Episode 10: All About Quarter Horses
Hello! Welcome to Flip N Tails: a tiny podcast for BIG horse lovers! I’m a horse girl who loves to ride and each week I’ll share about what I learn and love about horses. Today is episode ten and it’s all about Quarter Horses.
What are they? A horse or a pony?
Well, they’re a horse because they’re 14.3 hands tall. Quarter Horses are named for how they can go really fast in a quarter mile.
What are they known for?
Well they’re really fast. They’re light horses, like under 1,500 lbs. And they’re really good at western riding because they’re fast and they’re good at taking fast, tight turns. Some of the influences was the Thoroughbred and the Spanish horse.
Describe them
One of the most featured colors of a Quarter Horse is like a copper color, like a light brown, like the color of a penny. I would describe them as big, nice, kind, helpful, loyal. Because they help people with things in an everyday life. Sometimes they’re police horses, sometimes they’re western riding horses, sometimes they’re race horses, they’re just helpful with everything.
How do they standout from the crowd?
Well they have really big hind quarters and their girth is big and their withers to the tip of their chest is big and bulky. Think of them like the cowboy or cowgirl horse. They’re the ones chasing cattle, in other words, cows. Mustangs are the ones you see in rodeos. But don’t mistake them for Quarter Horses. Quarter Horses are easy to train and make a bond with. Mustangs are a bit harder than that.
Quarter Horses also like barrel racing.
There is a sport in horse riding called barrel racing. And it’s basically where they set up a bunch of barrels and you have to run around the barrels in a certain amount of time. That’s one of the courses that they do. Quarter Horses like doing that. They’re really good at that. Because they’re really fast for a quarter mile, that’s why they’re called Quarter Horses. Barrel racing is kind of like mimicking how they chase cows. They act really fast when there are cows in front of them. When they go around the barrels, it’s kind of mimicking the cow so that they go really fast. Quarter Horses weirdly are actually more motivated if there is a cow right in front of it. So it will go a lot faster if there is a cow right in front of it and it knows it’s supposed to chase it. So thank you cows, cow cowgirls and cowboys and the midwest for being the wilderness while it happened.
Famous example of a Quarter Horse
One of the most successful race horses of all time was named Easy Jet. He was really fast and he won lots of races and then he retired and became a breeding stallion. Fun fact, that’s why some of the best race horses in the world are Quarter Horses.
So that’s it! Now you know a tiny bit more about this special horse. Join us next time and subscribe for another episode of Flip N Tails: a tiny podcast for BIG horse lovers!