Conformation is the Question Through a QH breeders eyes

I'm in the barn on my phone, will post more later. Interesting stuff to ponder for sure!

If both sides end up mad at me, oh well. I don't do cliques either ;) She was a nicely put together mare that served the purpose she was created for. I can appreciate nice horse flesh regardless of what's behind it. I already take heat from my grandfather, he's a very dyed in the wool working qh man and I now own the family farm he started and did the ultimate sacrilege (in his mind) when I bought myself a Hanoverian to ride for fun. One of his friends stopped in and saw my big mare in the pasture and told me "That's the ugliest qh I've ever seen." I just giggled and continued doing chores.
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When people pick on my horses I just tell them they are QH's from a hundred years in the future.....when they look at me weird I say if the standards keep changing like they have been

I was a dairy farmer and had grade Holstein cattle. I bred my best cows to the best bulls I could find that offset the worse features of my cows and added some production.. but since the cows produced well (had a herd avg in the top 3% in the State) I was more interested in a structurally sound cow that would last physically.

I think that farmers and ranchers bred dogs and horses and cattle etc. the same way. They used the best they had.. and if the best horse was from a feral herd they used that horse.

The thing to recall in this is that the feral horses of the middle 1800's had mostly Barb blood and were really good horses. The Native Americans used them and while small, the outlasted the Government troop horses and were faster. The US Government actually put Draft Horse Stallions in the feral herds to water down the stock to something slower.. (per Dr. Deb Bennett's books and literature). The result is what we see today in the feral herds.. an occasional nice one (and there are!) and a lot of not so nice ones.

From my understanding and past reading, the Thoroughbred was added to the Quarterhorse to add speed and a more consistent type. Remember.. in those days there were no horse trailers, shipped semen, TV and so forth. That same little ranch horse was often called upon to be in a horse race on Saturday night.

Men and not a few women defined themselves by their horses! Status was to have a really good horse... it was prestigious to have a Thoroughbred in a place (Western US) where getting such a thing was rare. Those horses came from the East and some even from England. English Blood was known.. such as Imported Messenger who influenced both the American Thoroughbred AND the American Standardbred!

Horses were, in those days, the Rolls Royce, BMW, etc. of today. Most of the population was relegated to something much less as a ride.. and on some occasions, those "lesser" rides showed up at a competition and cleaned house.. and deals were struck and horses were bred.. sometimes in secret.

Most American breeds of horses go back to some unknown mare or stallion... and is many cases it was known... but not shared. Justin Morgan was such a horse... as was Hambletonian...

Interesting in your list of statistics is the number of Cleveland Bays and Suffolk Punch.. both now rare breeds because their usefulness has gone by the wayside. No one needs a Rangey tall Carriage horse that breeds both true to color and type to make matched teams and 4 in hands.. and no one needs a nice small compact draft horse like the Suffolk. I always liked both these breeds. I suppose the Cleveland bay was replaced in today's world by the more athletic Warmbloods and the faster racing Standardbred. The Suffolk just simply is not used.. always sorrel and not flashy.. so is not favored for any replacement 'sport.'

My breed of dog is the German Shepherd. I had one that herded cattle on my dairy farm.. and that dog had me fall in love with the breed. Sadly, that was years ago and the breed has segued into three breeds (American show, German Show and Working lines)... none of which are what that first dog was.

And I agree with MHFoundation.. I do not care the breed or the lines UNLESS I am breeding. A good horse is a good horse (your mare is).

When breeding I have been taught a less than stellar individual out of Stellar lines is better to use for breeding than a Stellar Individual out of mediocre lines. Niatross (the famous Standardbred Pacer) was such an animal. He was syndicated and an entire upstate NY farm was built around him... and he was a dud stud. Farm was foreclosed on I believe....

We always say look in the mines for diamonds. You can find diamonds in the rough but there more in the mine.
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LOVE the black one!!!
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The QH was actually designed out of some TB and farm horses in Virginia WAAAAY before QH's moved out west. I would not be surprised if there was some Morgan in those QH's because the Morgans and QH's developed pretty much around the same time. The QH's were developed as race horses first....then once the west was settled, the ranch horse aspect came in. But the QH was around before that.

I would prefer to buy the stallion if I were looking for a good riding horse.
I have had a lot of people ask me if my welsh C x TB mare is a morgan, there are similarities in looks and temperament. The english settlers brought welsh cobs over with them as they were small strong horses capable of plowing & clearing a small parcel of land, looking smart to pull the family trap to church and a good riding horse. Crossed with a TB you get something faster and more refined
Its a shame that the suffolk Punch lost popularity against the shires and clydesdales etc - they are more compact, not feathered and have a nice head - they are a good cross with a TB
A lot of breeds are losing out by a demand to have some particular feature - small pretty head, flashy action. Huge quarters etc and the rest of the conformation gets thrown out of the window.

Well, because these are Morgans, but I am supposed to look at this as if I was looking at QHs...which means I'm looking for type (no matter what the breed is), it would be the black stud hands down. As he shows the classic type of a Morgan. He is extremely typey and I like him ALOT. The brown mare shows "outside" influence of another style, a modern style...that is not classic to the breed. She's more ASB or Arab looking...longer in the body, more swan like neck, much flatter croup (all characteristic more towards ASB and Arabian). Relate this to QH's and what you have is comparing a shorter, stockier, short cannon boned, shorter backed QH...to a taller, reedier, longer bodied, plainer headed Appendix with heavy TB influence. (which in QH terms would relate to be more TB looking.)