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, nine times out of ten you have witnessed an American Quarter Horse.

The breeding and racing of American Quarter Horses began in what is now Virginia and the Carolinas. According to Alexander Mackay-Smith in The Colonial Quarter Race Horse (Whittet & Shepperson, 1983), the first known record of a Quarter Horse race was for an event run in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on July 19, 1672 – and was covered not for the sporting or even breeding aspects, but because it wound up in a lawsuit due to the losing horse's owner's initial refusal to pay up on his wager.

The American Quarter Horse was and is the first breed of domestic horse native to North America. The first studbook for any breed published on this continent was compiled by Patrick Nisbett Edgar in 1833, listing 63 American Quarter Horse stallions and mares and their pedigrees.  Each was designated C.A.Q.R.H. (Celebrated American Quarter Running Horse), F.A.Q.R.H. (Famous American Quarter Running Horse) or C.A.Q.R.M. (Celebrated American Quarter Running Mare). Geldings, evidently, got no respect. The Quarter Horses were so named because of their speed in quarter-mile races and treasured for their cow sense on the open range.

Today, American Quarter Horses compete in many events that started on the ranch. They excel in cutting, working cow horse, reining and roping events, and are known as the world’s most versatile horses.  For more information visit the American Quarter Horse Association, established as the breed's registry in 1940, at www.aqha.com.

Information and photos courtesy of the American Quarter Horse Association, reprinted with permission.