The American Quarter Horse gets its name from being able to outrun other types of horse in a quarter mile and even sometimes less. They can even reach speeds up to 55 mph. The American Quarter Horse is the most popular breed of horse in the United States, and the most registered horse with the American Quarter Horse Association, there are almost five million registered around the world.
The Quarter Horse is quite the show horse; they have high performance in rodeo, horse shows, ranch work and are very commonly used as police horses in the city areas. They especially excel in calf roping, barrel racing, as well as many western riding events. They also show signs of higher intelligence than other breeds and more easily encouraged to work.
The American Quarter is the result of many different breeds of horse, it was a cross breed between English horses and the Chickasaw which is also in turn related to the Arabian and Barb, which were brought into the United States by Spanish Conquistadors.
During the Colonial times, this horse was called the "Quarter Miler" or "Quarter Mile Horse" due to its quick rate of getting things done on a farm. It was also sometimes referred to as the "Celebrated American Quarter Running Horse", used for work during the working week and then was used for sporting events as a race horse on the weekends. After the American Quarter Horse or "Quarter Miler" developed a reputation for itself, quarter mile races on a more flat terrain became popular with the Quarter Horse as its star.
The American Quarter Horse Association even has a Hall of Fame to honor it's more well known horses. One such horse goes by the name of Baby Doll Combs, a horse that earned over $400,000 in prize money in her career (1957 to 1960) when she died. The owner had her returned to the ranch where he lived to give her a proper burial, where many of the riders that were grateful for the money they earned from her attended. There they had a picture taken at her gravesite that was printed in Time Magazine. The Professional Rodeos Cowboy Association (PRCA) honored her by inducting her into their Hall of Fame; in 2004 the American Quarter Horse Associated did the same by honoring her memory in their Hall of Fame.
The Quarter Horse's physical characteristics can be classified to into two differential classes, the stock horse and then race or hunter horse. The physique of the stock breed is short and compact yet has well toned muscle and agility while the race/hunter horse stands a little bit taller and their muscle tone is a bit smoother compared to the stock horse.
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