Foundation Quarter Horse
Poco Bueno
What is a Foundation Quarter Horse?
'However, the Foundation term refers to several thousand Quarter Horses whose pedigrees go back to the early Foundation stallions, such as Poco Bueno or Driftwood, who contributed to the success of the American Quarter Horse in so many different ways.
In addition, the Foundation Horse refers to a horse that combines versatility, willingness to learn and excellent conformation, which is so typical of the American Quarter Horse. These horses are versatile, athletic and balanced enough to do any work they are offered. In the minds of many, this is a 1.45-1.55 metre horse that is both athletic and gentle at around 550 kg,' says J.B. Campbell.
'They were big 'bulldog-style' horses, with a lot of muscle, good bone and hooves,' explains Deborah Skow of Horizon Quarter Horses in Keensburg, Colorado. She says that many modern lines are characterised by passing on speed and finesse to their offspring, often resulting in health problems.' Many of our foundation bred horses can bring a bit more of that solid bone and mass,' Deborah says proudly, emphasising that both a solid foundation and good character are important in breeding.
For John Anderson, the old bloodlines are like a tool in his breeding programme: 'The foundation bloodlines have some proven genetic advantages that we can use as a kind of gap filler in modern bloodlines where there is a genetic weakness.' However, there are also differences in the foundation lines and care should be taken not to use the term foundation too carelessly for all 'old' bloodlines, emphasises John.
Even though Deborah and John like to see foundation stallions and mares in the pedigrees of their offspring, they do not want to limit themselves completely to breeding foundation horses. They try to get the best out of both breeding specialities in order to breed an exceptional horse.
Geschichte des Foundation-Quarter Horse
by Westphalia Ranch
That's a damn good question and one we get asked all the time.
The answer is simple: a Foundation Quarter Horse is a REAL Quarter Horse.
Firstly, we need to take a look at the history. The Quarter Horse breed originated in colonial Virginia in the early 1600s. Early breeders bred for a 'Quarter type', regardless of pedigree. They crossed Thoroughbreds, Arabians and light coldbloods to achieve this goal. These Quarter-type horses were short-haired, had kind eyes, strong feet and bones, a broad chest, very strong hindquarters and were typically between 140cm and 152cm tall and weighed around 550kg. They re-crossed these horse types to get the 'quarter type'.
What they discovered was that they had a horse that was versatile for almost any task imaginable.
They used these 'Quarter Type' horses for every conceivable purpose, whether it was farming, logging, hitched to a buggy or under saddle working cattle. On Sundays after church, they would organise races with these fine horses for a jug or a bet. Many a fortune was made and lost in the process.
Since open space was limited in the New World, the main street of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, was very popular. It was originally a 1/4 mile from end to end. Hence the name 'Quarter Type'. In colonial times, it was also popular to call these horses 'Quarter Pathers' as they were often ridden in the wooded areas through which only trails were cleared.
Over the next 200+ years, this breeding practice continued, but in the meantime, 'Quarter-Types' were bred with other 'Quarter-Type' horses, occasionally introducing a foreign stallion with 'Quarter-Type' characteristics, typically a Thoroughbred. The early breeders did an excellent job of preserving this particularly American breed and its characteristics.
In the 1840s, a large number of people settled in the American West, known in history as the 'Great Western Expansion'. Naturally, the settlers took their horses and their breeding practices with them. These fine horses were used for every conceivable task and were an integral part of the development of the West.
During the Civil War, these 'Quarter Horses' were used as cavalry horses for both Confederate and Union troops. They were prized for their steady performance and reliability under fire.
In the late 1800s, several prominent breeders of these 'Quarter Type' horses decided to form the Quarter Horse Breeders Association. These breeders typically came from the large ranches in Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Arizona, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico and California, which is why the Quarter Horse breed is so closely identified with the West. This association remained until the end of the First World War. Many thousands of these horses were shipped to the cavalry units fighting in the European theatre of war. After the war, interest in the association waned, membership declined and the association disbanded.
A few decades later, in 1940, interested Quarter Horse breeders took up the cause again and founded the American Quarter Horse Association, based in Amarillo, Texas. The association has remained intact ever since and is the largest horse breed registry in the world. These founding breeders of the AQHA defined certain breed characteristics of the Quarter Horse that had been traditional since colonial times in Virginia around 1600. These horses were affectionately referred to as 'Bulldogs', 'Billys' or 'Steel Dusts' and were considered the standards of the breed.
Unfortunately, over the years, many Quarter Horse breeders have not adhered to the standards set by the founders of the AQHA. To make a long story short: Sometime in the 1960s, some influential Quarter Horse breeders decided to reintroduce Thoroughbreds into the established Quarter Horse breed. Their motives were purely profit orientated as they raced these Quarter Horse/Purebred crosses and won many races. Over time, the basic characteristics of the Quarter Horse were largely lost, as the horses were now taller, leaner and simply no longer possessed the characteristics from which the Quarter Horse breed was originally developed.
How does a Quarter Horse thoroughbred cross become a Quarter Horse? The answer is quite simple. First, the offspring of a registered Quarter Horse and a registered Thoroughbred is entered into the American Quarter Horse Association's Appendix Registry. Second, this Appendix offspring is eligible to participate in a series of sanctioned Quarter Horse Performance Events or a Speed Index (see AQHA Rule 423). Once the offspring has accumulated enough points or achieved a speed index of 80, he is eligible to be added to the regular Quarter Horse Registry via a formal application (see AQHA Rule 203). Of further importance is that once the horse is recognised, all of its offspring are automatically eligible for full registration.
Over time, it would not be difficult to actually breed the Quarter Horse out of the breed. As a result, most modern Quarter Horses do not look or behave as the original Quarter Horse was intended. It's sad that in a few short decades, what took nearly 400 years to create has been largely undone.
So how could they get away with it? This answer is also simple. Since Quarter Horses were originally bred as 'Quarter Type' and it is well documented that many Thoroughbreds were introduced into the Quarter Horse breed, many modern breeders have failed to consider the 'Quarter Type' characteristics of these Thoroughbreds when breeding to registered Quarter Horses. In fact, there is a loophole in the AQHA rulebook that has been and continues to be exploited out of greed for speed.
So today we have two types of registered Quarter Horses; and they look quite different. There is the 'modern Quarter Horse' with a thin neck, small head, slender body, thin legs, small feet, often 160cm to 170cm tall and a not always pleasant disposition, whose pedigree contained a disproportionate amount of thoroughbred. Then we have the 'True Quarter Horse (Foundation Quarter Horse)', which looks exactly like a 'Quarter Type' horse should look and has all the physical and mental characteristics that were originally intended. Yes, there is thoroughbred in all Foundation Quarter Horses...that is undisputed. But it only takes a simple visual inspection of the two breeds to know that a Thoroughbred neither looks like nor is a 'true' Quarter Horse. It's as easy as saying that a greyhound and a German shepherd don't look the same. We are not saying that thoroughbred horses are undesirable, but that they are simply not Quarter Horses in the true sense of the word.
Thoroughbreds were bred to race over long distances up to four miles; and Quarter Horses were bred to be versatile working horses ridden over short distances.
Now back to the original question.... What is a Foundation Quarter Horse?
It is a true Quarter Horse, exactly what the founders of the American Quarter Horse Association intended, and not a horse that looks and acts like a Thoroughbred.
The easiest measure to determine if a Quarter Horse is a foundation Quarter Horse is to examine the extended pedigree. Thoroughbreds introduced AFTER 1940 should be considered when evaluating the percentage of Quarter Horse. It's as simple as that.
Fortunately, there are only a handful of foundation breeders in the United States who have been able to preserve the 'real' Quarter Horses and maintain the integrity of the breed, with the pedigrees to prove it.