From the Publisher – Revisiting Our Roots
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14 – November/December, 2014
By Tom Grabe
Recently, Amy and I were tasked with finding two dead-broke, healthy, good-minded horses for some friends in Ohio. There was a list of requirements that made this task a bit more daunting for us. The horses had to be capable of being ridden on a trail, a real trail over hills, through valleys and rivers that cover their nearly 2000 acre property. Their farm is peppered with trophy deer, wild birds, rabbits, squirrels and coyotes, so the horses had to be broke to gunfire so the riders can shoot them from the saddle. These horses had to be able to go a month or more without being ridden, then saddled up and taken to the trail without a week of longeing before the ride. Finally, whatever horses we eventually found had to be able to load into and unload from a trailer with ease. Sounds like the dream horse everyone wants to own, right?
Even though our friends have ridden in the past (one of them used to show Quarter Horses decades ago), they haven’t ridden regularly in 30 years. It was important to find them horses that would meet their requirements as well as stock that was easy to manage and would not hurt them… ever. They knew we had Quarter Horses and they thought we could help them find the perfect horse, a Quarter Horse.
If you visit the AQHA website, you will find a section about breed characteristics. It says, “The American Quarter Horse has unique features that make it specially suited for a variety of tasks.” It goes on to say, “If you have ever seen a horse in one of rodeo’s timed events, been along for work on a ranch or watched a Western on the big or small screen, 9 times out of 10 you have witnessed an American Quarter Horse.” These statements are 100% correct. These characteristics made us fall in love with Quarter Horses. It’s also the reason our friends made the Quarter Horse their preference.
Amy made numerous calls to people we knew and trusted and the search was on. She also starting talking to some ranchers we know out West who, in turn, referred her to some other ranchers who had horses who seemed to fit the bill. Frankly, in the beginning, I didn’t know if horses like this even existed anymore. I wasn’t sure how many people even rode the trails and worked their farms with horses. This is the 21st Century where modern cowboys use four-wheelers and helicopters to check fences and gather stock, I thought. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Amy met some wonderful, salt-of-the-earht people with terrific horses. These are people who spend long hours every day working their farms and, in turn, their horses. The time they spent with these horses was apparent. They were proud of everything these horses could do whether it was roping a calf to vaccinate or brand, ride their property checking fences and looking for lost stock, or babysitting their four-year-old child and growing up as its best friend; all of the reasons we love Quarter Horses. These horses were amazing – not for their perfect conformation or a specific way of moving – but for their minds and their ability to do so many things. Their versatility.
In the end, our friends bought not two, but four horses. They love them all and they are riding more than they ever thought they would because they are having so much fun; which got me to thinking…
AQHA has developed new classes like Performance Halter, Ranch Horse Pleasure, and Versatility Ranch Horse. I know the Versatility Ranch Horse competition covers five events – ranch riding, ranch trail, ranch cutting, working ranch horse and ranch conformation – however it doesn’t seem to get much attention from those within the association. Maybe it’s because, to me, it is a bit confusing, with the need to enter five separate events at a show with credit being given for placements in those events.
Why not have an event similar to a 3-day event, where the horses are entered in a single class consisting of Performance Halter, Ranch Horse Pleasure and Extreme Trail. I mean EXTREME TRAIL where the horse actually has to traverse a river, walk over large logs through woods with animals, encountering cattle, and whatever shows up that day? And make it a big deal. Hold it in Amarillo during the Select World at one of the big ranches there, or at the Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Make it a World Championship of Versatility. I would tape it and televise it on RFD-TV.
This, to me, would help AQHA show the public the qualities that make Quarter Horses special while returning to the roots of the breed and the basis for this great association.
