Orrin Mixer was commissioned to paint the "ideal" QH in 1968...
The same year that the horse he "stylized" the ideal from died...
It was none other than...
The immortal Three Bars.A Thoroughbred!!
There is no need for me to re-produce the history of this horse, but if you are interested, here are two good articles on him...Three Bars History and The Three Bars Story.
Of course when the AQHA came to be in 1940, this was the horse who was awarded the very first registration number-Wimpy P-1...
I would still consider him a pretty darn nice horse.Of course, as he aged he thickened up...
This is a much more common picture of Wimpy than the previous one. This probably has a lot to do with the idea that QH's have only recently been streamlined. Actually, a lot of the earlier "quarter horses" were pretty streamlined. They were built for speed. Their lineage paralleled the development of the Thoroughbred in the Colonies.
Of course, I am a big fan of Rugged Lark too!!!
He encompasses the ideal cross between TB and foundation QH. Interestingly enough, if you look at the thoroughbred side of Rugged Lark, you will see a lot of the same Thoroughbred names that you see in the foundation quarter horses. Horses like Questionnaire, Chicle, Upset and Sir Gallahad are right there in his 5 generation pedigree. Go the next 5 generations back and you see Peter Pan by Commando by Domino, Flying Fox, Bend Or, Voter, Broomstick by Ben Brush and lots of Galopin.
See, I am not a purist. I think the "right" Thoroughbred cross on foundation quarter horses almost always results in a superior offspring. I don't think any old TB will work though. I look for TB's bred like Rugged Lark's poppa!!
This is totally not where I intended to go tonight, but I delved into the "underworld" again and spent too much time inciting the locals!! Muahahahaha! Sorry, I can't help it. I have a mean streak and sometimes I like to torture poor lost souls.
It is late and I have a loooonnnngggg day of driving tomorrow. I'm off to bed. For once I am totally prepared to leave...That is scary!!!! TW, do I really have to pull over to take pictures?
PS-White Horse Pilgrim-I had never heard about the re-mount score you talked about. Very interesting. We will have to delve into that!
10 comments:
I'll try to keep this short. More than a few years ago, as a broke young lady, I was talking horses with a customer at our small town store.
When she found out my horse (the one and only one I had, that I only was able to afford b/c of a VERY sweet deal) was a TB mare she said (in a very snide tone) "And you ride western?! Why don't you get a REAL western horse like a QH or a paint?"
Offended and a bit hurt (I love my little mare!) I managed to spit out "You have a registered QH right? Why don't you go home, research his bloodlines and then come tell me HOW MUCH TB he has!!"
Better still, I actually got an apology about a week later when she'd done her research. :)
Ah Yes, Rugged Lark! Love Rugged Lark. My Reg.QH had Go Man Go on his papers, speedy devil, he was. He's now racing and winning in his new home.
As you know I am a big Rugged Lark fan. I saw him in OK City at his 'farewell performance'. Then I went into the stall area and was able to see him personally. Wow! He was like a rock star and I was totally twitterpated. I mean... RUGGED LARK! It was a good thing I was with other horse people or they might have committd me! That horse had carisma!
I often wonder what kind of speed horses we would have had if someone had thought to breed Seabiscuit to a QH mare...
Great post with great info. I agree with you. Sorry to have hijacked your other comments (and topic) LOL, I was inspired and LOVE LOVE LOVE conformation discussion! Please keep going with it if you have time...I'd love to learn more from you. I was looking at barrel horses online last night for a friend and had to do some serious refocusing to take my mind away from reiners and start looking at confromation that lends itself to speed.
What a great topic! I really enjoyed your post below, and I pretty much second (or third!) everything that was said by the other readers.
Conformation is a tricky thing, because some of the most "ideal" horses, contribute to the downfall of certain breeds. Ok..maybe not the "downfall," but breeding horses for looks, does not always gurantee function.
That being said, I still love a well-built, good looking horse:)
I had a mare that had Three bars, Doc Bar, Tonto Bar Hank,Some others I can't remember with out her papers. She was a awesome horse! Wimpy! What a name!! So opposite of what he was!!
What a fun post. I love QH history. It's funny how a lot of QH people do not like TBs but if they only took the time to look back at history. Fun post and good luck driving.
We made it...safe and sound. My ranch geldings are spending the next two weeks in some very fancy stalls. I hope they won't be ruined for life-LOL.
Horse Crazed-you didn't hijack at all. Don't go too racy when looking for good barrel horse conformation-remember, barrel racing is 80% about the ability to turn fast....like a good cowhorse, not so much about pure speed.
Melanie-You are right. Impressive was a super individual. He foaled super individuals. People just went crazy with the bigger, more muscled thing trying to win. They have bred halter horses to be so structurally correct that they are incapable of movement. But you can't blame one really nice horse, it is the people who took it beyond natural.
Great post!! I too love the history of the QH!
Hope you're having fun on your trip!!
Rugged Lark is gorgeous!
I chuckled at the comment about the TB being ridden western....such a common misconception. Really, any breed of horse can be ridden in any saddle, it is not the saddle that makes the horse!
Glad your road trip was safe and sound...enjoy the time w/your man!
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