The Exceptional Quarter Horse Trivia Quiz

Answer: yes

The American quarter horse is a true American breed. It's the first American breed, followed by others, such as the American saddlebred, the Morgan and the Tennessee walking horse. The American quarter horse officially held that name in 1940, when a registry was formed.

The quarter horse has held many names, including the celebrated American running horse. An early type of quarter horse (sometimes called the quarter mile horse) was first raced in 1674.

Answer: Akhal Teke

Much like the Thoroughbred, the quarter horse is product of the Barb, the Turk and the Arabian. As you can see, the two horses turned out quite differently. The quarter horse also has thoroughbred blood. One noted thoroughbred sire is Sir Archy.

Answer: Appaloosa

The Appaloosa is a coat color and a breed. The quarter horse can have a spotted coat, however, as long as both parents are DNA tested. It can be a paint (a coat color and breed), as the AQHA (American Quarter Horse Association) ruled that "any horse with 2 AQHA registered parents to be registered, no matter how much white they expressed. Frame overo and sabino, from minimum to maximum expression, are responsible for the "crop out paints" seen in the breed.

A palomino is a golden coat with a white mane and tail. The grulla is a mouse-gray with primitive markings, such as cobwebbing on the face, zebra striping on the legs, and a dorsal stripe.

Answer: Peter McCue

Peter McCue was a stud in 1895. Although he was registered as a Thoroughbred, it was found that his sire was different than the one on his pedigree. Most modern quarter horses can trace their pedigrees back to Peter McCue.

Wimpy and Traveler are two other foundation sires to the breed. Doc's Keepin Time was the horse that played Black Beauty in the movie of the same name. Golden Cloud was renamed "Trigger," and was Roy Rogers horse.

Steel Dust was another influential sire. His progeny were known for their "Steel Dust" look. He was a good sire of running, racing and cow horses.

Answer: Yes

The quarter horse is known for its patience and intelligence. When trained, its calm nature makes it an ideal pet for children.

Answer: Yes

The AQHA defines buckskin as "Body color yellowish or gold; mane and tail black; usually black on lower legs," and a dun as "body color yellowish or gold; mane and tail may be black, brown, red, yellow, white or mixed; often has dorsal stripe, zebra stripes on legs, transverse over withers."

Answer: Steeplechasing

While the quarter horse can make a good English horse, steeplechases are long distance races over fences. The quarter horse is known for its speed over the quarter mile, hence its name. Its agility makes it a good horse for all Western events but it is not built for long distance racing.

Answer: Intelligent and versatile

The quarter horse is known for its intelligence and versatility. It's also a calm breed, and can usually be trusted to carry children as long as it's well-trained. The quarter horse is usually easy to train, and easy to handle as well.

Answer: Wimpy

Wimpy was foaled in 1935. In 1940, the directors of AQHA decided to give the first registration to the grand champion at the 1941 Fort Worth Exposition and Fat Stock Show. Wimpy won, and was then registered as the first American Quarter Horse. The horse that took reserve was Silvertone.

Doc Bar was an influential sire foaled in 1956. A beautiful, winning horse, he was humanely euthanized July 20, 1992.

Bert was foaled in 1934. He was a coarse looking horse, but he sired some comely foals. Bert died in 1956 after siring 292 foals, three of which were world champions.

Answer: yes

There are over 3,700,000 American quarter horses registered worldwide. The American quarter horse makes a wonderful trail horse, an excellent cow horse, a beautiful competition horse and a showy dressage horse. It's no wonder that the breed is as popular as it is.