THE QUARTER HORSE IS THE MOST POPULAR breed in the world, with more than 4 million registered worldwide. Approximately one third of the 9.2 million horses in the United States are quarter horses.
The breed originated on the East Coast of the American colonies, from Rhode Island, south. The English settlers were passionate about horse racing, but it was too much work to create a standard racecourse in the wilderness. The settlers scraped out quarter-mile tracks—sometimes it was the main street of the village—and ran short races. This favored explosive speed rather than the staying power of the English thoroughbred. The colonists called their racehorses “short horses, “quarter-milers,” or “quarter-pathers.”
The original horses were Spanish barbs, crossed with free-roaming horses of Spanish origin, some wild and some bred by the Chickasaw nation. The barbs spread from a Spanish colony in Florida. Thoroughbred stallions imported after 1750 added more speed and endurance.
When distance racing became popular in the 1800s, the
quarter-pathers went out of fashion as racehorses. Always good-tempered and versatile, they moved west with white settlers, pulling buggies and even plows.
As cattle ranching rose in importance, Western settlers discovered the great talent of their horses. Thanks to their Spanish blood, they had excellent “cow sense” and the speed and agility to perform well as ranch horses. That kindness, athleticism, and cow sense make quarter horses the world’s premier Western sport horse.
Quarter horses still race on quarter-mile tracks today. They’re the horse of choice for chariot and cutter racing, barrel racing, cowboy mounted shooting, reining, roping, and cutting. They also compete in English sports like dressage, eventing, jumping, and even driving.
American quarter ponies (like Queenie) have been bred since the 1960s. They are an 11.2 to 14.2 hand-high version of the American quarter horse, sturdy and substantial animals with the same agility and cow sense as quarter horses.
The sport of cutting is dominated by quarter horses. Cutting is based on ranch work. Cowboys always needed to bring individual cows out of the herd, for branding, for administering medicines to, or for separating animals to be sold. Horses with a special talent for doing this were much admired. Contests were often set up, with differing formats.
In 1946, the National Cutting Horse Association was organized by thirteen ranchers and cowboys at the Fort Worth
Stock Show & Rodeo. The organization is now active in all fifty states and twenty-two foreign countries.
Each cutting contestant has two and a half minutes to cut at least two cows from the herd. One cow must be brought out from deep inside the herd. The other cuts may be chipped from the edge of the herd.
The contestant has four riders of her choice to help. Two are herd holders, positioned on either side of the herd to keep the cattle from drifting into the middle of the arena. Two more riders stay between the cow being worked and the judges’ stands. These are the turn-back riders; they turn the cow back to the cutter if it tries to escape.
When the cutter has separated one cow from the herd, she must give the horse his head; it is now the horse’s job to hold the cow and keep it from rejoining the herd.
A cutting horse must be calm among cattle, yet capable of explosive bursts of speed and the ability to dominate cattle. Horses with Spanish ancestry, like quarter horses, are particularly apt to have “cow sense.” This is due to centuries of driving and working cattle on the Spanish plains, and also to the sport of bullfighting, which makes cow sense a matter of life and death.
American quarter horses are naturals for cutting, but other breeds do well, too; paints, Appaloosas, Morgans, and mustangs have all excelled at cutting.
Like all sports, cutting has its own jargon. Here are a few frequently used terms:
Baldie: white-faced cow
Commit: show intention to work a specific cow by looking at it and stepping toward it
Cow sense: the horse’s natural instinct for anticipating a cow’s moves
Cowy: showing cow sense and enthusiasm for working cattle
Cutter’s slump: posture of cutting-horse riders when they are sitting deep in the saddle. The rider sits on his back pockets with his back relaxed and curved slightly forward.
Drop on a cow: crouching posture of the horse when a cow has been cut and separated, and the rider drops his rein hand on the horse’s neck
Help: herd holders and turn-back riders. Asking someone to be a herd holder or turn-back rider at a competiton is referred to as “hiring help,” though no money changes hands.
Honor: refers to a cow that will acknowledge and look at a horse and rider
Quit: stop working a cow
Western: a description Western riders use for unruly behavior in a horse
For more information, go to the National Cutting Horse Association Web site.