American Quarter Horse

The American Quarter Horse (also known as the Quarter Horse).  There are over 4.6 million registered horses, making it the most numerous breed of horse in the world.

Short noble wedge head with a small mouth, small ears and large moving eyes, pronounced jowls and forehead muscles, broad forehead, medium long neck, strong sloping shoulder, withers well marked, medium length back with strong loin, long, sloping, well-muscled croup and low set tail, strong chest with good conformation, correct and suitable foundation to the horse, short cannon bone, strong joints, hard hoofs medium, well-muscled forearm and thighs.

Currently, two different types of quarter horses are bred. One type is still compact and flexible. This horse used for reining and cutting-disciplines. The second type is large, narrow and long. It is suitable for Pleasure, Horsemanship and Hunter disciplines.
Colors

All colors occur, since 2004 Quarter Horses in the American Quarter Horse Association have been registered, provided both parents are registered Quarter Horses, as demonstrated by genotyping of both parents and the foal.  Where a parent is a Paint Horse, the only filly in the American Paint Horse Association Paint Horse can be registered.  Badges are extensive but remains as an undesirable and not characteristic of the breed.

Most typical is the coat pattern “Buckskin”.  The term comes from the American and means “dun”.  This designation has established itself in the breeding of Quarter Horses. At first glance, these horses are simply sand color. However, they have a lot of different shades and markings.

The colors range from yellow or gold with black markings. The color “grullo” (dark beige) has a dorsal stripe and sometimes crosswalk and shades. White markings are disliked and are allowed only below the carpus or hock. The predominant color is sorrel (Fuchs, 30%). Often the colors are bay (brown, 20%) and chestnut (roan, 10%).
The AQHA knows 17 different coat colors (translated from Reference Chart Color & Markings of AQHA):

Sorrel (Fox): reddish or copper red hair. Mane and tail are usually the same color, but may be flaxen. Dorsal stripes are possible.
Black (stallion): black coat with no bright spots, and black mane and tail.
Bay (Brown): Coat color from brown to red to reddish-brown. Mane, tail and lower legs are black. Dorsal stripes are possible.

Brown (Dark brown or black, brown): brown or black fur with bright spots on mouth, eyes, flank and on the inside of the thigh. Mane, tail and rump are black.
Blue Roan (black horse) with Stichelhaar: The coat is more or less a uniform mixture of white and black hair (Stichelhaar. Provided that the head and lower legs are dark. It may contain a few red hairs in the mix.

Grullo (Mausfalbe): The coat is smoky or mouse colored (not Stichelhaar or a mixture of white and black hair like the Blue Roan, but each hair is gray). Mane, tail and lower legs are black. Normally, with dorsal stripe.

Bay Roan (brown with Stichelhaar): The coat consists of a more or less uniform mixture of white and red hair (Stichelhaar) on the bulk of the body. The head is dark, usually red, but may also have some black. Mane, tail and lower legs are black.
Red Roan (fox with Stichelhaar): The coat is more or less a uniform mixture of white and red hair (Stichelhaar. Provided that the head and lower legs are red. Mane and/or tail are red or flaxen.

Chestnut (roan): The hair color is dark red or reddish brown. Mane and tail are usually dark red or reddish brown too, but may be flaxen. Mane and tail may be black, but the legs are red. Dorsal stripes are possible.
Red Dun (red dun): A Dun, yellow or flesh colored. Mane and tail are red, reddish, flaxen, white or mixed. The dorsal stripe is red or reddish. Normally, with red zebra stripes on the legs or horizontal stripes over the withers.

Dun (buckskin): Yellowish to golden coat with black or brown mane and tail and dorsal stripe. Normally, even with zebra stripes on the legs or horizontal stripes over the withers.
Palomino (Isabell): The hair color is golden yellow. Mane and tail are white. Without a dorsal stripe.

Gray (horse): A mixture of white and different colored hair. At birth, the foals have no white markings and get lighter with age, until they have completely white fur.
Buckskin (earth tones): Yellowish to golden coat with black mane, tail and legs. Without a dorsal stripe.

Cremello (Weisisabell): The coat is creamy white or light. Mane and tail are also white. The skin is pink to pale pink over the whole body. The eyes are blue.
White (dominant white horse): White fur on pink skin. The eyes are dark. Small dark spots on the skin can be, but are not usually, accompanied by colored hair. Some “white” horses can be geflemmt, ie they have colored spots in some places, usually mixed with white hair.
Perlino: White or slightly cream-colored fur.

Mane and tail are usually a darker shade – pale coppery or orange. The skin is pink to pale pink over the body. The eyes are blue.
Roan Palomino (Palomino with Stichelhaar): The coat consists of a more or less uniform mixture of white and gold and yellow hair.  Mane and/or tail are white.

Mostly calm temperament, sensitive, but very strong nerves, easily trainable, willing to learn.
Breeding History

Horses were extinct on the American continent before the conquistadors imported them again. The Spaniards and Portuguese brought Arab, Berber and Andalusian horses into what is now Mexico. With the large Siedlerströmen in the 17^th and 18^th Century arrived well as their typical horse breeds: Irish ponies, English Thoroughbreds, Percherons and others as well.

The combination of these breeds and the descendants of Spanish horses, the American Quarter Horse, were a distinctive character in type and breed of horse.  The name derives from the Quarter Mile Races, at the end of the 18th Century in the cities of the southern states were popular.

This was about racing, which easily blocked the main road for about 440 yards (400m) and two horses competed (match race).  During the conquest of the West, the American Quarter Horse played an important role. Only the toughest and most powerful animals existed in the daily struggle for survival. They were an indispensable partner of the Cowboys, but also pulled the plow of the farmer on Sundays to the church.

This versatility and reliability has become an essential feature that has kept the race until today.
The classic, muscular but quick and agile Quarter Horse is now known as “stock type”. They are named after the corresponding tournament disciplines of western riding. The “keeper” type has a sense of body-builders among Quarter Horses.  Purely on performance and less on appearance, the horses are bred for cattle work, the “Cow Sense” allows them to operate virtually independently with cattle and reining-horses, which are relatively small and light, and thus highly manoeuvrable.  Animals from such crosses are entered into a so-called Appendix Registers of herd book.