A very popular breeding combination for ranch and working stock horses is a Quarter Horse crossed with an Arabian. This mixture, also known as a Quarab, produces some of the most dramatic color combinations that are ideal for registration within the Pinto Horse Association of America. In addition crosses between Pintos or Paints and Tennessee Walking Horses, gaited Mountain Pleasure Horses, Morgans and even the Thoroughbred can result in an excellent working ranch and stock horse.
A ranch or stock horse is valued for their inherited "cow sense". This is the ability of the horse to understand and anticipate how the livestock will react, and often the horse is actually thinking well in advance of the rider to either herd or maneuver the animal back to the herd, or to cut them out or away from the herd. The stock horse moves independent of the rider as the rider's reflexes are simply not fast enough to actually be able to respond to the movement of the animal, transmit it to the horse and then have the horse react. Rather than this process, the stock horse reacts to the movement of the livestock, all the while staying under the control of the rider for general guidelines and movement cues.
Pintos, with their strong Quarter Horse heritage make excellent stock and ranch horses with a great deal of cow sense. Not all ranching and stock horses are used with cattle, some are used with sheep, coats and even with other types of livestock such as llamas, alpacas and even emus and ostriches. A stock horse can adjust their skills to whatever type of livestock they are working with.
Training a ranch and stock horse starts early in the horse's life. Most Pintos that are going to be used as working ranch or stock horses are started by being pastured with the livestock to allow them to become desensitize and familiar with the movements, sounds and smells of the animals. They are then trained in reining, riding and even in agility and speed type training to help build up agility and muscle to allow the horse to be able to work for a long period of time. Typically stock or ranch horses are kept outdoors and are hardy and athletic horses that really love their job.
The Pinto stock and ranch horse is not, unlike many of the traditional uses of horses, a thing of the past. Many feedlots, large ranches across western Canada and western and southern United States use Pintos as working horses on an ongoing and daily basis. These horses are hardy, strong and athletic and are used to get ranch workers and stockmen in and out of areas where even ATVs and other types of vehicles could not go. The role of the Pinto stock horse is far from over, and there is an increase in demand for good ranch horses that have excellent cow sense. These horses often are never entered in shows or events, but will work on large ranches and farms until they are retired to live out the rest of their life in the very fields and pastures they worked.
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