn’t tell us much about the horse. Bloodlines might help, but you have to look at the horse in front of you and maybe some of it’s lineage. I think it would be fine to cross a WB with a QH, but it would depend a whole lot on the phenotype of both parents and the desired outcome of the cross. I have now had a few warmbloods and a few TBs after growing up with mostly on QHs. I would take the QH brain over every other non-QH I’ve ever owned. I think the cross is worth a try if the parents complement one another.
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The definition of Appendix is QH x TB
"A new Appendix registry would be established for foals of registered Quarter Horses crossed with Thoroughbreds. "
https://www.aqha.com/-/the-ailing-append-1
" what happens when you mix the sought-after characteristics of the Quarter Horse and the Thoroughbred? You get an Appendix Quarter Horse"
" So how does AQHA register half Quarter Horse-half TB offspring? We’ve created the Appendix Registry. An Appendix Quarter Horse is not limited in any area except for breeding. Appendix horses are only eligible to breed permanent-numbered Quarter Horses. Appendix horses are denoted by an “X” at the beginning of their numbers (Ex: X0000000). So, you cannot breed an “X” with a “T” or an “X” with an “X.”
Appendix horses can advance and become permanent-numbered Quarter Horses. The basic requirement for advancement is a Register of Merit in showing (open division) or racing."
https://www.aqha.com/-/breeding-a-thoroughbred-to-a-quarter-horse
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I can post copy of his papers. They were yellow. They said Appendix at the top. Neither parent was a full-bred TB. His dam was an Appendix QH. This horse had well over than the required number of points to get white papers, but he was a gelding it wasn’t worth the hassle.
I had another horse showing in QH shows at the same time that had white papers (AKA “full” QH) and he had more TB blood than did this horse. He was taller than 16h and did English classes, mostly jumping. An Appendix QH doesn’t always have a pure TB parent. And many registered QHs are mostly TB, but aren’t Appendix.
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Yes, that is why you can have a registered appendix horse without a TB parent. My mare is the same. I’ve known horses with yellow papers who don’t have a TB show on them.
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We had a couple Te n Te’s when I was a kid. Super athletic horses!
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