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He won a lot in English classes (dressage, hacking, show hunter) including a few dozen national and state titles. We mainly ride English, though he looked great in western as well. I believe he's still the highest awarded Cremello or Perlino of any breed in the world, but most of all he's a much loved part of our family. As a Quarter Horse, he is a 5 X National Champion and 5 X National Reserve Champion and 9 X State Champion, and under other registrations he has lots of national and state titles against all breeds.
In western gear doing a jog and lope, he looks all QH; in a dressage test, he's all big movement (a few dressage judges bred their Warmblood mares to him after seeing him compete and being surprised that a QH could really move - well, they all can, it's just that they usually get trained for smaller movement, not bigger).
Quarter Horses doing non-western events is fairly popular here in Australia. Here's a video of the open hack class at the 2011 AQHA national champs - the first two horses called in win at Royal and state level in open classes against Warmbloods, Thoroughbreds, and other popular breeds in English classes Our Perlino ended up 3rd in this class (he's won it in other years) - a very traditional English judge who is not in favour of stallions in hack classes (OK at breed shows like this but not Royal hack classes) and the colour goes against us with judges who still think it's 'albino'. The palomino in the same class is one of his sons. I think it was the following year or year after that in the class of 21 horses, in the top 10 called in, there was Duffy (Days of Gold) and three of his sons, which was a thrill for us. This is my daughter on him - she's six feet tall so she makes him look small
'Days of Gold' competing at the 2011 Quarter Horse Nationals - YouTube
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Dressage at the lower levels is really about accurate riding on a free moving horse, so it's easy. They want to see a horse up off the forehand and moving easily and happily with impulsion. There are only a set number of patterns, which are called 'tests' in dressage, starting with the lowest level which are walk/trot tests. Then you work your way up through the levels. Quarter Horses do well at the lower levels because they are accurate - when the test says trot at A, the horse trots exactly there, not a stride before or after.
Ohh thats cool. Ive seen some like that before but not with QHs. I would figure they would compete at a lower level because they were made for western riding. They have this event in western and its call western dressage. Its literally the same thing as English dressage but in a western saddle and bridal. Ive ridden English one time and that was for like 30 mins on a hunter jumper. Is there anything different in Australia than in the U.S? I used to watch that TV show called keeping up with the Jones i think and it was about racehorse people in Australia
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We think of Quarter Horses as 'made for western riding' but that's only what is mainly done with them - remember, they are a breed based on British short distance Thoroughbreds bred for sprint racing before they specialised in being cow horses and, from there, to the modern western events as we know them. There are still plenty of tall, big-moving QHs that are fine at non-western disciplines.
There's heaps of things the same between our countries, and so many different things, too. We seem to be pretty laid back here in Australia. Like, when the government brought in 'gun control' - we didn't think it was the end of the world, we just kind of shrugged and said, "Well, I didn't really need that semi-automatic for shooting pigs, so the bolt action will be fine." and went on with life. I've spoken with plenty of US friends who think 'gun control laws' are an example of the government taking over their lives. We were fine with it - lost our semi automatics (the 'assault rifles') which we didn't really need for real hunting, anyway, and were fine with what we were able to use.
With horses, we tend to be more English than western. We have thousands of horse shows - I mean, just within an hour radius of me, there'd be about a few thousand horse competitions a year - and only a small percentage are for western horses. There's lots of dressage (I'm in a dressage club), campdrafting, team penning, jumping, pony club (no one rides in western saddles at pony club), eventing, and pleasure riding, as well as the more western disciplines like reining and rodeo. One of our main breeds here, apart from Thoroughbreds, of course, is the Australian Stock Horse - another breed based on Thorughbreds but with a fair bit of QH as well. I had a cremello ASH stallion and sold him to a stud in Japan.
Our schools are quite different here, too. I'm a teacher at high school. Our kids all wear school uniforms, which makes it easy on them as they don't have to compete with each other about clothing brands or 'what to wear' - same thing for everyone every day. The kids in our state can't get their driver's licence until they are 17, and have to do 100 hours of supervised driving on a learner's licence before they get their licence. They also legally drink at 18, but plenty of them are frying their brain on alcohol at a much earlier age. Drugs are a problem, as they are everywhere, and I'm always trying to motivate teens to avoid drugs - I've seen too many throw their lives away with them and that makes me sad.
Most of us grew up on US tv shows, so we're quite 'Americanised', but there's also a lot of British tv, so we seem to know a lot about other countries through their tv shows Hmm, what else is different? Well, it's nearly sunset here (6.45pm) and I'm still in shorts and a t-shirt because it's been over 100F today, and I look outside and see a dozen kangaroos in the paddock near our house - that's definitely different.
Ask away if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Leanne O.
There's heaps of things the same between our countries, and so many different things, too. We seem to be pretty laid back here in Australia. Like, when the government brought in 'gun control' - we didn't think it was the end of the world, we just kind of shrugged and said, "Well, I didn't really need that semi-automatic for shooting pigs, so the bolt action will be fine." and went on with life. I've spoken with plenty of US friends who think 'gun control laws' are an example of the government taking over their lives. We were fine with it - lost our semi automatics (the 'assault rifles') which we didn't really need for real hunting, anyway, and were fine with what we were able to use.
With horses, we tend to be more English than western. We have thousands of horse shows - I mean, just within an hour radius of me, there'd be about a few thousand horse competitions a year - and only a small percentage are for western horses. There's lots of dressage (I'm in a dressage club), campdrafting, team penning, jumping, pony club (no one rides in western saddles at pony club), eventing, and pleasure riding, as well as the more western disciplines like reining and rodeo. One of our main breeds here, apart from Thoroughbreds, of course, is the Australian Stock Horse - another breed based on Thorughbreds but with a fair bit of QH as well. I had a cremello ASH stallion and sold him to a stud in Japan.
Our schools are quite different here, too. I'm a teacher at high school. Our kids all wear school uniforms, which makes it easy on them as they don't have to compete with each other about clothing brands or 'what to wear' - same thing for everyone every day. The kids in our state can't get their driver's licence until they are 17, and have to do 100 hours of supervised driving on a learner's licence before they get their licence. They also legally drink at 18, but plenty of them are frying their brain on alcohol at a much earlier age. Drugs are a problem, as they are everywhere, and I'm always trying to motivate teens to avoid drugs - I've seen too many throw their lives away with them and that makes me sad.
Most of us grew up on US tv shows, so we're quite 'Americanised', but there's also a lot of British tv, so we seem to know a lot about other countries through their tv shows
Hmm, what else is different? Well, it's nearly sunset here (6.45pm) and I'm still in shorts and a t-shirt because it's been over 100F today, and I look outside and see a dozen kangaroos in the paddock near our house - that's definitely different.Ask away if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Leanne O.
I knew about the ASH they are pretty athletic horses. I totally forgot about tbs in QHs lol. I sometimes refer Australians to southern British folk lol. I sometimes TRY to talk Australian lol Its not the best lol. Right now i would love to have like 75f weather i live in Arkansas if you know where that is. I like to call this weather hear bipolar. One day it can be nice and sunny and then you turn around and there are big black clouds in the sky. Do the kangaroos mess with the horses like mice do? Ive always wanted to see a kangaroo in real life. Most of all i want to pet a joey. They look so cute and cuddly!!!!!! Does it get so hot you cant ride some days? Do you have fans in the barn. I would probably have like 500 lol. I sweat here and the highest it was this year was like 90 something but it was to hot to ride our horses were in the pond it was so hot
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I've never been to the US but I know where all your states are, and know about your political system, economy, main rivers, history, etc. I have a lot of US friends - mainly horse owners, but also some tv people and writers.
Kangaroos are fairly timid -the horses chase them for fun, sometimes. They can be dangerous. My husband's grandfather was nearly killed by one - a big six foot + red pulled him off his horse and held him in locked arms while he ripped his hind claws down his sides and bit chunks out of his shoulders. He only survived because he managed to get one hand up to the roo's throat and choke off his air for long enough to get to the saddle, grab a tomahawk, and kill the roo. We have quite a few big greys here - they stand well over six feet tall but generally hop away if we approach. There ae cute little pretty-face roos that come around the house - they are really sweet. I've had pet joeys - they are funny but not too bright. If they get a fright, they can take off and they can jump over or through any fence. I once found one nearly 10kms (6 miles) from the house when he took fright and bolted (I lived on a sheep and cattle station - it was about 6 miles to the back paddock).
When I was younger, we'd still muster (round up) cattle if it was 110F or hotter, but we were tougher when we were young. These days, the horses stay in the shade and I stay under the air conditioning once it goes over 110. I used to run a lot of horse shows and we'd cancel if it went to 110, but 100 was OK if the humidity wasn't too high, we'd just remind people to give their horses plenty of water.
Not many barns have fans here - we're all used to the heat and the horses usually stand in the paddock under a tree. Mine will still happily graze in the sun when it's 115. Mind you, come winter, we can get big frosts and the troughs freeze over, but it's usually pleasant by mid-morning. If we have a real heat wave, I'll hose the yards down and sometimes create Koolgardie safes for the stallions - I hang sheets in their stables with the ends in tubs of water; the water wicks up the sheet and the evaporative effect lowers the temperature by 10 - 20 degrees. They're usually fine, though.
Arkansas looks to be a really pretty state with an interesting history. I teach history, so I love learning the history of places.
Cheers- you have a good day. I'm going to bed soon. It's a big world.
Leanne O..
Kangaroos are fairly timid -the horses chase them for fun, sometimes. They can be dangerous. My husband's grandfather was nearly killed by one - a big six foot + red pulled him off his horse and held him in locked arms while he ripped his hind claws down his sides and bit chunks out of his shoulders. He only survived because he managed to get one hand up to the roo's throat and choke off his air for long enough to get to the saddle, grab a tomahawk, and kill the roo. We have quite a few big greys here - they stand well over six feet tall but generally hop away if we approach. There ae cute little pretty-face roos that come around the house - they are really sweet. I've had pet joeys - they are funny but not too bright. If they get a fright, they can take off and they can jump over or through any fence. I once found one nearly 10kms (6 miles) from the house when he took fright and bolted (I lived on a sheep and cattle station - it was about 6 miles to the back paddock).
When I was younger, we'd still muster (round up) cattle if it was 110F or hotter, but we were tougher when we were young. These days, the horses stay in the shade and I stay under the air conditioning once it goes over 110. I used to run a lot of horse shows and we'd cancel if it went to 110, but 100 was OK if the humidity wasn't too high, we'd just remind people to give their horses plenty of water.
Not many barns have fans here - we're all used to the heat and the horses usually stand in the paddock under a tree. Mine will still happily graze in the sun when it's 115. Mind you, come winter, we can get big frosts and the troughs freeze over, but it's usually pleasant by mid-morning. If we have a real heat wave, I'll hose the yards down and sometimes create Koolgardie safes for the stallions - I hang sheets in their stables with the ends in tubs of water; the water wicks up the sheet and the evaporative effect lowers the temperature by 10 - 20 degrees. They're usually fine, though.
Arkansas looks to be a really pretty state with an interesting history. I teach history, so I love learning the history of places.
Cheers- you have a good day. I'm going to bed soon. It's a big world.
Leanne O..
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