I HEAR IT!

The “world’s fastest athlete” is often described as the American Quarter Horse on good grounds. The Quarter Horse gets its name from the ability to outrun almost every other horse in short distances of a quarter mile or less. Horse racing has grown in popularity around the globe and the emergence of American Quarter Horse racing, over the past few years, is gaining in popularity with some American Quarter Horses racing at 55 miles per hour.

The American Quarter Horse breed is most popular breed today in America. Even though the American Quarter Horse is seen in rodeos and horse shows,it is very common on the farms as a worker horse in the U.S. The compact body is perfect for the fast intricate maneuvers of the reining and the work of the cow horse. Other things that he can do well are calf roping, barrel racing and other rodeo events, especially ones that have to do with cows and calves.

Pre American native horses were cross bred with the imported horses from Britain during the sixteenth century by the colonists, which gave birth to the famous American Quarter Horse. Though the term “native” is actually erroneous as the horses in question were actually Chickasaw, a breed brought over from Spain by the Conquistadors. These “native” horses were actually developed from Iberian, Arabian and Barb stock!

When the American West was being settled during the 19th century, the settlers required a powerful horse that was willing to work. The American Quarter Horse filled the bill. During this westward movement, the Quarter Horses were bred with mustangs that had been domesticated by the Indians. The result was a horse that was born with “cow sense” ? a natural instinct for working cattle.

Arabian Horses

In the 1926 silent film, “Son of the Sheik” the Kellogg Arabian stallion, Jadaan, was rode by Rudolph Valentino. Arabians are apparently very photogenic and have been used in many other films over the years, including “The Black Stallion” with the famous stallion Cass Ole, “The Young Black Stallion,” which used over 40 Arabians during filming, as well as Hidalgo in the 1959 version of “Ben-Hur.”

It is easy to tell the Arabian horses from other breed from their distinctive head shape, high tail carriage and their elegance even you are not a horse fancier.

There are indications that as long as 4,500 years earlier, there were horses that resembled the Arabian breed today. Arabian horses progressed to a global existance expressly from war and trade, after their begining in the Middle East. Breeders who were interested in introducing increased speed, endurance, and refinement into their stock sought them. It is no surprise that nearly every modern breed of riding horse in the world today is found to have Arabian bloodlines somewhere in their lineage.

In the deserts of the Middle East, the Bedouin nomads kept their Arabian horses in their tents. The horses were given shelter from the heat because they were valued so highly. Arabian horses began to become gentle, good-natured and more anxious to please because of the compassionate association with humans.

The Arabian horse has a head whose shape is valued by horse lovers. There is a practical reason for the bulge on the head called “jibbah” which is that the bulge add an extra sinus capacity to the horse. We think that it has helped the Arabian horse to succeed in the dry desert climate it lives in.