Quarter Horse
The Quarter Horse gets its name from its sprinting ability. It’s faster than most other horse breeds over a distance of ¼ mile.
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Class - Mammalia
Order - Perissodactyla
Family - Equidae
Genus - Equus
Species & Subspecies – E. ferus caballus
Common Names – American Quarter Horse, Quarter Horse
Quarter Horses are known for having a friendly temperament, and being fairly easy to train.
Quarter Horses are known for having a short head, a muscular body, and powerful chest. Their possible coat coloration is wide-ranging, but is most often a reddish brown shade known as “sorrel”.
There are two body types of Quarter Horse – the “stock” type, which is shorter and stockier, and the “racing” type which is taller.
The Quarter Horse was first developed in North America in the 1600s, by crossing imported horses from England and Spain with the native Mustangs and Chickasaw horses.
This produced a hardy, short statured horse that was well-suited for the American climate and terrain.
Quarter Horses are used for horse racing, able to beat many other breeds in a ¼ mile race. They can reach speeds of up to 55 miles per hour over short distances!
They are also used as recreational horses, found on farms as working horses, and excel in rodeo competitions.